Social Policy

Government Programs Encourages Ritalin Use

Two federal government programs may be responsible for skyrocketing diagnoses of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in school children, observers note. They also point out that the diagnoses have been accompanied by surging sales of Ritalin, a stimulant used to treat ADHD. The drug produces effects similar to cocaine and amphetamines -- and an underground market for it is developing.

  • The Supplemental Security Income program hands out cash to low-income parents whose children are diagnosed as having ADHD -- which the government accepts as a learning disability.

  • And hundreds of dollars in special-education grant money awarded to schools each year by the Department of Education for every child diagnosed with ADHD.

The government began funding schools and families for ADHD kids in the early 1990s -- since then Ritalin sales have nearly tripled.

Moreover, growth in ADHD diagnoses was flat for years prior to initiation of the two programs, but it has shot up an average of 21 percent a year since.

Having a child labeled with ADHD pays well:

  • Parents can get more than $450 a month in federal money for each child on the program.

  • All but seven states chip in an average of another $110 a month.

  • Plus the family automatically becomes eligible for Medicaid and food stamps.

There are reports that some parents are actually coaching their children to do poorly in school and act up, so as to qualify for the benefits.

Source: John Merline, "Public Schools: Pushing Drugs?" Investor's Business Daily, October 16, 1997.


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