--- title: Kids on ADHD Medication Are More Likely to be Bullied: Study description: Especially if they've ever given their drugs to someone else canonical: https://time.com/4121215/adhd-kids-on-medication-more-likely-to-be-bullied/ author: Belinda Luscombe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-20T05:02:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:10.764Z og:title: Kids on ADHD Medication Are More Likely to be Bullied, Study Says og:description: Especially if they've ever given their drugs to someone else og:url: https://time.com/4121215/adhd-kids-on-medication-more-likely-to-be-bullied/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt799b86e4c114e6d0/6986851cadae441dd6541ebd/adhd-medication.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Adhd Medication og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kids on ADHD Medication Are More Likely to be Bullied, Study Says twitter:description: Especially if they've ever given their drugs to someone else twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt799b86e4c114e6d0/6986851cadae441dd6541ebd/adhd-medication.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kids on ADHD Medication Are More Likely to Be Bullied, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=33c99620-6791-4497-88a8-d1374d3f9f42&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids [Watch (HLS stream): Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6Ic4KUCK.m3u8) (16:16)  _Published 2014-10-21. The story of a family's illegal cross-country drive to transport marijuana oil for their epileptic 3-year-old daughter. A look inside the quasi-legal, science free world of medical marijuana for children from TIME's Red Border Films_  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Nov 20, 2015 5:02 AM UTC  Adderall XR is arranged in a Cambridge, Massachusetts pharmacy Tuesday, August 15th. Shire Plc shares rose as much as 6.4 percent after the company settled a patent lawsuit with Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., protecting Shire's best-selling Adderall XR hyperactivity drug from cheaper rival copies until 2009\. PHOTOGRAPHER: JB REED Adderall XR is arranged in a Cambridge, Massachusetts pharmacy Tuesday, August 15th. Shire Plc shares rose as much as 6.4 percent after the company settled a patent lawsuit with Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., protecting Shire's best-selling Adderall XR hyperactivity drug from cheaper rival copies until 2009\. PHOTOGRAPHER: JB REED Getty Images  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Nov 20, 2015 5:02 AM UTC Children who take commonly-prescribed stimulants to treat their attention disorders are more likely to be victimized at school than children who do not have ADHD, according to a new study. The findings come from a survey of almost 5,000 children in five public school across four years, comparing those who had ADHD; those who had recently been prescribed medication for it; those whose medication had ever been “diverted,” meaning it didn’t get to its intended recipient; and kids with no diagnosis. [Just because you’re a parent doesn’t mean all your reading has to be be boring: sign up for TIME’s weekly parenting newsletter.](http://time.com/t4parents) “We know that among adolescents in the U.S., prescription stimulants are some of the most misused and shared diverted and drugs,” says Quyen Epstein-Ngo, a research assistant Psychology professor at the University of Michigan. “We also know that bullying is a real issue. There was some research that suggested that kids were having their medication stolen or were being coerced into giving it away.” Epstein-Ngo believes access to the drugs may be one of the reasons that children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are targeted. “Kids who have a prescription are twice as likely to be victimized as those without ADHD,” says Epstein-Ngo, and for those who had ever shared their prescription, whether willingly or under duress, that likelihood more than doubled. Children who have either shared their medication or had it taken from them in the previous 12 months were also even more likely—four and a half times more likely—to be frequently bullied, the study showed. ADHD has become an increasingly common condition in the past few years; climbing 40% between 2003 and 2011\. It’s now estimated that one in 10 children have been diagnosed with an attention disorder. Prescriptions for ADHD medications have also spiked, rising 27% between 2007 and 2011, the latest years for which figures are available. Among the most common treatments are stimulants, such as an amphetamine-dextroamphetamine combination agent or methylphenidate, both of which are Schedule II controlled substances. [Read TIME’s special report on Growing up with ADHD](http://time.com/growing-up-with-adhd/) Previous studies have shown that kids who have ADHD often have a harder time making friends, have more anxiety and substance abuse issues and are more likely to go the emergency room than those without the disorder. Those conditions alone would leave them open to more peer victimization, but being in possession of drugs appears to be making it worse. “There are a few reasons why kids want these drugs,” says Epstein-Ngo. “Kids get high off of them. The drugs may enhance the effects of other drugs, which is very dangerous stuff. They also may want the drugs to study for finals or exams.” The most dangerous time for kids to lose their medicine seems to be just as they are entering high school, since freshmen both want to be accepted and are the most physically vulnerable. While Epstein-Ngo wants there to be more study into the phenomenon, she thinks schools should be aware of the potential for victimization, and consider keeping any drugs in their nurse’s or