The Adderall Access Project

Purpose

The aim of the Adderall Access Project is to investigate the Schedule II classification of ADHD stimulant medications and, if supported by the results, petition for a change in classification in order to improve access to ADHD stimulant medications in the US (per the Controlled Substances Act, 21 USC Ch. 13, §811.a).

Goals

Reclassification

The ultimate goal of the Adderall Access Project is - if supported by evidence - the reclassification of stimulant drugs from Schedule II to Schedule III, IV, or V as appropriate. This goal stems from §812.b of the Controlled Substances Act, which says that

"Except where control is required by United States obligations under an international treaty, convention, or protocol, in effect on October 27, 1970, and except in the case of an immediate precursor, a drug or other substance may not be placed in any schedule unless the findings required for such schedule are made with respect to such drug or other substance."

Preliminary investigation has not been able to locate any of the required findings; the logic appears to be circular. "Stimulants have a high potential for abuse and addiction, therefore they are classified as Schedule II. What is the evidence for stimulants having a high potential for abuse and addiction? That they're classified as Schedule II."

The Adderall Access Project seeks to unpack this circular logic, in the following stages:

• Either prove or disprove the prior existence of the required findings for Schedule II classification; then
  • If no such prior findings exist (or if they are outdated or otherwise insufficient based on modern research and understanding), collect and review current research into stimulant medications, and then
    • if needed, conduct necessary studies or meta-analyses to cover gaps in the data; and then
  • if the collected findings do not support a Schedule II classification, petition for reclassification per the Controlled Substances Act.

Outreach & Education

Alongside the reclassification effort, the Project has a secondary goal of public outreach and education around stimulant medications and the medical conditions they're used to treat. The general public is, at best, largely uninformed about these topics; and at worst, has been subject to misinformation and harmful stereotypes which have created significant biases against stimulant medications and the people who need them. Even if the Project succeeds at having stimulants reclassified, those biases may result in backlash that undermines any gain from the reclassification. Therefore, the Project must make every effort to combat historical misinformation and stereotypes, while also clearly proving the public value in increased patient access to prescribed stimulant medications.

Some Notes on Naming

While the Project's name uses Adderall for brevity and quick understanding, the Project aims to include as many ADHD stimulant medications as possible. Relatedly, the phrase "ADHD stimulant medications" is not meant to restrict the Project only to ADHD medications; stimulants are used to treat conditions other than ADHD (e.g., narcolepsy), and such medications are also included in the Project.

Contributing & Participation

The Adderall Access Project is an open-source effort, meaning anyone interested in contributing to the Project is welcome to pitch in. In order to succeed, we need people with expertise in academic research, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, journalism, social media & publicity, medical law, government lobbying, and more. We also simply need people who have the spoons[^1] to do the enormous amount of legwork involved: making phone calls, searching research repositories, writing & organizing documentation, and so on. If you want to help but aren't sure where to start, look for issues with the tags [help wanted] and/or [start here], or simply ask in Discussions.

[^1]: The Spoon Theory at Wikipedia