Shortage of ADHD Drug Result of DEA Oversight

Arguably, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration performs a vital role for the country in the "War on Drugs." Those who have looked closely at the non-gamed stats – which indicate that drug use remains as high as ever, tons of drugs come into the country each year and that the drug business is, in fact, very lucrative – probably understand that the DEA is just another bloated government agency that really achieves very little other than "creating" jobs for government employees (to the detriment of the rest of the tax-paying public).

So now, ironically, the DEA is butting into yet another situation, perhaps in an attempt to convince people that the agency should exist in the first place. The result, of course, is a whole lot of trouble. Turns out that the drug Adderall, which is generally prescribed to those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is tightly controlled because the DEA has authority over one of the ingredients that goes into making the drug. The DEA allows companies to purchase the chief ingredient (mixed amphetamine salts, or API), but not in enough quantity to ever have any true inventory.

The estimates of required stores by the DEA don’t really line up with what industry says is necessary (surprise, surprise – a problem with government numbers). Notes Ruth Hughes, chief executive of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), "I am very concerned about the future. No one seems to have much inventory to get us through the months ahead." Barbara Carreno, a DEA spokeswoman, notes that "any shortages of these products is therefore a result of decisions made by industry regarding manufacturing or distribution." Carreno, however, would not explain what she meant, leaving us to conclude that, yet again, the government is quite wrong on the matter but doesn’t want to admit it.