Adderall Abuse Risks Becoming Another Opioid Crisis, DEA Says

[Landrew]

(Bloomberg) -- The fast rise of prescriptions for Adderall and other stimulants, along with rampant online treatment and advertising, suggest the start of another drug crisis like the opioid epidemic, a senior Drug Enforcement Administration official said Thursday.

The warning is the most urgent public message yet on these types of drugs by the agency.

“I’m not trying to be a doomsday-er here,” said Matthew Strait, deputy assistant administrator in the diversion control division said in an online seminar. But he compared the current situation with stimulants to the beginning of the opioid crisis and said “it makes me feel like we’re at the precipice of our next drug crisis in the United States.”

The DEA’s position on stimulants will have a direct effect on how many are manufactured, pharmacies’ access to them and how patients get prescriptions.

Read More: Transcript: How The American Workforce Got Hooked on Adderall

Adderall Abuse Risks Becoming Another Opioid Crisis, DEA Says - BNN Bloomberg

The fast rise of prescriptions for Adderall and other stimulants, along with rampant online treatment and advertising, suggest the start of another drug crisis like the opioid epidemic, a senior Drug Enforcement Administration official said Thursday.

www.bnnbloomberg.ca

 

[Jnowhere]

Uh oh, looks like the abuse of these meds might end up like opiods. Those that need them, in many cases nope. I am getting sick of the government punishing innocent people because some, want to abuse something.

 

[Landrew]

they will start dropping dead any second now, just wait.

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

it makes me feel like we’re at the precipice of our next drug crisis in the United States.

When hasn't there been a "drug crisis" in the US since Nixon I think....

 

[neversickanymore]

^ don’t even worry the DEA is on it
If they fuck this up like the opiate crisis and i’m forced to the street to buy cartel meth i’m going to be so fucking pissed.

They should make it over the counter and fix the supply chain.

 

[Psychlone Jack]

Yeah lol, adderall is the problem, not the super potent but toxic crystal meth that's freaking everywhere, and even cheaper than weed in some places. It's TOTALLY the adderall that people are seeking to basically MAT themselves with, so they don't have to deal with the myriad problems that arise from street amphetamine use.

I mean sure, people are abusing it now just like they were 20 or 30 years ago, but the outcry over prescription uptick just looks like closing of an unsanctioned treatment pathway to me.

 

[oddvortex]

I don't think anyone is OD'ing on Addies so the crisis isn't that urgent honestly if you can even call too much Adderall a crisis sheesh

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Kind of a mess. Innocent people will be harmed, no doubt, and I hope that what I say isn't too controversial. Just my opinions.

But I do think they should roll back legislation that came into effect during Covid so people have to see doctors in-person more. Maybe reform the ADHD diagnosis so it's not so liberal. Prohibit people who abuse it from getting another script for several months. Will this lead to more meth use? Probably in some cases. Nothing ideal about pragmatic legislation. The system does fail people. But it might do more good than harm. I'm not intimately aware of the statistics.

I agree that meth is the real problem, though. So much more potent, cheap, and long-lasting. Along with some misplaced sense of virtue in Capitalism.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

For fuck's sake...

 

[someguyontheinternet]

The DEA needs a crisis to make sure they seem relevant especially in the face of new drug research and legalization and medicalization of psychedelics and empathogens

Just a bunch of clowns trying to keep their jobs

 

[Kingoffrogs]

Ohhhh noooo! College kids are studying hard and construction workers are working overtime, let's crack down on addies!

The DEA is going to fuck this up so bad give it 5 or 10 years

 

[deficiT]

We're still in the middle of the current crisis. Misses the point completely. All cracking down on prescription stimulants will do is force everyone onto meth, only exacerbating that issue.

Actual fuckin idiots

 

[tryptakid]

My thoughts:

Opioids and stimulants are different drugs - any media shorthand referring to 'a new opioid crisis' is inaccurate and potentially quite harmful for all of the reasons that have been mentioned. We're unlikely to see high rates of overdose mortalities related to stimulant use, though we're very likely to see a higher rate of psychiatric morbidity related to stimulant use (compared to opioid use). Opioids, in general, are anti-psychotic, anti-anxiety, and anti-depressant, whereas stimulants can directly cause psychosis, anxiety, and can also lead to depressive episodes during cessation of use.

We should recognize that there has been a steady increase in Rx stimulants used medically in the past couple of decades with several studies examining windows of time 2006-2016 and 2012-2022. While they don't quite measure the same things (former being metric tons of amphetamine, latter being prescriptions issued), they demonstrate an increase in stimulants being prescribed and utilized more and more. I didn't come across specific data noting per-capita prescriptions, but I did find one study showing that average doses seem to be pretty consistent with a slight trend downward, which is a good thing. That's likely due to the ceiling effect that amphetamine and methylphenidate can have, as well as the unpleasant/unhealthy side effects experienced from high dose use (meth being somewhat of a different scenario here).

I think that the bigger picture issue is that Americans have more access to directly alter consciousness through medical and recreational psychoactives. Whether it's telehealth prescribing, ketamine clinics, psychedelic retreats, legal/medical cannabis, kratom, or ordering from gray market/dark web sites, there's likely never been more access to these types of substances to those interested in psychoactives. As a consumer society, we do what's we're socialized to do - consume. The last thing we should do is try to address all of these things monolithically - so I return to my original point that opioids (and the impact they've had over the last 2 decades) are very different than stimulants (and the impacts they have/will have moving forward). My bigger worry is the pathologizing of atypicality, and subsequently treating that pathology with very potent drugs during neurodevelopment.

 

[Jnowhere]

I don't give a shit, this and the fake opiod crisis is bullshit. I hope people who need these drugs can get them. The real opiod crisis is now. Many times as many dead about 100,000 a year more now, because of illegal fentanyl. The DEA is power hungry, and this bullshit seems to be bipartisan, so the people who really need the meds, millions and millions will suffer. The recreational user will not be affected the same way as people who need these stimulants for medical reasons. Great job with the opiods, now pain patients suffer and people who were heroin addicts are being wiped out. I admit that Adderall abuse is a problem, but if the government goes after this like opiods, then a new nightmare. This government is the enemy of the people.