That's only true if you squint real hard. Might as well say people are addicted to oxygen or food if you're going to oversimplify that far. Plenty of people are

That's only true if you squint real hard. Might as well say people are addicted to oxygen or food if you're going to oversimplify that far. Plenty of people are able to learn meaningful coping strategies for their ADHD and choose to go off medication (especially those medicated from a young age), or at least off of stimulant medication, choosing instead to treat their disease with non-stimulant options. You'd also have to ignore the fact that they're, umm, different drugs, and do different things. The pain relief granted by opiates, along with them being chemically addictive and the marketing put forth by Perdue Pharma leading to addiction, for which they've paid billion of dollars in fines. There have been no such issues for AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. The thing about the drugs being different is the results on people's lives. Off medication and unmanaged, people suffering from ADHD go into depressive slumps of executive dysfunction and are unable to perform their EDLs (EveryDay Living activities; showering, putting on clothes, feeding one's self, using the bathroom, exercising), never mind things like cleaning, holding down a job or paying rent. Most are able to keep at the same dosage for the majority of their lives. That's not what people happens to people chemically addicted to Oxy. They need more and more to get the same effect, and chase after it to the point that many have become hooked on heroin, absent a prescribed supply of Oxycontin. While on the drug their lives turn to shambles, getting fired from work and losing their jobs and then their housing and end up living on the street. That difference is entirely material to the discussion. If people are able to make more of themselves on a particular medication, society is able to accept that a medication is good, rather than bad. That may be a tough pill for some to swallow, especially those that want to reject traditional societal norms for judging a person's life. Another tough pill is that the idea that Adderall blunts a person should really be considered a fringe belief these days, given how many people use Adderall to better their lives. Are their people that abuse Adderall? Sure. Are their many more people that don't, and live much richer lives thanks to prescribed medication from a doctor? Absolutely.