UK Scientist Promotes Ritalin To Be Bought Over The Counter
Posted by: Andrew Cheetham in Health-Physical And MentalStudents should be allowed to take brain-boosting drugs such as Ritalin, a leading academic has claimed.
Professor John Harris said that the drugs should be made available over-the-counter for study purposes.
Currently ‘cognition-enhancing drugs’ such as Ritalin require a prescription but the government should ’seriously consider’ a change, according to Professor Harris, the director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester.
The move would provoke intense debate. There are fears about the safety of the medications and claims that such drugs are already overused.
Latest figures showed that GPs wrote more than 535,000 prescriptions for antihyperactivity drugs in 2007 - more than 10,000 a week. The figure has doubled since 2002.
Critics have accused doctors of using such medications as a ‘chemical cosh’ to calm thousands of youngsters who are boisterous and unable to concentrate at school.
But Professor Harris claimed that a sizeable body of evidence showed that stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall and Provigil - described by U.S. students as ‘Viagra for the brain’ - significantly improve concentration and academic performance.
He told the Times Higher Education magazine that their side-effects were not excessive.
‘It would make sense to try to maximise their benefits,’ he added.
Professor John Harris yet another ‘expert’ pushing psychotropic drugs on our children and yet another one in the pocket of Big Pharma.
Chair of the Ethics and Governance Board of Virgin Health Bank
Member of the Chief Medical Officer’s Council, GlaxoSmithKilne
His research is currently supported by The European Commission, The British Embassy, Washington and The Greenwall Foundation.
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