You've spent *how much*? And for what?

[Nyoibo]

Quick question, what the hell does Ritalin do for people?

[Racket_Man]

Quick question, what the hell does Ritalin do for people?

There are several uses for Ritalin that I know of.

Riltalin is (I believe) an amphetmyine deriviative. in short it is a stimulant

The primary use these days is for ADD/ADHD. for some reason young bodies process tranquilizers and stimulants differently than young adult/adult bodies do.

On this one I can speak from experience. in the early 1960's, as a "hyperactive" diagnosed child I was put on tranquilizers to "calm me down".. YEAH RIGHT just sped me up even more. This was before amphetameine and its derivitives were widely used for ADD/ADHD treatment.

A good Wiki postiing:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylphenidate

[SkullKing]

Ritalin is also used as a drug to enhance studying. I know a fair number of people take it near texts to allow them to study more.

And I understand the temptation.

[AdminAssistant]

It's very common to see Ritalin/Adderall sold on college campuses to enable people to pull all-nighters to finish a paper/study/whatever.

[Jester]

There is evidence that pot use in teens can cause harm to brain development. But after the brain finishes developing at around age 21, this is not a problem and I see no reason why people should not use it if they so choose: it is actually safer than alcohol. Users stay home, are mellow, don't fight, and bother no one.

Pot smokers are only dangerous if you're a Twinkie. Just saying.

It's very common to see Ritalin/Adderall sold on college campuses to enable people to pull all-nighters to finish a paper/study/whatever.

A story about Adderall and a couple former coworkers:

One of my former coworkers, a kickass chick, took it for her ADHD, and it helped her focus and maintain her mental balance. (I am paraphrasing here, and this is from years ago, so if I am a bit off on this, my apologies. But that seemed to be the gist of it.)

Another of our coworkers was one of those people that I mentioned that would take smoke breaks at the worst times. Also, when he was behind the bar, he'd often be schmoozing and socializing with guests. Not that this is a bad thing, as it is kind of part of the job. But he would do that at the expense of other guests, making the other bartender work harder, and oftentimes he would completely ignore service bar tickets while he was schmoozing away.

Well, one day the ADHD coworker gave the Schmoozer one of her Adderalls. And the change in him was....remarkable. The dude put his head down and went to work, and was a bartending machine. Making drinks left and right, efficiently and quickly taking care of guests, service bar tickets, everything. It was without question his best performance behind the bar, at least in that establishment, and we were all in awe. He wasn't schmoozing as much; actually he wasn't schmoozing at all. He was still talking to the guests, don't get me wrong, but it was less flash and more dash--he was getting things DONE.

After that night, we all told Schmoozer that he should take an Adderall before every shift. He never did again while I worked with him, sadly, but it was an amazing thing to see at the time. And I don't think he took a single smoke break. At least not during the rush.

[Lachrymose]

I have narcolepsy and have been prescribed Ritalin before.

It seemed to work fairly well for several hours. But then I came crashing down and it was almost worse than a hangover. It didn't get any better after weeks of taking it.

I stay away from that class of meds now, but wish I could find something I didn't eventually grow a tolerance to.

[wolfie]

As for the "reasoning" that Marijuana (formerly an obscure name used by Hearst, since at the time of his "eliminate the devil weed" campaign, everyone knew what hemp was, and how useful it was) is a "gateway drug", and therefore needs to be kept illegal, that's a circular argument.

Now: Marijuana is illegal, so people buy it from (surprise) dealers in illegal drugs. Like any good (in the context of "competent") businessmen, they want to increase their market, so they have an incentive to try to introduce their marijuana customers to the rest of their product line.

If marijuana were legal: It would probably be regulated in a manner similar to alcohol (age limits, no sales to people who were already intoxicated, etc.). A natural result would be for it to be sold through channels that already had the infrastructure for sale of age-restricted items (i.e. liquor stores). Marijuana smokers would go to the "booze and bud" store, get their "smokey treats", and possibly a 6-pack of beer or bottle of wine (or hard stuff) at the same time. They'd never come in contact with the guy on the streetcorner selling heroin and methamphetamine.

Some "logic" - because it's illegal, it's sold through channels that are likely to steer people toward more dangerous illegal drugs. This makes it a "gateway" drug, which is why it needs to be kept illegal.

[Jester]

Marijuana smokers would go to the "booze and bud" store, get their "smokey treats", and possibly a 6-pack of beer or bottle of wine (or hard stuff) at the same time. They'd never come in contact with the guy on the streetcorner selling heroin and methamphetamine.

