ALARM OVER RISE IN 'KIDDY COKE' DEALING

Ritalin, a Class B drug, is being abused by children.

THE city council faces demands for an inquiry into the abuse of
hyperactivity drug Ritalin by city schoolchildren.

Corstorphine councillor Paul Edie wants an investigation after drugs
workers reported more children trading their prescribed Ritalin pills as a
cocaine substitute.

The latest craze has been reported in the Capital by Janice Hill of the
charity Overload Network. She said children as young as 12 were crushing up
the tablets with codeine and snorting the powder, dubbed "kiddy coke", for
an instant high. More than 400 people contacted the charity over the last
year about the drug.

Councillor Edie said: "I want to find out the exact extent of the problem
in the Edinburgh area. The best person to tell us that is the director of
social work who heads up the drug action team. "

"It is possible kids don't just supply to dealers, but to other children,
which there is anecdotal evidence for."

The Lib Dem councillor added: "It is important we get an idea of what's
going on and perhaps we need to revise procedures within schools if there
is a problem."

Lothian and Borders Police have said they are aware of Ritalin as a drug
which can be misused and are treating the matter seriously. But the
council, which has previously denied there is a problem with Ritalin misuse
in city schools, refused to comment on the call for an investigation.

However, Ms Hill said the drug is selling on the streets of Edinburgh for
just 50p. She added that abuse of Ritalin had started in the Capital around
five years ago, but was accelerating as more children were prescribed the
drug. Ritalin is becoming increasing popular with Edinburgh youngsters. In
the United States more children take it illegally than legally.

She said: "We have to look at the surge in the number of children being
medicated and address the appalling lack of information parents are given.
When we interviewed parents, none knew it was a class B drug and had the
same pharmacology as cocaine. This is not scaremongering, it is not a
benign stimulant and parents need to know that, it's not a Smartie.

"We know of one boy who was sent to school with 80 Ritalin tablets and when
he arrived he only had eight. We can't hoodwink kids by saying you can't
take illegal amphetamines like cocaine and then send them to the NHS."

When the charity opened its Norton Park Centre clinic for children with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Hawkhill, the number of calls
they received was "alarming". She said children and adults were desperately
seeking help to get off Ritalin.

Workers also discovered a large pocket of dependency in Leith, where
dealers were replacing poor quality amphetamine with Ritalin.

In Scotland prescriptions for methylphenidate hydrochloride, the scientific
name for Ritalin, increased by almost 11 per cent in a year from 22,401 in
2000/01 to 24,801 in 2001/02. The drug, meant to calm children who are
hyperactive or have attention deficit disorder, has the opposite effect
when snorted or injected.