Stimulants Increase Risk of Drug Dependence

[The Northern California Study is a 28-year investigation performed by Dr. Nadine Lambert’s research team at the University of California (Berkeley). This study is compelling because the data came from multiple sources (parents, physicians, teachers, patients) and at several different times (eight separate interviews).]

“Of the original 492 children (282 with hyperactivity, 210 controls) in the Northern California study, 202 reported some cocaine use by the age of 40. Treatment with stimulants in early childhood was associated with a two-fold higher risk of cocaine dependence, an association which was six times stronger than the link between conduct problems and later dependence upon cocaine.

“The significance of Lambert’s findings rests partly upon the fact that the use of cocaine and nicotine were carefully monitored prospectively over time. In all cases, substance abuse commenced after the initiation of treatment with stimulant medications. This suggests that prescription stimulants re-wired the subjects’ brains in ways which sensitized neural pathways to future drug experimentation or compulsive use…”

—Grace E. Jackson, MD, March 18, 2006, FDA, FACT SHEET: ADDICTION & STIMULANTS