Narconon Suncoast helps people with addiction to all kinds of drugs.
Ritalin is an addictive prescription stimulant that 2.6% of 12th graders alone abused in the 2012. It is highly available and has become well known on the streets as: Kiddie Cocaine, Kiddie Coke, Diet Coke, Poor Man’s Cocaine, R-ball, Rids, Skittles,
Ritalin is a brand name for the chemical methylphenidate. The drug is listed in Schedule II by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This means that it’s listed in the same category as extremely addictive drugs like oxycodone, cocaine, and more.
Abusers of Ritalin sometimes mix it with another drug like the opioid pain medication Talwin to create “crackers” – which have a similar effect as heroin mixed with cocaine (a speedball). In fact, the term “speedball” now has expanded to include heroin mixed with Ritalin.
Usually, Ritalin is promoted as something to help a person “focus.” The high has been said to be similar to that obtained by abusing cocaine. It has a similar cycle to drugs like cocaine or speed. It causes the user to be very awake and “up”; makes the world around the abuser very clear. This is followed by a crash as the drug wears off. The crash can make a person feel tired and worn out – or even depressed and possibly suicidal.
Ritalin is abused by swallowing the pill, crushing it into powder and snorting it or dissolving it in water and shooting up. The more a user takes, the higher the “tolerance” for this drug. The word “tolerance” means in this case that the drug has less of the desired effect at lower dosages, so the abuser has to up the dosage to cause the drug to work the way they want it to. It doesn’t actually mean that a person’s body physically begins to tolerate the drug. In fact, overwhelming the body with a high dose of methylphenidate can give a person (even an otherwise healthy kid or young adult) a heart attack, put them into a coma, or make them try to commit suicide. This drug can and has killed.
Side effects of Ritalin include: Uneven heartbeats, dizziness, insomnia, weight loss, unconsciousness, aggression, hallucinations, extreme emotions, suicide, dangerously high blood pressure, heart attack, seizure, addiction, and death.
If you or a loved one are addicted to Ritalin, another drug or alcohol, contact us today. We have a proven record of getting people off of addictive substances with our drug-free rehab program. Call us today at 877-850-7355.
Refs: NIH, DrugFreeWorld.org, RXlist.com, DEA
