Is your Adderrall not hitting the way it used to? What’s the deal with legal amphetamines these days?
In October, the FDA announced a shortage of "the immediate release formulation of amphetamine mixed salts, commonly referred to by the brand name Adderall." This is the first time I’m hearing Adderall referred to as “amphetamine mixed salts”, which definitely makes it sound more like an illegal drug and less like a reliable college study buddy.
The medication is used as treatment for ADHD, among other things, and its stimulant properties help both children and adults focus, concentrate, and complete day-to-day tasks. But five months after the FDA announcement, we're still dealing with a nationwide Adderall shortage. This is partly due to a huge increase in demand during the Covid pandemic, which was only made worse once tele-health providers were allowed to prescribe it.
The Drug Enforcement Agency also tightly regulates how much Adderall is on the market because of its high abuse potential, meaning there's only a limited amount available at a time. Additionally, many pharmaceutical industries employ what’s referred to as "just in time production," where they make just enough drugs to stock the shelves with limited redundancy.
Whether it’s due to a build up of tolerance to the drug or a noticeable difference between the original and generic versions of it, the fact remains, the Adderall isn’t Adderall-ing like it used to.
Side Items
French Protests Continue: The trash continues to pile up and French citizens continue to make their displeasure felt. It remains to be seen whether French President Macron can command a parliamentary majority for his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 so that workers can pay more money into the system. If not, he could risk imposing the unpopular changes unilaterally, which may spark the next French Revolution. Another relevant detail is that Macron’s plan also denies a full pension to anyone who retires at 64 without having worked for 43 years, otherwise they’d have to wait until they turn 67
Unleash the Madness: March Madness starts today, making it one of the better sports days of the year. For those interested, there will be nonstop college basketball action all day, with 126 games featured over the coming three weeks. Sadly the team I support has chosen to be bad this season, so I won’t be as tuned in, but I’ll be rooting for Duke to lose spectacularly alongside every other sensible person in the country
RIP Bobby Caldwell: The silky-voiced master of blue-eyed soul was perhaps best known for confusing people on his racial identity, as well as his R&B hit “What You Won’t Do for Love,” which is still a top-tier track all these years later. Caldwell died at the age of 71