Silly yet valid point: if marijuana were legal and was sold by liquor stores, convenience stores, or something similar, any such store would be wise to stock up on various snack foods. It's the same reason why you find hangover cures in liquor stores, corkscrews in liquor stores and wine shops, and various cheeses in the better wine stores: you sell stuff that your customer wants.

[AdminAssistant]

corkscrews in liquor stores and wine shops

Fun Fact: In the State of Kansas, liquor stores aren't allowed to sell anything that isn't beer, wine, or spirits. No mixers, no Tylenol, no corkscrews, no glassware (unless packaged with liquor), no nothing. My favorite store set aside a corner of their building, gave it a separate entrance and different address, and sells all their not-beer stuff there as a way to get around the rules.

[Duelist925]

Silly yet valid point: if marijuana were legal and was sold by liquor stores, convenience stores, or something similar, any such store would be wise to stock up on various snack foods. It's the same reason why you find hangover cures in liquor stores, corkscrews in liquor stores and wine shops, and various cheeses in the better wine stores: you sell stuff that your customer wants.

"Welcome to Doobies And Donuts, may I take your order?"

"So come on down to Westley's Weed & Waffles! Open 24/7!"

"Every Saturday is Dimebag day as Billy's Bongs and Burritos!"

[AdminAssistant]

Ooh, another Fun Fact - back in my old town, a couple of Middle Eastern restaurants set up *cough* "Hookah Lounges" where you could select from a variety of shisha and tobacco products or, y'know, bring your own, which they didn't really inspect. They provided free snacks.

[Jester]

Fun Fact: In the State of Kansas, liquor stores aren't allowed to sell anything that isn't beer, wine, or spirits. No mixers, no Tylenol, no corkscrews, no glassware (unless packaged with liquor), no nothing. My favorite store set aside a corner of their building, gave it a separate entrance and different address, and sells all their not-beer stuff there as a way to get around the rules.

One of the dumber state liquor laws I've heard of. I'd like to say I'm surprised, but considering some of the dumb state laws I've heard, I can't say that I am.

Regarding alcohol laws (and ONLY talking about alcohol laws here!), I am proud to say my home state of Arizona has some of the most sensible laws out there.

Grocery stores can sell beer, wine, AND liquor. One stop shopping! And there are still liquor stores, which are a bit more specialized, generally. All of the above can sell mixers, bar implements, etc. And all places that sell alcohol, be they bars, grocery stores, convenience stores, or liquor stores (or any others I may have missed) all have the same hours they can sell them. And all forms of liquor (beer, wine, and spirits) can all be sold until the same hours; no difference among them.

So yeah, you can get a beer at a bar until 2 am, or you can buy a bottle of Jack at a grocery store until 2 am, or you can buy wine at a liquor store until 2 am (assuming said vendor is open that late). And this is across the board throughout the state, as far as I know.

Considering all the other debatable stuff coming out of Arizona, this is a refreshing blast of logic and reason! (And if I haven't made it clear, no, I don't want to debate any of the other laws coming out of Arizona; this thread is about drug and alcohol laws, thank you very much.)

[Greenday]

Fun Fact: In the State of Kansas, liquor stores aren't allowed to sell anything that isn't beer, wine, or spirits. No mixers, no Tylenol, no corkscrews, no glassware (unless packaged with liquor), no nothing. My favorite store set aside a corner of their building, gave it a separate entrance and different address, and sells all their not-beer stuff there as a way to get around the rules.

Pennsylvania is similar. Liquor stores can only sell liquor and wine, those appliances to aid in opening bottles and such is okay. Definitely no beer or other consumables. Beer is sold by distributors and they only sell cases of beers. No six packs.

[protege]

Yep, PA is still very much in the Dark Ages when it comes to booze. Much of it leftovers from the 1930s, it seems. It was only recently that you could buy booze on Sundays. Like Greenday said, beer has always been sold at distributors. I don't know about the eastern end of the state, but here, that's starting to change. Certain brands are sold at grocery stores. Now, there's a movement to privatize the state-owned liquor stores. I don't know if that'll ever happen. The state seems to enjoy the markup they earn on those sales...and the monopoly that they currently have.

[Greenday]

I do know one pizza place that sold six packs and didn't ID, but it was in a really shady part of town and I stopped going there once I was old enough to drink legally.