Calls for a controversial brain-boosting drug to be legalised, have been backed by a top Kent medical academic.
Ritalin is currently legally prescribed for treating hyperactive children – but is otherwise a banned Class B drug in the UK.
However, students have been known to pop the pills during exam periods as it is believed to improve mental performance.
Now Dr Robin Mackenzie, director of Medical Law & Ethics at the University of Kent, says the anti-hyperactivity drug should be made available for healthy adults.
The stimulant, also known as methylphenidate, is prescribed for sufferers of ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – and mainly children.
If you are found in possession of the tablets without a prescription you could find yourself facing a five-year prison sentence, or 14 years for dealing.
Dr Mackenzie told Kent on Saturday: “I believe adults should have access to pharmaceuticals validated as providing cognitive enhancement safely and effectively.”
Her comments follow those made by bioethics expert Professor John Harris,
of the University of Manchester, who
called for the drug to be more widely available in a report on the British Medical Journal’s website.
She added: “Adults should be able to exercise autonomous choice over how they enhance their cognitive abilities in this way.
“We should have the right to use our economic resources as we see fit as long as we are making informed choices which do not harm others or prove costly to society.”
However, she warned that measures would need to be put in place to protect the vulnerable.
She added fears that this would lead to addiction and overuse, particularly by stressed students during exam periods, are unfounded: “There is no evidence to show any difference in addictive behaviour between those treated with Ritilan for ADHD and those who have not been treated with it.
“This suggests that taking cognitive enhancement pharmaceuticals would not necessarily lead to ‘more dangerous unhealthy addictions’.”
Her advice would be to provide a slower-release form of the drug.
“Immediate release methylphenidate does have abuse potential,” she said.
Methylphenidate works by increasing the activities of natural chemicals in the brain, called dopamine and noradrenaline.
They are believed to play a part in controlling attention and behaviour.
Calls for availability of Ritalin to perfectly-healthy adults and young people, has been met with some apprehension from drug and addiction professionals in the county.
Tony Williams, spokesman for the Yalding-based drug addiction rehabilitation specialists, the Kenward Trust, said: “As it is currently a Class B drug, it must be pretty potent. If it was to be made available over the counter and the medical profession had issues with that, then we would echo that we too would have concerns.”
Dr Axel Klein, lecturer in the study of addictive behaviour at the University of Kent said the issue is not with the drug itself but how it is used and distributed.
“It is just like other performance enhancers such as coffee, tea or chocolate, which we use in everyday life and so don’t think of as a stimulant,” he said.
POSTED: 27/06/2009 15:00:00
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