principal’s office. She also wants parents to have a discussion with their children, letting them know that it’s a bad idea—and also illegal—to sell or share the drugs. “It’s important to have the conversations about not sharing for any reason,” she says. “Even with a friend.” ## Transcript We don't wanna break the law. We don't wanna do this, we have to do this. Cannabis extract is illegal. And that's what my product is. I never stop thinking about the legal issues. As I cross into every state, that's breaking a lot of federal law. I don't believe that any of the law enforcement agencies want to lock out what is potentially a last treatment option for these patients. [ NOISE ] It's okay. It's okay. There still are many, many children and adults with epilepsy who can't be controlled with existing therapies. I cannot recommend using a medical marijuana product. It was worth it because it helps my daughter. If it's helping kids, why isn't it. We thought, well, why can't you do it? [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] This is about as big of a piece as we'd wanna cut at once. This is our first day of harvest. [ INAUDIBLE ] in here, that's the problem. Say we get this big girl [ NOISE ] Each plant is a whole- plant extract, so we have to cut the plant. And final, so we'll kinda put the next plant about right here. So as long as we all know. The size that we're cutting for has to dry, fully dry before we're able to process it in the lab. Now you're through that. Now you can start on the next one. Here is the next one. I've got a, I've got a really nice one We stepped onto the field June 3rd. Is that your sandal? I'll fill this one up. Perfect. We planted 17 acres with an estimated 36, 000 plants. [ MUSIC ] We'll likely serve several thousand patients with this. These grow big. [ MUSIC ] Which is good. My name is Penn Madison and I am the head manager here at Stanley Brothers Social Enterprises. You need to change hands. [ LAUGH ] [ INAUDIBLE ] And we grow medical hemp. [ MUSIC ] We have a little girl, Nellie, who's two and a half. Yeah. Is that one hurting? Are you getting frustrated? Huh? She is intractable apolopsy. That's a debilitating form of epilepsy. One in 26 people will have epilepsy in their lifetime. Three million Americans have epilepsy. 50 million people world wide have epilepsy. It is one of the most common neurologic disorders. Yeah. We had no idea wether or not medical help would work. What we did know is that, everything else we had tried had not. We'd seen specialist all over the country. We tried multiple anti- epileptic drugs. Hm- mm. Yeah? I would say in the last year too we have seen an increase in children that are here from out of state. That have been brought by families to try variants of medical marijuana. [ MUSIC ] The laws in Tennessee didn't allow us to have this delivered to us there. It didn't allow this to be an option to give it to her there. [ MUSIC ] So the option of moving to Colorado to pursue medical marijuana was a viable option for us. And so we chose to do that. [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] We start with tissue culture plants. They'll be grown for their entire season. When they're ripe they'll be harvested. Dried. Once they're cured right they will come back to the lab for extraction. In which we will extract all of the valuable parts of the plant into a fine oil. Then that oil is used to create specific dilutions of a dietary supplement. That they'll be called Charlotte's Web. [ MUSIC ] At nine months old she was sleeping 20 hours a day. Kids that age like to grab things. Swat at things. We would have things hanging over her she would have no interest. Finally at about her nine month appointment. After we were able to find a neurologist to see us relatively quickly. He was fairly confident that [ INAUDIBLE ] spasms. She was barely able to grow in function, because she was having upwards of 200 seizures a day. Seizures are incredibly debilitating but there's also a lot of other things that can happen with a cognitive problems. Depression, anxiety [ MUSIC ] Hello! Hello! [ UNKNOWN ] Three times a day. [ UNKNOWN ] I see patients here two days a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and these are the consultation days, and also days where people come to pick up their medicine. In order to be ready for those two days, I spend. It's probably about another four days in lab making oil. Or with my brothers at the girl facilities. He was our first state licensee for the charlotte's web products. And it's fitting that he is a parents of a child with [ UNKNOWN ] syndrome. I am involved in this industry because of my daughter who is ten years old now and her name is Emily. Who has intractable epilepsy. [ NOISE ] It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. At her worst times, she's had a hundred to a hundred and fifty seizures a day. We've been told by a couple of doctors that we have to go home and enjoy our daughter as much as we can cause there is really not much hope left or anything else that will help so I spent a lot of time in California trying to find this medicine and you know I didn't have a lot of luck . >> We started doing our own research to see. What type of side effects? But why not try it. I just put my daughter on a medication that could've killed her. If it doesn't work, you put it to rest and we can move on with our lives. But if it does, nothing else has. Not everybody can come to Colorado, so there has to be something. Else we can do. My daughter was not doing good. She was having seizures, and I knew that there could be something that helps her, but I can't bring it to California, or I can't transport it. so it was very frustrating. It's okay. In the state where we live they do have a medical marijuana