I’ve used Ritalin (methylphenidate) for ten years, since I was 33 years old.

If I didn't have the drug Ritalin, I couldn't work. Honest to God, I didn't used to be able to remember anything at all for two seconds unless I was carrying it in my forepaws or my mouth. Now that I have a prescription for Ritalin, it’s like having eyes in the back of my head; like having an Administrator account instead of a Guest account.

What does Ritalin do for me?

It does:
--enable me to work at a real job and have a real career
--enable me to live without the oppressive boredom that used to make me fail to finish anything I set out to do
--work on projects over time, for days, months, and years
--drive on the Interstate highways without having my brain decide it’s time to go to sleep

It does not:
--suppress creativity
--make me high
--suppress my sex drive

The first person to say "But natural substances, like Gingko..." or “you need to attain purity from chemicals” leaves the room. Ritalin is natural, we compound it, and we’re a part of nature. You shouldn’t use any drug indiscriminately, but for people like me, for whom Ritalin enables us to use our own brains, this drug is indispensable.