Ron

      The place in which I work as a mental health practitioner is a substance use clinic. The propensity of abuse of psychopharmacological interventions is ubiquitous, many times exhibited in the route of administration. An example that I have encountered is with the medication of Ritalin, which may have been prescribed by the clinics psychiatrist or by the clients doctor.
        Preston, ONeal, and Talaga (2017) discuss Ritalin in the segment dealing with child and adolescent psychopharmacology as a stimulant that may be given for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (APA, 2013) does indicate that there is a prevalence of this disorder in adults, which is what I have encountered in my clinic. Ritalin is generally taken orally and there is rapid onset with symptoms abating generally within forty-five minutes after ingestion (Preston et al., 2017). Wolfe (2020) corroborates this point, by advancing that oral administration of medication evokes results in around 30 minutes contingent on stomach contents and breakdown.
        Preston et al. (2017) advance the neurobiological process of how substances generally operate within the body. Kalat (2009) specifies this process for Ritalin by elucidating that it operates by blocking the reuptake of dopamine, yet there are distinctions in dose and time course. For example, depending on dose and time course, people may experience a gradual increase in the drugs concentration overtime followed by a slow decline. However, the route of administration can be part of the abuse of this prescribed medication. In my clinic, it is common for those prescribed Ritalin, to crush it and snort it.  An interesting and novel point which I have learned is that snorting Ritalin means that large doses of methylphenidate has immediate access to the blood and reaches the brain in less time than when taking it orally. Wolfe (2020) indicates that the effects can manifest in 3-5 minutes through this route of administration. Additionally, the effects can be heightened due to direct access to the bloodstream.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Pub.
Kalat, J. W. (2009). Biological psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Preston, J. D., ONeal, J. H., & Talaga, M. C. (2017). Handbook of clinical psychopharmacology. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Wolfe, N. (2020). Pharmacology by Wolfe N 2020 PowerPoint [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://tcsedsystem.instructure.com/courses/78536/files/13549063/download?download_frd=1