Ritalin and Cocaine,



JAMA, August 22/29, 2001-vol. 286, no.8. was the source of an 
article appearing in a recent edition of the AMA News entitled "Pay 
Attention: Ritalin Acts Much Like Cocaine."



"Advanced imaging research has answered a 40-year old question 
about Ritalin which is taken daily by 4-6 million children in the 
United States: how does it work?  The answer may unsettle some 
parents, because the drug acts much like cocaine, albeit cocaine 
dripped through molasses."



The effects of Ritalin were examined from a neurotransmitter 
perspective.  Once a pleasurable sensation is transmitted, dopamine 
molecules recycle back to neurons that produced them.  In the 
process, auto-receptors claim the molecules and return them in a 
vacuum cleaner-like function.  Research has shown that cocaine 
blocks 50% of these receptors; it leaves the dopamine in the synapse 
and the cocaine rush is created.



This cycle was evaluated with respect to Ritalin.  "We were 
surprised as hell...we didn't expect this" What was being referred to 
as "this" was the fact that Ritalin wasn't a less potent inhibitor of 
the autoreceptors as had been thought, but it was more potent than 
cocaine in this regard.  "The data clearly show that the notion that 
Ritalin is a weak stimulant is completely incorrect."





A theory was developed based on other research that found children 
with ADHD to have below normal levels of dopamine because of 
hyperefficiency on the part of the vacuum cleaner function noted 
above.  What the Ritalin does, they theorized, is to allow the process 
to slow down to a near normal pace and, therefore, the changed 
behavior.



The difference between Ritalin and cocaine is a function of time.  
Cocaine acts in seconds, Ritalin takes about an hour.  The article 
commented on two conflicting studies--one found greater addiction 
among ADHD kids who were given Ritalin, another found less 
addiction in a similar group.



"Could chronic use of Ritalin make you more vulnerable to 
decreased dopamine brain activity as cocaine does?  It's a key 
question nobody has answered."