CROSS ADDICTION! –
Nov. 14, 2022 – Amphetamine withdrawal symptoms, including depression, are not easily addressed with other kinds of drugs. So as countless individuals are confronting having to rapidly taper or stop, we’re facing a real possibility of a public health disaster on a scale not seen since the prescription opioid crisis that began a decade ago.
Instead of enduring withdrawal, other individuals cut off from Adderall are likely to turn to alternative stimulants like crystal meth, fueling a much broader crisis.
The early 2010s taught us that dependence and addiction don’t simply disappear when the pills do. At that time, catastrophic regulation failures contributed to widespread opioid dependence and addiction. The government response to the prescription opioid crisis focused on rapidly reducing supply: crackdowns on pill mills, tightened restrictions on prescribing and reformulation of products to make them harder to snort and inject. This approach backfired, pushing many users onto the illicit market.
