Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/19/dea-fuels-moral-panic-over-adhd-meds-to-justify-its-failed-drug-war.html
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They should go after alcohol next. That stuff is everywhere!
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This is also true of opioids, by the way. Which still doesn’t mean that abuse of prescription drugs can’t or doesn’t happen. The War on Drugs is garbage, but the analogy between prescription stimulant abuse and prescription opioid abuse isn’t entirely without merit. Pharmaceutical companies will benefit from people getting addicted to these meds, and prescribing them for people who don’t need them, or prescribing a higher than therapeutic dose, will absolutely increase rates of addiction. That happened with opioids and it can happen with stimulants. The DEA can get bent, though. This is not the way to deal with this issue, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t an issue.
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About fifty or so years my father who was an FBI agent said that the DEA was a bunch of publicity hungry clowns.
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Matthew Strait, a DEA deputy
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Billions of dollars wasted, countless lives destroyed/ended, and several nations wrecked; and yet the supply keeps on increasing. Who knew that security theatre could actually be more expensive than opera?
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In the ADHD community, we are all delighted that the DEA is working so hard to protect us from getting addicted to drugs that we struggle to remember to take. /s
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Who’s gonna tell him there’s already been an Adderall shortage going on TWO FUCKING YEARS NOW and those of us who rely on the medication already need to jump through hoops once a fucking month to get it (and it doesn’t help when shit like this makes the pharmacist treat you like a junky when you show up frustrated and spastic cuz you’re desperate for the medicine that keeps your god damn brain on straight)
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“See, it’s working.”
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OMG yes, I feel you. I take opioids for chronic pain, and when my doctor, who was a family friend, transitioned from a GP to an ER doc, she couldn’t write me scripts for Tramadol any more.
So I had to find a “pain specialist” doctor. I finally found someone who agreed to take me in, but he had me come in EVERY MONTH, which was like $80 out of pocket and yeah, felt like a junkie before finding this guy (and he was sorta understanding, still felt a bit uncomfortable). I considered looking for a new Dr, but I didn’t want to get labeled as a “shopper”.
He ended up retiring and I found a new guy who I really like, who only needs to see my 2x a year. I can manage that.
I asked him about Aderall a few years ago, right when there started to be a shortage, because I was sure I had ADHD. He had me do some tests, and he was like, “Oh yes. If you want to try it, I can get you on it.” But with the shortage, man, I’m just not sure I want the hassle? Will I get the knock off stuff that people were getting that didn’t work as well, it doesn’t work so I get off of it, not knowing the rest of my life the real stuff would help? It does help, but I have trouble getting it?
I asked him again last visit about it and why there was still a shortage, and he explained it was all DEA created because they felt that too many people were on it, as there was an uptick with Covid. Yeah, no shit? Especially more people working from home, exacerbating their issues with focus? So… I will suffer through for now, but I hope they fucking pull their heads out and quit making things worse for people.
The way the DEA cracked down on opioids is also making fentanyl deaths worse. 
Yeah, being addicted to legal opioids is bad, but being dead from illegal drugs is worse.
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“If there’s a war on drugs goin’ on, how come they’re all around?” – Asylum Street Spankers
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Don’t forget about intermittent worldwide shortages in the last year or two!
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You know why there is a worldwide shortage?
It’s because the DEA made the pharmaceutical companies put an arbitrary cap on production.
The worldwide shortage is because the DEA’s moral panic is directly affecting the whole planet.
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Oh! I legitimately had no idea. Well now I’m even more pissed.
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I’m lucky to have a good psychiatrist. He started me on Ritalin a couple years ago, and it has been almost like magic. So many things that were hard or impossible were achievable. I wouldn’t know what to do if it was taken away. And , yes, it’s often quite hard to remember to take.
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Oohh, turf war with the ATF!
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Oh, believe me, I have not forgotten the artificially created shortages.
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Yeah. The thing where I have to set like 9 reminders to renew my prescription every. F-ing. Month. And only within the 72-hour window allowed, if course (fill it early because you’re traveling for a week? Nope. Sorry, no can do).
It seems uniquely designed to mess with ADHD patients.
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