Health Project

By: Steven ,Carlie, and Erika

Street names

• Diet coke• Kiddie cocaine• Kiddie coke• Vitamin R• R-Ball• Poor mans cocaine• Rids• Skittles• Smarties

What is Ritalin?

• Common name- for methylphenidate

• Classified as a schedule II narcotic

• Abused by teens for stimulant effects

How it enters the body

• Take as a pill or inject in liquid form

• Grind into powder and snort

Statistics

• In some schools 20% of the kids take the drug regularly

• In 6 years there has been an 80% increase of the drug

• From1990-2000 there have been 186 deaths in the US alone.

History

• 5 million stimulant prescriptions in 1991 to nearly 35 million in 2007

• 3,601 emergency room visits in 2004: 13 times more than in 1990

• 271 emergency room visits in 1990

• 1995 was ranked on the drug enforcement administration list of most stolen prescriptions

Effects

• Short term

• Loss of appetite• Increased heart rate, blood

pressure, body temp raises• Pupil dilation• Disrupted sleep• Nausea• Bizarre, erratic, violent

behavior• hallucinations

• Long term

• Permanent damage to blood vessels

• Liver, kidney, and lung damage

• Depression• Damage to the brain including

stroke and possible epilepsy• Breathing problems if smoke• Malnutrition, weight loss• disorientation

How people get started

• It helps focus and gives you energy. When the pill wears off you are given the feeling of a crash coma. Making the user want another pill to help with the tiredness. Eventually users begin to snort or take larger doses of ritalin

Interesting Facts

• None of it is manufactured on the streets

• Looks like aspirin

• Pale yellow, green, or white