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Originally Posted by Rich
I believe the number is somewhere around 40% of school children are on some form of hardcore prescription drug in the US, and Canada is close behind. I know for sure that in the UK they do give Ritalin and the like to children, I don't know if it's on the same scale as it is here. Ritalin is the #1 drug prescribed to children in the UK. I don't know about France.
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Thanks for the heads up Rich - as a parent of a 3 y/o and a 3 mo/old, it certainly is fucked up to think these kind of drugs are being given to such young kids. In 2004, according to the beeb, 300,000 kids in the UK were treated
link That link gives an interesting case report on how not all kids respond as expected.
Thankfully for me, the govt of France looks upon Ritalin as a dangerous narcotic and as such is strictly controlled over its distribution - a
scientific paper reports it has been prescribed 4000 times (the paper dates to 2002 though). Still the findings of that paper state
"Until more information is available concerning the long-term effects of methylphenidate, and in order to limit misuse, inappropriate or overuse, the current prescription and dispensing regulation should be maintained in France, and could well be developed in other countries."