Subject: Colorado School Board Passes Resolution Warning About Ritalin

EDUCATION REPORTER
The Newspaper of Education Rights ~ Dec. 1999

Colorado School Board Passes Resolution Warning About Ritalin

DENVER, CO — The Colorado State School Board passed a
resolution on November 11 warning of the possible negative effects of
psychotropic (mind-altering) prescription drugs on schoolchildren.
The vote was 6-1. Board member Patti Johnson drafted the resolution
after a number of parents contacted her complaining that they had
been “pressured” by educators to put their children on Ritalin.

“I have been actively involved in education since my now-college-age
son was in elementary school,” she explains. “Im aware that schools
receive additional funding for each child who is labeled ‘learning
disabled,’ so I was particularly sensitive to these complaints.”

Mrs. Johnson introduced her resolution at the October board meeting
following presentations by experts on the possible connection of
Ritalin and other prescription drugs to students violent behaviors. The
original text was pared from four pages to one prior to its adoption by
the board last month (see Resolution this page).

Colorado Eagle Forum leader Jayne Schindler is among many who
applaud the board’s decision. “We are proud that the Colorado Board
of Education is the first in the nation to take this monumental step
toward correcting the obvious problems with the diagnoses and
potential misdiagnoses of learning disabilities in schoolchildren, and
the subsequent treatment of these disabilities with psychotropic
drugs,” she says.

Eagle Forum was instrumental in focusing attention on these
problems by providing research documentation to state school board
members and legislators. “This should be the beginning of a national
movement by state school boards and legislatures to stem the tide of
mind-altering drugs that are arbitrarily prescribed for children,” Mrs.
Schindler says. She reports that the states of Florida and Texas have
already shown an interest in copying the resolution.

Presentations to the Board

Dr. Fred Baughman Jr., M.D., a pediatric neurologist for 35 years, Dr.
Ann Tracy, who holds a Ph.D. in psychology and health sciences
and is the director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness,
and Bruce Wiseman, national president of the Citizens Commission
on Human Rights, a psychiatric watchdog organization, made
presentations in support of Patti Johnson’s resolution at the October
school board meeting. Dr. Baughman stated that “there is no
scientific evidence that either Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are scientifically valid
disorders or diseases.” He told the board that he has been informed
by leading health authorities, including the National Institute of
Mental Health, that no studies proving the validity of these maladies
exist.

Dr. Tracy, who has extensively researched the effects of
mind-altering drugs on the brain, noted that there were
“approximately 15,000 deaths in 1998 from illegal drug use and over
200,000 reported deaths from the use of legal drugs.”

Mr. Wiseman pointed out the instances over the last several years
where the perpetrators of school shootings had been diagnosed with
depression and were taking some type of antidepressant medication,
including Eric Harris, who was on Luvox prior to the rampage at
Columbine High School.

Speaking against the resolution was Dr. William Dodson, assistant
professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado. Dr. Dodson
described those opposed to Ritalin as “fear mongering” and “mean
spirited.” He stated that Ritalin is not addictive and that any side
effects are short-lived. He said the criteria used in the diagnoses of
ADD and ADHD consistof “a list of questions and a family history,”
and admitted that even nurse practitioners are considered qualified to
prescribe Ritalin and other drugs to schoolchildren in Colorado.

While the school board has no mandate other than providing direction
for school policy, the resolution was enthusiastically supported by all
but one board member. Board chairman Clair Orr, who voted for the
resolution, noted: “We as adults have an obligation to our kids to set
the standards.” He added that he hopes the boards actions “shine a
light on this issue of drugging kids.”

Legislature Hears Testimony

On November 8, the Colorado State Legislature convened hearings
on the issue of prescription drug use and its possible correlation to
school violence. The committee heard testimony from the same
professionals who addressed the school board, plus a number of
other medical professionals, researchers, representatives of support
organizations for people with disabilities, and individuals relating
personal stories about the effects of prescription drugs.

Peter R. Breggin, M.D., International Director of the Center for the
Study of Psychiatry and Psychology which represents the opinions
of about 1,000 doctors worldwide, flew from London to testify at the
hearing. He stated that Ritalin and other mind-altering drugs have
addictive qualities, and that their effects include suicide and episodes
of mania.

Several individuals testified to the reality of ADD and ADHD and in
support of Ritalin. Speaking on behalf of herself and Children and
Adults With ADD (CHADD), one woman claimed that Ritalin is not a
drug, but prescription medicine. She admitted that CHADD gets 10%
of its funding from the pharmaceutical companies.

