Hospitals sound alarm on alarming rise in black market ADHD drug overdoses involving teenage students

Increasing numbers of school students as young as 11 are ending up in hospital after deliberately overdosing on ADHD medications – and almost half aren’t prescribed the drugs.

Luke Williams

3 min read

September 20, 2025 - 5:00AM

Australian high school students are reacting to rapid feelings of emotionally distress by self-harming with ADHD medications, often not even prescribed to them. Art: Fuzz Hamzah

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Australian doctors are warning that teenagers are turning up in emergency departments in growing numbers after deliberately overdosing on ADHD stimulants, part of a disturbing nationwide rise in youth self-poisoning.

Dr Christopher Martin, an emergency physician at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital, said his team’s data showed about three-quarters of stimulant exposures presenting to emergency were deliberate self-poisonings, with the remainder linked to recreational use.

“More than half of the time, prescription stimulants are co-ingested with something else – antidepressant medications, and/or alcohol,” Dr Martin said.

A review of 186 stimulant poisonings involving 178 patients found the average age was 17, more than a quarter were under 15, and around 40 per cent were not prescribed the medication.

Dr Rose Cairns, toxicologist from the University of Sydney.

The most common drugs involved were methylphenidate (sold as Ritalin or Concerta), followed by lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) and dexamfetamine.

“Almost all patients were symptomatic, most commonly with elevated heart rate, high blood pressure and agitation. Severe agitation occurred in about a third of cases, sometimes requiring sedation and extended monitoring,” Dr Martin explained.

Dr Rose Cairns, a toxicologist from the University of Sydney, said the findings reflected what was being seen in New South Wales.

“The majority of cases really are about self-harm, and it’s the drugs that are most prescribed that are being used the most,” she said.

“What we are finding is that these are very impulsive actions, often within five minutes of a stressful event like an argument. When teenagers self-harm like this they really are just grabbing whatever is around – and because there are more houses with ADHD medication now, that’s what they are using.”

Princess Alexandria Hospital in Brisbane. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Dr Cairns noted that self-poisoning is already the most common method of hospital-treated self-harm, and rates have been rising among young people, particularly young females.

There was a notable spike during Covid-era restrictions and ADHD medications are now among the top 20 substances involved.

While fatalities have been recorded, Dr Cairns said more common outcomes included racing heart, hypertension, anxiety, panic and vomiting.

ADHD Foundation chief executive Christopher Ouizeman said there had been “an alarming increase in black-market stimulant medication purchases”.

“These are often manufactured by unknown and unregulated sources, contaminated or with wildly variable doses. Purchasing such drugs is not only illegal but highly dangerous,” he said.

News Corp has uncovered listings on encrypted apps where Ritalin is being sold alongside cocaine, ecstasy and Valium.

A 2023 graduate from a private school in Geelong told the Herald Sun this year they first bought the medication after they were told it would help them concentrate and remember their notes.

A growing number of teens are self-harming with ADHD drugs. Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“I saw a classmate in year 12 crushing up his Ritalin pills and snorting them in the school bathroom,” another recent graduate said.

A Melbourne student who completed year 12 last year said they were initially paying $2 per pill before it became more popular.

Dr Sarahn Lovett, a Lake Macquarie pediatrician and vice president of the Australasian ADHD Professionals Association, said misuse is more common among university students seeking a perceived performance boost.

“There are some good Australian studies showing rates are lower here than in the United States. The lifetime incidence of using non-prescribed stimulants is about one in 10 there, compared to about one in 20 here,” she said.

Dr Lovett stressed there is no conclusive evidence that stimulants improve outcomes for people without ADHD.

ADHD Foundation chief executive Christopher Ouizeman . Picture: Supplied

Mr Ouizeman said properly treated ADHD patients are seldom at risk. “The bottom line is that there is no evidence we have seen to suggest that ADHD medications, particularly stimulants, cause suicide. Instead, they appear to reduce the risk when used appropriately.”

Data from Australian Institute of Health welfare shows the ADHD patient rate rose from 2 per 1000 people (0.2 per cent) in 2004–05 to 22 per 1000 (2 per cent) in 2023–24 – marking an 11-fold increase

The prescription rate per 1000 population grew dramatically from 10 to 172 prescriptions over the same period.