I find it interesting that different countries have such varied opinions on stimulant & non-stimulant medication for ADHD. It appears that the world is in agreement in how to diagnose ADHD, however this is not the case when it comes to approving medication in treating the disorder.

For example, here in Australia the only stimulant meds available are in the form of dextroamphetamine (dexamphetmine) and methylphenidate (ritalin) along with the non-stimulant med, strattera! You then compare that to what is available in the US and so on...

Why would this be the case? Especially when it is quite obvious that people have varied success with different meds.

Im not really looking for answers, its just more of an observation that doesn't make sense!

Surely, having the multitude of ADHD medications available to everyone would result in a better outcome for successful treatment!

Out of curiosity, which country actually offers to widest variety of meds?

Out of curiosity, which country actually offers to widest variety of meds?

That would be the United States of America. ;)

Canada is a lot more open about ADHD meds, because in the US prescription stimulants are a Schedule II controlled substance. In Canada they are only Schedule III, there is not the stigma attached to Ritalin here. LOL, In the US Cannabis is a Schedule I! In Canada it is Schedule VIII and only if over 1 ounce! Anything 1 ounce and below isn't even considered a controlled substance, but rather "personal use". Sometimes it is a good ADHD med ;)

Also, all the different types are here, Dexedrine, Desoxyn, Adderall, Strattera (but who the hell wants that anyway? :rolleyes:)

God I love my country :D

That would be the United States of America. ;)

yet it appears that US are far more restrictive on approving new anti-depressant meds than other countries!

hmm! maybe by stimulating everyone the US is eradicating depression ;)


mincan: interestingly enough it is alleged that pot is the number one drug that ADHDers self medicate with!

When did Desoxyn become legal in Canada?

Is Daytrana available there? What about Vyvanse?

This forum is for the discussion of legal medications that are approved for the treatment of ADHD. There are many things that are reported to be good for treating ADHD, however not all are legally approved for treatment.

If you both want to discuss the therapeutic use of cannabis, I suggest that you post in another forum where discussion of that kind of drug therapy is allowed.

Thanks

Daytrana, is that the patch? I believe so because my psychiatrist recommended it to me. I have read that desoxyn is legal.

Sorry about that earlier post ...

I have read that desoxyn is legal.
Can you provide me a link to that information? I would like to read about that.

Is Vyvanse available there?

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=554 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=normal align=left> Desoxyn is legal in Canada but amphetamines and their salts, derivatives and analogues are governed by the provisions of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act applicable to Schedule III in the Canadian Criminal Code.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.choix.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=331&Itemid=374

I'm not sure if Desoxyn would be Schedule III like the other stimulants or II or I here.

Desoxyn is not appoved for the treatment of ADHD in Canada. Perhaps it might be approved for use in research up there, but that is completely different than being approved to treat ADHD.

For example, cocaine is not approved for the treatment of ADHD. However it is approved for some medical procedures, and for research in the United States of America as a schedule II. http://pharmaceuticals.mallinckrodt.com/Products/Product.asp?UT=0&ProductID=5498

What about Vyvanse?

"Canada is a lot more open about ADHD meds" Hmmmm

"Canada is a lot more open about ADHD meds" Hmmmm

Hey..... I'm talking about the scheduling...Schedule III not II for stimulant meds.
I don't have to literally walk my script all over the place, my doc just calls it in.

What about Vyvanse?

Why do you keep asking about that? Fine, I looked it up and it isn't here YET. But I know Daytrana is, because my psych said when I got on a drug plan I could use that for Ritalin application, I will decline since all I've learned on sustained releases versus Instant Releases.

I have to say, in Japan, as I know, the only drug officially labelled for ADHD is Concerta, and it was approved very recently-- which was after Ritalin has been used off-label there for decades.

China has its different generic forms of Ritalin.

Hong Kong traditionally uses Ritalin IR only, but also have Concerta. Strattera is newly launched. Nonetheless, in public health system, these medicine are not prescribed to 18+.

Canada is a lot more open about ADHD meds, because in the US prescription stimulants are a Schedule II controlled substance. In Canada they are only Schedule III

Having a looser control on prescription stimulants has nothing to do with how "open" a country is concerning those drugs. One would logically assume that being more "open" about ADHD medications would mean having as many of the prescription ADHD medications as there are available on the planet. Which if you recal the original question in this thread was, "which country actually offers the widest variety of meds?" The tighter controls on those drugs has nothing to do with preventing anyone who has them legally prescribed from obtaining them.

What the tighter controls are designed to do is to help prevent the people who are abusing these drugs from having easier access to them. Considering that the population of Canada is only about 33 million people, and the population of the United States of America is over 300 million people, it makes sense to me how Canada would have far fewer social problems, like drug abuse for example. I can understand why your country would not need the tighter controls. However, I think it's a shame that your country does not allow you options like Desoxyn, Vyvanse, and perhaps Focalin. Especially since I feel that Desoxyn is the single most therapeutically safe medication prescribed for this condition, and also perhaps the most effective in my opinion. I'm not sure if Focalin is available there or not. Do you know if Focalin is?

All that being said, I for one am very grateful that the system here takes as many steps as necessary in order to help prevent the illegal use of these medications that help so many us. Thanks to having tighter controls on these drugs, the United States of America has more stimulant medication options to choose from than any other country in the world, which was the question posted by the OP.