Serious Medicine

In 1995, CHADD tried to persuade the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA) to classify Ritalin as a Schedule III drug, which would
have made it easier to obtain. Ritalin contains methylphenidate,
which, according to the DEA, “is structurally and pharmacologically
similar to amphetamines.” It was classified as a Schedule II drug in
1971 because it “was so prone to abuse.” Other Schedule II drugs
include morphine, PCP, methadone, cocaine, and
methamphetamine.

The DEA refused CHADDs request, charging that “Most of the ADHD
literature prepared for public consumption and available to parents
does not address the abuse liability or actual abuse of
methylphenidate . . . There is an abundance of scientific literature
which indicates that methyphenidate shares the same abuse
potential as other Schedule II stimulants.”

A significant body of research exists on the possible negative effects
of antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, Luvox, Zoloft, and Paxil on
both children and adults which include mania, seizures, and
cardiovascular problems. According to Dr. Breggin, “The
phenomenon of drug-induced manic reactions caused by
antidepressants is so widely recognized that it is discussed several
times in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of
the American Psychiatric Association and many times in The
Physicians Desk Reference.”

ADD & Diet

Those who testified before the Colorado Legislature against the
indiscriminate use of Ritalin and other psychotropic drugs concede
that “there are, without question, cases where medical therapy is a
necessity and a benefit.” Retired emergency medical services
professional Jim Schindler, who described many prescription
drug-related cases, particularly involving seizures, that he has
personally witnessed, nonetheless added: “I see no reason or desire
on anyone’s part to deny those who depend on such methods of
treatment access to that treatment, nor to deny such treatment in
the future to those who are properly diagnosed.”

Therein lies the rub. Many nutrition experts say emotional wellbeing
is tied to the 40+ nutrients that humans need for good health, and
that conditions such as hyperactivity and depression are often better
controlled through diet than drugs.

In her book Lets Eat Right To Keep Fit, Adelle Davis describes the
extreme negative effects that can result from deficiencies in vital
nutrients. She writes tht the first symptom of biotin (B vitamin)
deficiency, for example, is depression. In Chapter 9, she provides
details of an experiment in which lack of biotin in adult volunteers
caused “mental depression” to become “so intense that it was
described as ‘panic,’ and some volunteers experienced suicidal
tendencies. All symptoms disappeared in three to five days after
biotin was added to the diet.”

Conclusion

Patti Johnson’s original four-page version of the Colorado School
Board Resolution offers the following observations:

* It is misleading to advise parents that their child needs a
mind-altering drug to correct a “chemical imbalance,”
“neurobiological” or “genetic condition” when science has been
unable to establish the existence of such maladies.

* Medical research shows that psychiatric symptoms are often a sign
of an undetected medical condition, nutritional deficiency, or allergy.

* The money expended [on behalf of students with ADHD, as
reported by the National Institutes of Health] would be better spent on
workable academic programs which actually raise the childs level of
academic competence and thus his self-esteem.

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Colorado State Board of Education

RESOLUTION

Promoting The Use Of Academic
Solutions To Resolve Problems With
Behavior, Attention, And Learning

Whereas, the Colorado State Board of Education
is constitutionally charged with the general
supervision of K-12 public education; and,

Whereas, the Colorado State Board of Education
dedicates itself to increasing academic
achievement levels for all students; and,

Whereas, the responsibility of school personnel is
to ensure student achievement; and,

Whereas, only medical personnel can
recommend the use of prescription medications;
and,

Whereas, the Colorado State Board of Education
recognizes that there is much concern regarding
the issue of appropriate and thorough diagnosis
and medication and their impact on student
achievement; and,

Whereas, there are documented incidences of
highly negative consequences in which psychiatric
prescription drugs have been utilized for what are
essentially problems of discipline which may be
related to lack of academic success;

Therefore Be It Resolved, that the Colorado
State Board of Education encourage school
personnel to use proven academic and/or
classroom management solutions to resolve
behavior, attention, and learning difficulties; and,

Be It Further Resolved, that the Colorado State
Board of Education encourage greater
communication and education among parents,
educators, and medical professionals about the
effects of psychotropic drugs on student
achievement and our ability to provide a safe and
civil learning environment.

November 11, 1999

On this date, the Colorado State Board of
Education passed this resolution by a six-to-one
vote.

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An Internet Opinion Poll conducted on the
Rocky Mountain News “InsideDenver.com”
web site posed this question a week following
the Colorado Board of Educations adoption of
the above resolution:

“Was the state board of education right to
attack the use of Ritalin?”

* 890 respondents (96%) said YES.
* 41 (4%) said NO.
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DECEMBER EDUCATION REPORTER may be read online:

http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/1999/dec99/er_dec99.html