Ritalin is NOT Addictive when taken as prescribed

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 20:51:52 GMT, Eric Wilk
wrote:

You make a really good point. How do you quantify, then, if something is
addictive at really low levels?

The same way it's done at higher levels.
There are animal models to look at drug use behavior that map very
well onto human behavior. Simply run the experiments using
therapeutic levels (which for a rat is going to be a much smaller dose
than a human) and see if they exhibit addictive behaviors.


================================================== ==
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"Eric Wilk" wrote in message
...
You make a really good point. How do you quantify, then, if something is
addictive at really low levels?


Addiction is far better defined based on cravings that excede, or are
seperate from, the therapeutic effect of the drug. Identifyable behaviors
include rapidly increasing dosage requirements (whereas with therapeutic use
of most controlled substances the doses will rise slowly, if at all - in
Ritalin there is evidence that it does not rise except to account for
changes in body size) and self destructive behaviors - i.e continuing use it
despite demonstrable harm.

Dose really has little, if anything, to do with it.

--
CBI, MD