program. However, even if you were able to get through all of the bureaucratic hoops they have set up, the appropriate product for our daughter is not available. [ MUSIC ] Here I am, desperate father. I have to help my daughter. I need to have this for my daughter. So what is it gonna take? One thing led to another. How're you guys doing? [ INAUDIBLE ] We're doing okay. I am now the director of the foundation's California chapter. And that was the only way to do this legally. [ MUSIC ] I wish. When Emily started having seizures, ten years ago, somebody in this position. Existed. Where somebody would sit down across from me and say, this is what failed for people. This is what didn't. This is what others are doing. We were scared, one, to pick up and move and leave everything behind, but we weren't sure it was gonna work. Even in Colorado, the waiting list for Charlotte's Web oil is quite long, so it's not like you can just. Fly or drive to Colorado, pick it up and come home. Which apart from violating federal and state laws, It's just you can't do it. In California we found, an apartment, that we could do a short term rental. When we started giving her the marijuana in the first couple of doses even, we saw changes. She became more verbal. She became a lot more attentive. She was a lot more awake than she had been. [ LAUGH ] After the summer we wanted to give a longer time for our trial. So we made a decision that we were going to. Bring a supply back with us. [ MUSIC ]. They were able to identify a supplier in California my understanding who had what appears to be a very good product of oil high in CBD and they didn't want to fly with it, so apparently drove cross country to get their child this medication. Well I never stopped thinking about the legal issues. As I cross into every state I tried to make sure to be very careful. Any time I was tired I took a break. My daughter is doing great. She's now down to about 20 a day. She's far more interactive with the world around her. She has far more enjoyment. She's not playing beside the world, she's playing in the world where she lives now. And that, to me, is everything. Fortunately, that child is doing quite well. And they've gone through a huge pilgrimage to get that oil and, what appears to be, help their daughter. [ MUSIC ] I actually haven't heard anything about you know, negative potential side effects in the media. And I think it's a really important thing for parents to know is this is not risk free. It's not something I told them to do but when they said they were determined to do it, I was supportive, as their physician, to say listen, I will be here to guide you on helping to adjust the therapy and monitor the other drugs and, and the girls' epilepsy. Overall, at least so far, our experience here at Children's Colorado has been that, that only about a third of families are really reporting that they see much of an improvement in their children. And of those children when we look at brain waves, none of those are we really seeing the kind of EEG change that we would expect from a really effective medication. We also don't understand how marijuana products will interact with other medicines these children are on. Concerning things that we have seen in general, her seizures have gotten worse. Severe enough to require them to go into our intensive care unit. We absolutely don't have the scientific data and I think if I could make one point to the parents, it is that you need science. The other concern with the artisanal products is that we don't always know what's in them. They vary from batch to batch, they vary from grower to grower. [ MUSIC ] Unfortunately, we're giving it out to large numbers of very vulnerable people like children. Without knowing what the correct dose it. Without knowing what kind of epilepsy it's going to work for. Most of my critics, especially in the medical field, are critics that are criticizing lack of research. I blame them. That's their job. You're a researcher. You're a scientist. You're a doctor. Why don't you research this? These procedures are gaining. Something stronger. The schedule one listing for marijuana has made it much more difficult to do research on marijuana, there is no question about that. Really all hemp products lie in a gray area. We are faced with a bit of a moral dilemma. We do have some legal area to operate here. But at the same time, that's up for interpretation. [ MUSIC ] The supply is gonna run out, because we only brought back six months. There are options. Realm of Caring is talking about challenging the law and sending medication across state lines. Right, one more on the end and let's get it there. This product, this fall. Coming from hemp regulations, this will be our first time to actually be able to ship this to patients across the country. If it works, it would make a huge difference because then we could have it delivered right to our house. Cannabis [ UNKNOWN ] and that's what my product is. The last. Drug enforcement agency position that I read stated that hemp products made for human consumption, which have any detectable THC in them, are technically a violation of federal law. Now, however, they go on to say that they realize that all of these products exist throughout grocery store shelves throughout America. At this point in time I don't feel like the legal landscape has us such that people are going to come in with guns and handcuffs and try and shut down something that is providing hope and options for people. We don't want to break the law. We don't want to do this, we have to do this. How can kids not get what they need? I mean anyone you talk to about it, it's like, it's ridiculous. If it's helping kids, why isn't it. Reba like why can't you do it? 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