Stimulant Drug use by INDUSTRY

In My Humble Opinion
1

Ever wondered which industry uses the most amount of Ritalin, Adderall, Dexedrine, Focalin etc.?
The news article ‘The Great Adderall shortage of 2011’ brought this issue to my attention. There are to date no definitive sources on which industries use the most amount of stimulant drugs and I believe the Government should pursue this line of enquiry. What does it say about our working environments when people believe they must take stimulant drugs to stay competitive?

Rules:
[ul]
[li]Caffeine & Nicotine are excluded ** from the definition of stimulant drugs for obvious reasons (lol)[/li][li]People using stimulant drugs to negate effects of painkillers such as morphine is excluded from the study[/li][li]You do not have to vote just on your behalf. If you know people at work who take these drugs to boost performance please vote for them by proxy**.[/li][/ul]

2

My guess is transportation/warehousing. Pilots in particular have to stay awake for long periods of time.

As far as what it says about our working environments, I have no comment (I don’t particularly care).

3

Doctors. I’ve been told by more than one that Rxs of Provigil are the norm for hospital docs and surgeons.

4

I would have WAG’d government just for the amount prescribed to deployed military.

5

I voted government, only because I know the military (Air Force especially) has used stimulants - and some of the OP meds are also stimulants - for decades. There are tons and tons of cites if you google military use of stimulants.

Second guess would be the medical profession, possibly your choice # 7.

OP, you say “There are to date no definitive sources on which industries use the most amount of stimulant drugs and I believe the Government should pursue this line of enquiry.”

There’s a difference between “Prescription stimulant drugs, encouraged or even mandated by the industry” (eg military) and “the number of people employed in x, y or z field who have a regular prescription for stimulant-type meds.”

The first is an external locus of control - the employer - and the second is self-selected users; an internal locus of control. So I think your question and premise (“What does it say about our working environments when people believe they must take stimulant drugs to stay competitive?”) is a bit vague.

You might get more responses if you clarify what your opinion is. I sorta feel that you have an agenda or trying to make a point but I can’t figure out what it is.

6

Also - why do you believe “the government” should look into why people in one profession are more likely to use prescription stimulants than another? Quite frankly I don’t want the government “looking into” my legal prescription drug use. (I don’t take any prescription drugs at the moment, but still.)

7

My guess would be chefs. There’s a stereotype of chefs using cocaine on and off the job so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were using other stimulants as well.

Edit - is this poll for guesses or for if you know for sure if people in an industry use stimulants?

8

Long distance trucking or medicine, most likely. Also manufacturing environments where there are constant shift changes (in some they change from day shift to night shift every 2 weeks). But of those which has it the worst, I have no idea. In a way I’d assume medicine since doctors have a better idea which drugs to take, so they’d probably be more proactive. Then again they have more to lose if they get caught using drugs improperly.

Also you only have catecholamine ADHD drugs in your list. Modafinil/Adrafinil/Nuvigil is a different drug that is also used.

9

In general, The FAA does not permit any of the ADD/ADHD medications for pilots, and the diagnosis of ADD or ADHD itself is disqualifying. (ie you couldn’t hold a medical)
There may be special circumstances for a few, non- ADD/ADHD uses. This usually involves a lot of paperwork and testing.