I don't have to literally walk my script all over the place, my doc just calls it in.
I don't have to walk my script all over the place either. I walk out of the Dr's office to my car, and from there I drive to my pharmacy who fills my prescription for whatever ADHD medication my Dr and I choose is best (instead of my country choosing) for me.

If you think that having to get a hand written prescription is really a hassle, then I suspect you might not understand Americans as well as you think you do. "Most" Americans complain about almost anything that takes any extra time out of their day, like if they have to wait an extra couple of minutes at a fast food drive through would be a good example, so when it comes to Americans complaining about stuff like this being a hassle, I would encourage you to consider the "fast food" (meaning I want it now, and I want it all) culture that we have down here, consider the age of people who are complaining about things like this, and then take such complaints with a grain of salt, because not all Americans are like this.

I'm not saying that some folks don't ever experience a hassle due to having to obtain a hand written prescription, I'm just saying that it's not as big of an issue as you might think based on what you read about it at online forums. In fact, given the choice of actually being hassled with having to obtain a written prescription that allows me access to all the medication options available for my Dr & me to choose from, or not being hassled about this with only a limited choice of medication options to choose from, I would choose having as many medication options as possible any day of the week. ;)




Why do you keep asking about that? I asked you about Vyvanse because I was wondering if it was available up there. You live in Canada, so I assumed it was something you might be able to answer for me. Thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to answer that for me. ;)

In Japan, Amphetamines are highly illegal.

It's pretty lame, actually. Granted, they were the country where the person invented Amphetamine but even then, pseudophedrine found in cold meds are also highly illegal and anything more than 2 or 3 pills can cause visitors to get detained at Narita airport. There's a few horror stories out there about tourists who brought the stuff back with them.

It's curious that Vyvanse is schedule II, while benzphetamine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzphetamine) is schedule III. Is there a logic reason for this difference, especially since both metabolize to amphetamine?

I have to say, in Japan, as I know, the only drug officially labelled for ADHD is Concerta, and it was approved very recently-- which was after Ritalin has been used off-label there for decades.

It's interesting that methylphenidate was patented (1954) after Japan's Stimulant Control Law (1951), which was passed to address the significant amphetamine abuse problem seen there after WWII. One wonders if it would be available there if the timing had been different.

Considering that the population of Canada is only about 33 million people, and the population of the United States of America is over 300 million people, it makes sense to me how Canada would have far fewer social problems, like drug abuse for example.

In absolute numbers, of course, but the rate of social problems? Why would a lower population country have a lower rate of social problems and drug abuse? Taken to it's extreme that would mean that splitting the US into 50 countries would reduce social problems and drug abuse, or that merging the EU into one nation would increase social problems and drug abuse.

In Australia, Dex, Methyphenidate and Strattera are the only government _subsidised_ ADHD drugs... all the others are _legally prescribable_ by a Dr, but the PBS (pharmaceutical rebate scheme) won't help pay for it -- you're on your own. If it's something fairly exotic, you may have to order it in from overseas, as the pharmacies generally won't be stocking it, but you'll still need the prescription to do so legally if it's a controlled substance. Not all ADHD medications are in the controlled substance schedule, but the ampetamine and amphetamine-like drugs are (dex, methylphenidate and so on.) If it's not on the controlled list (most pharamceuticals aren't) you don't even need a prescription to bring in quantities for personal use.

So if you're willing to pay full price for the medication, and you convince your Dr to prescribe it, you can have it. But you may have to pay $200 for a pack of pills rather than $30... out of reach for many people.

Note that many ADHD sufferes were being prescribed Ritalin here for many years before it was finally approved for subsidy by the PBS -- it was always available, just expensive.

The other thing is that even if a drug is PBS subsidised, it may only be eligible for the subsidy if it prescribed for the approved condition. For example, modafinil (Modavigil, Provigil) is subsidised for the treatment of narcolepsy (in which case you pay $30) but not ADHD (you pay $200).

In the US, there is no equivalent to the PBS scheme like they have here in Australia (actually most countries have something like this -- the US is actually the exception in this regard.) Over there, any subsidy will generally be through your private health insurance.

I lived and worked for several years in the US. One thing I don't miss is the endless hours arguing with the insurance comapny, the hospital, the Drs, and the debt collectors(!). I'm not exaggerating... once the hospital got so fed up with being promised payment by the insurance company which never materialised, they ended up selling the debt to collectors,who then started hassling _me_ -- even though I was insured and the insurance company had agreed to pay six months earlier! (but never actually would...) I actually came back to to live in Australia before that four-way argument got resolved.

Interestingly, I was told by a credit lender that these sort of medical "delinquencies" had become so common that the credit ratings agencies were starting to ignore them (in other words, they wouldn't affect your credit rating.) Just because such a huge number of otherwise completely responsible people were getting caught in the middle of insurance company/medical provider disputes...

Anyway, I was amazed... home of the brave, land of the free... and perhaps the most broken, inefficient and expensive medical services system you can imagine. You really couldn't dream up something more completely dysfunctional if you tried!

Sorry for the rant. Just remembering all that nonsense that got me a bit worked up there! :D

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Thanks!