NEWS: Time.com 10 Sep 01: New Ritalin Ad Blitz Makes Parents Jumpy

New Ritalin Ad Blitz Makes Parents Jumpy
More families and legislators are revolting against the push to consume antihyperactivity medications
BY VIVECA NOVAK/WASHINGTON - 10 Sep 2001
In Sheila Matthews' view, it was a heartening event for the back-to-school season: the signing of a law in Connecticut that she and others hope will relieve the growing pressure on parents to put their kids on drugs to control attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The New Canaan homemaker helped gather support for the bill and was understandably proud to be in the Governor's office last week for the ceremony. But she and her fellow lobbyists for the legislation, most of them parents, also got a surprise kick in the teeth.
Picking up the September issues of a number of women's and parenting magazines, they saw the very first ads promoting these same medications. Considered Schedule II controlled substances by the Drug Enforcement Administration, they are among the most addictive and abused drugs that are still legal. Says Patricia Weathers, a Millbrook, N.Y., mother pushing for a law like Connecticut's: "It seems like every time we take a step forward, they come back and hit us harder."
Connecticut's law is the first to bar school officials from recommending psychotropic drugs for kids on the theory that such matters should be left to families and their doctors. The law comes on the heels of legislation enacted by Minnesota earlier this year preventing schools from forcing parents to medicate ADHD children. Utah and New Jersey have similar bills pending, and lawmakers in many other states have shown interest in such action...
Full article at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101010910-173468,00.html

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