ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 30, 1996 TAG: 9612020021
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GARY KANE COX NEWS SERVICE
When Christopher Gore tried to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard in late 1994, he was rejected for having a history of drug use.
But the clean-cut Dillard, Ga., youth was no junkie. The drug he had used was Ritalin, a medication prescribed for attention-deficit disorders.
Scores of young men and women across the country are learning that the Ritalin they took as teen-agers is stopping them from starting a military career.
``I was shocked and disappointed,'' said Gore, 22, who is about to start selling radio ads. ``I didn't expect [Ritalin] to affect my future like this.''
Pentagon policy planners are increasingly concerned about Ritalin's effect on the future of the military.
``Ritalin use is a problem for us because we want to qualify as many quality people as we can for military service,'' said Lt. Col. Ed Baldwin.
All branches of the armed forces reject potential enlistees who use Ritalin or similar behavior-modifying medications.
A longstanding Department of Defense directive also instructs the military to reject those with a ``chronic history'' of an academic skills defect - including ADD - after age 12. And people who took Ritalin as teenagers to treat ADD, an inhibitor of academic skills, are rejected from military service, even if they no longer take the medication.
Master Sgt. Cruz Torres, a Marine recruiter in Royal Palm Beach, said that at least one out of an average of 50 potential recruits who are interviewed every month is rejected because of past or current Ritalin use.
``Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do if the person has been using Ritalin,'' he said. ``It's considered to be a mind-altering drug. Because of that, the services look at it as a very, very serious drug.''
Parents, doctors and teachers are largely unaware that the military services are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act and can discriminate against people using such behavior-modifying drugs as Ritalin, recruiters say.
Harold and Jane Gore had no idea that allowing their son to take Ritalin would someday sink his hopes to enlist in the Coast Guard.
``I think a lot of parents put their children on Ritalin and don't think about the possible consequences,'' said Harold Gore.
The Gores maintain that their son never was hyperactive. But they were concerned about his academic performance, so they took him in 1984 to an Atlanta pediatrician. The doctor prescribed Ritalin to improve the youth's concentration. Christopher took 10 milligrams of Ritalin daily from 1985 to 1988. He took the medication intermittently through 1991.
A Coast Guard recruiter interviewed Gore on Dec. 22, 1994. Gore passed written and physical tests. When asked about prescription drug use in a questionnaire, he mentioned Ritalin.
On Jan. 24, 1995, he was disqualified.
``It was a real disappointment,'' Gore recalled. ``And the irony is that I never wanted to take Ritalin in the first place. It wasn't like I was dependent on it.''
The Coast Guard recruiter requested a medical waiver for Gore, noting his ``eagerness to enlist'' and his above-average scores in math and reading comprehension. The waiver was denied. ``Use of Ritalin after age 12 years,'' was cited as the reason.
Gore said he later met a group of Marine recruiters who encouraged him to enlist. They advised him not to disclose his past Ritalin use, he said. But the recruiters subsequently found that Gore's medical disqualification had already been extended to all branches of the military.
Since 1990, the use of Ritalin nationwide has increased sixfold. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 3 percent to 5 percent of all children under the age of 18 have ADD.
A survey of 103 schools conducted by The Palm Beach Post showed that 2,002 elementary school pupils and 462 middle school students took Ritalin daily last year. School nurses say they've noticed a trend in Ritalin use: Kids are staying on the medication longer.
The burgeoning use of Ritalin is prompting military planners to take a closer look at ADD and how it might affect future manpower needs. The Pentagon is studying the training-camp performance of former Ritalin users who enlisted with the help of a medical waiver, said policy-planner Baldwin, a medical doctor.
Basic training has changed over the years and now involves a lot of classroom work, he noted. Former Ritalin users pose a recruitment risk largely because they needed the medication to succeed in the classroom.
Most branches of the armed services will consider a medical waiver for a person who has been off Ritalin for one to three years, Baldwin said. However, that recruit probably would have to show that he or she has held a job or completed college study while free of the drug.
``We're eager to use all the people we can, but we don't want to take the unknown,'' he said.
No medical waivers are available to current Ritalin users.
Compounding the recruitment problem is the issue of ADD overdiagnosis.
``We realize there are people with a history of Ritalin use who never needed it and disqualified themselves from [military] service,'' Baldwin said.
Baldwin discussed the issue Friday with a representative of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders), a national advocacy group based in Plantation, Ga.
``They wanted us to have a greater awareness of the ADD problem,'' he said. ``And I told them that they need to clarify for physicians and families whether there is a need to put high school kids on Ritalin, and to get after unnecessary Ritalin use.''
CHADD and others are questioning the military's stand on Ritalin.
``In a number of cases, a person struggling in school needs a lot of structure in their life. The military would be great for them,'' said Mark Stein, associate professor of clinical psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Chicago.
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