Op-Ed: Don’t let Adderall scarcity trigger a repeat of the opioid epidemic
As the opioid crisis rages in America and overdoses threaten to become a pandemic, I think we need to consider the drugs that our country’s doctors are prescribing for children and teens.
It’s not a surprise that Adderall is being overprescribed by the droves. It’s been used to help treat attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and other conditions for a long time — from doctors treating kids for ADD, for example, to Adderall’s use by NFL quarterbacks to improve focus and reduce anxiety.
But I think we should also realize that Adderall’s overuse might be exacerbating the current opioid crisis.
In a report issued a few days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that while opioid overdoses have dropped significantly since 2011, Adderall prescriptions have risen dramatically (pdf) from 3.8 million in 2011 to 4.6 million in 2018.
CDC’s report noted that Adderall use was highest among “adolescents (ages 12 to 17)”; however, its prescribing rates increased significantly for teens ages 12 to 18 (11.2 percent) and those ages 16 to 19 (13.4 percent), as well as for teens ages 10 to 15 (37.2 percent), ages 5 to 9 (32.4 percent), ages 0 to 4 (29.9 percent) and for children (ages 3 to 5) (29.6 percent).
I also think we need to consider the fact that Adderall is not just a drug used to treat ADD and ADHD. It’s also being used by players at all levels of the game to improve mental alertness, energy, and focus — all of which are factors in decision making and on the field performance.
These are the types of effects that might be being caused by Adderall’s overuse — all thanks to the fact that Adderall’s potential side effects are
