The War on Drugs apparently does not include the school systems in this country.

Two federal government programs maybe responsible for skyrocketing diagnoses of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in school children, observers noted. They also point out that the diagnoses have been accompanied by surging sales of Ritalin, a stimulant used to treat ADHD. The drug produces effects similar to cocaine and amphetamines... and an underground market for it is developing.

The Supplemental Security Income program hands out cash to low-income parents whose children are diagnosed as having ADHD -- which the government accepts as a learning disability.

Hundreds of dollars in special-education grant money is awarded to schools each year by the Department of Education for every child diagnosed with ADHD.

The government began funding schools and families for ADHD childen in the early 1990s -- since then Ritalin sales have nearly tripled.

Moreover, growth in ADHD diagnoses was flat for years prior to initiation of these two programs, but it has shot up an average of 21 percent a year since.

Ritalin.... Consumption of this drug has jumped from 3 tons in 1990... to 10 tons in 1995. Emergency room Ritalin cases for 10 to 14 year olds in that period is up 1000% (International Narcotics Control Board).

In addition to Ritalin, kids are being prescribed a vast array of psychiatric drugs including:

Anti-depressants (Fluxentine) trade names ... Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Luvox, Effexor, Serzone, Anfafranil, and the diet pills Fenfluramine & Redux. These drugs inhibit the "neuronal reuptake" of serotonin.

Other minor tranquilizer... anti-anxiety drugs are Valium, Librium, Xanax and Halcion.

Then there is "antipsychotic" or "neuroleptic" drugs which include Thorazine, Mellaril, Prolixin, Compazine, Stelazine and Haldol.

ABC's Colorado affiliate KCNC News4 reports (5/4/99):

"[T]he coroner has released further toxicology reports on Eric Harris, one of the two dead suspects. Specialized testing shows levels of Luvox in Harris' blood in a therapeutic range."

It's nice to know the boy wasn't depressed when he assaulted his Columbine classmates. But it's not so nice to know that parents are allowing childern to be dosed (and according to one researcher in Virginia, overdosed) with drugs in schools across the country. It seems that parents who don't know how to be parents have found a way to "cope" with their misbehaved children: dope 'em down.

As one parent told me, it's hard to tell my son that drugs are bad when he has to take Ritalin all of the time. Knowing the background of the boy's mother, I'd almost bet she's getting cash from a government program. The boy's father may or may not be aware of the bonus money paid to keep his son in a daze.

We tend to believe that most children are active and a good percentage of them aren't all that interested in homework. Neither of these conditions is an excuse for trying to drug them into submission with the government's blessing.

Maybe their attention problem comes from a lack of proper mental stimulation by their parents and teachers.

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