Medication Diversion

Parents of children and teenagers who have been prescribed medication for the treatment of AD/HD are rightly concerned about the appropriate use of these medications. This concern is shared by educators and others who are involved in children's daily lives. At the heart of this concern is ensuring that these children receive the full benefit of these medications to help manage the symptoms of AD/HD and to help them lead more full and successful lives. When properly prescribed and administered, medications approved for the treatment of AD/HD have been shown to be highly safe and effective. CHADD recognizes, however, that the medications used to treat AD/HD can, like any medication, be used improperly.

Adults who take prescription medications are responsible for taking them in the proper way. Children and adolescents, on the other hand, need the guidance of parents and other adults to help them understand the benefits of taking medication, along with the serious consequences of failing to take their medication properly.

One of the potential ways in which prescribed medications may be handled improperly is known as "diversion." This refers to the situation in which a medication prescribed for one child ends up in the hands of another child. This "diversion" from one child to another may come about through various circumstances (e.g. a child may be "showing off" at school and "share" his/her medication with others; a child may be coerced into giving away or even selling his/her medication, etc.)

College-age students face unique challenges concerning potential diversion. Some students without AD/HD may seek out stimulant medications with the desire to enhance their academic performance or experiment with any possible physical reaction to taking the medications. This places an even greater burden on those students for whom the medication is prescribed to be diligent in ensuring that it is used properly.

While the issue is serious, it fortunately does not appear to be widespread. For example, the federal Government Accounting Office (GAO), in a report prepared for the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives, states that only 8% of high school and middle school principals reported at least one instance of "diversion or abuse" of a medication used to treat AD/HD. Most of these principals reported knowing of only a single incident.

Other Web Sites:

Attention Disorder Drugs: Few Incidents of Diversion or Abuse Identified by Schoosl
Report of the General Accounting Office (PDF format, requires Acrobat Reader)
"Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: State of the Science ? Best Practices"
Peter Jensen, M.D. and James M. Cooper, M.D., editors, Chapter 20 of this book is on "Diversion, Trafficking, and Abuse of Methylphenidate."
Stimulant Abuse By School Age Children: A Guide For School Officials
Report of the Drug Enforcement Administration
Abuse, Diversion and Consequences of Methylphenidate
Bibliography from the National Library of Medicine
Talking to Children about Medication
Ideas and suggestions from David Rabiner, Ph.D.