Adderall is medicine. Why is it punished like crystal meth?

Amphetamine, the active ingredient in Adderall, is FDA-approved and prescribed every day to millions of American children and adults with ADHD. Yet federal sentencing rules treat it gram for gram exactly like crystal methamphetamine, and ten times more harshly than cocaine. Here are the facts, with sources.

Age 3+FDA-approved amphetamine products (Adderall tablets, Evekeo) are labeled for ADHD in children as young as three.

72,776Americans died in 2023 from overdoses involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids (CDC).

2 mgof fentanyl can be a lethal dose, according to the DEA. That is less than a typical 5 mg Adderall tablet.

10×Under the federal sentencing guidelines, one gram of amphetamine counts ten times as much as one gram of cocaine.

Adderall vs. street drugs

Side by side: prescribed Adderall compared with crystal meth, fentanyl, heroin, crack and cocaine on medical use, potency, overdose risk and the law.

Overdose deaths

What the CDC’s death counts show about which drugs are killing Americans.

Before and after

What each drug does to the people who use it, and what prescribed ADHD treatment does for patients.

What the studies show

Large studies link ADHD medication to fewer car crashes, less crime, less substance abuse and lower death rates.

Sentencing

How a 1971 rescheduling and a 2001 guideline change came to punish a children’s medicine like meth.

Safety and FAQ

Adderall’s real risks, counterfeit pills, and what a careful person should know.

Why this site exists

Ryan Brandstrom, a Minnesota father of five and a lifelong ADHD patient, is the defendant in United States v. Brandstrom, a federal criminal case in St. Paul. The case involves amphetamine, the medicine in Adderall, not heroin, fentanyl or opioids. In a motion to the court, Ryan argued that punishing a pediatric medication like crystal meth has no scientific basis. This site lays out the public evidence behind that argument. About Ryan Brandstrom and his case →