tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May) writes: The doublethink and hypocrisy of modern society is astounding.
When the mother (a single mother, as this is California) drops her son off with my friend (also single, of course), she includes several "Ritalin" capsules with instructions on how to dose her son with this depressant/behavior modification drug.
My friend ignores these Ritalins, which upsets the Mom greatly the next day when she realizes her son has not been given the tranks that are also known as "Mother's little helpers."
Ritalin is not a tranquilizer or anything like a tranquilizer. It is an amphetamine -- it is a close chemical analog to speed and could only be characterized as a tranquilizer by someone without any knowledge of the drug or its effects. Most people would become very "up" on the stuff, but it has a paradoxical, completely reverse effect on some people who have problems with their dopamine/norephinepherine (sorry, I may have the spellings wrong) systems in their brains that cause them to have difficulty focusing or to become hyperactive -- it calms and focuses such children and adults. The support newsgroup on Usenet for people with ADD discusses this in detail. Most people would have no particular urge to stop a child with diabetes from taking her insulin. Your friend seems to have the sick idea that they know better than the child's parents whether the child should be taking their meds or not, simply because the medication is for a "mental" problem. This isn't your friend's child. Its someone else's child. They have no right to make such decisions. Oh, and by the way, Ritalin has never been known in slang as "mother's little helper". That would be a tranquilizer taken by the mother to help her get through her own day. Perry