America’s Adderall shortage is driving ADHD patients to use meth instead, social workers claim.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an official Adderall shortage in October 2022, but people are still struggling to get their hands on the medication more than a year later.
People can become dependent on the drug, meaning that if they suddenly stop taking it, they can no longer think or function properly. This dependency can drive people with ADHD to the black market to get their dopamine hit.
Both meth and Adderall are amphetamines and central nervous system stimulants that help restore dopamine imbalances in people with ADHD.
Garrett Reuscher, a licensed social worker in New York who counsels people who use drugs, told The Daily Beast that clients who have ADHD but have never tried meth have begun “inquiring about safer meth use, inquiring about the effects.” I can’t get my meds. I have to find something that helps me function.”
It comes as Britney Spears’ ex Adnan Ghalib recently said he feared the pop star would overdose on Adderall in 2008.
The number of Adderall prescriptions has steadily increased over the past twelve years. The figures include prescriptions for both Adderall, branded and generic, in the US
Prescriptions for Adderall have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020, just before the virus broke out across America, the drug made up 1.1% of all medications. By September 2022, this figure had more than doubled to 2.31% of all scripts written
The ongoing Adderall issue has been blamed on labor and supply shortages at Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals, which produced one in four brand-name and generic Adderall pills dispensed in U.S. pharmacies last year.
It is also linked to the rising number of new prescriptions dispensed during the pandemic, as telehealth services proliferated, thanks to the Covid-era prescribing rule that relaxed criteria.
Adderall is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and contains a mixture of the stimulants amphetamine and dextroamphetamine.
Nearly five million American adults use prescription stimulants such as Adderall. In 2021, 41.4 million prescriptions for the drug were issued.
People can become dependent on the drug, meaning that if they suddenly stop taking it, they may feel like they can no longer think or function properly.
Withdrawal symptoms can include depression, irritability, headaches, sleeping too much, insomnia, fatigue, and nightmares.
Both meth and Adderall can be abused. Britney Spears’ ex, Adnan Ghalib, said he was concerned that his girlfriend was taking too much Adderall in 2008, just before she was placed in the mental health care of her father.
Mr Ghalib told it The American sun: “She was on medications prescribed by doctors, which were mainly Adderall – which is like legal speed to me.”
Elijah Hanson (pictured), 21, died by suicide in June 2022. He had been struggling with psychological problems for years. His family said a recent Adderall prescription he obtained through the online telehealth platform Cerebral played a role in his death
Britney Spears’ ex, Adnan Ghalib, said he became concerned that his girlfriend was taking too much Adderall in 2008, just before she was placed in the mental health care of her father.
Although Britney’s use of Adderall was legal, her manager was concerned that she was dependent on the medication.
Her ex said, “I drove Britney to pick up her prescriptions at Rite Aid, and her then-manager, Sam Lutfi, called and said, ‘If the prescriptions are for Adderall, you need to confiscate them.
‘You have to get rid of it. I know it is prescribed, but at the same time it can be fatal if she takes more than the prescribed dose.
“I know she prescribed it, but she doesn’t limit what she takes. You have to get rid of it.’
Growing awareness of what ADHD is has led to skyrocketing demand for ADHD evaluation and treatment, meaning long wait times for diagnosis.
Even those with a prescription have difficulty getting the drug, putting them at risk for meth dependence.
Meth, like Adderall and many other ADHD medications, is an amphetamine and a central nervous system stimulant.
People with ADHD have low levels of certain brain chemicals such as dopamine and norepinephrine, which allow nerves in the brain to talk to each other. Stimulant medications increase levels, improving people’s focus.
The drug is so effective against the attention disorder that there is a legal tablet form of meth that is FDA-approved for ADHD, but it is not commonly prescribed.
Meth falls under Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act and is primarily used as a recreational drug.
Without medical supervision it can be incredibly dangerous and easy to overdose on.
Meth-related overdoses have increased exponentially in the US over the past decade, killing more than 30,000 people in 2021. Most of the deaths also involved fentanyl – a deadly synthetic opioid that is increasingly infiltrating drug supplies.
Many people with ADHD started using meth before their disorder was diagnosed and found that the stimulant helped them focus.
Brianna, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, is a massage therapist in Las Vegas.
She was never able to become straight at school, telling The Daily Beast: “It would be like B’s and C’s and I couldn’t understand how someone became straight. Like I was trying my hardest, you know?”
In college, she started using meth and discovered she could become just as straight as her peers.
Now in her 40s, she still buys about a gram a week to help her focus on work, but admits she is constantly afraid of random drug tests.
Brianna decided she wanted to start legal treatment for ADHD, but realized she would have to undergo drug testing to receive treatment due to her history with meth.
She decided to give up the official diagnosis route because she didn’t want to stop using meth, even for a short time, because it allowed her to do her job.
She said, “I would go to doctors and tell them, ‘Hey, I think this (ADHD) is my problem.’ And they’d say, ‘No, that’s because you’re a drug addict and that’s why you feel that way.’
She eventually found a doctor who diagnosed her and prescribed Adderall. This has helped her reduce the amount of meth she uses, but she hasn’t been able to quit completely.