The National Rifle Association’s new president, Oliver North, deflected attention off guns and onto medication in the wake of the latest school shooting.
North said, "They have been drugged in many cases … many of these young boys have been on Ritalin since they were in kindergarten."
The overprescription of ADHD medication has been the subject of heavy debate. For the record, we found no evidence that the suspected Texas shooter was diagnosed with ADHD, or prescribed Ritalin.
More broadly and to North’s point, we found no evidence to back up the idea that ADHD medication was behind school shootings or that "many" shooters had been on Ritalin.
A minor percentage of school shooters studied had been medicated, not "many." The notion that many have specifically been on the drug Ritalin since kindergarten has no factual basis. More broadly, causation has never been established between the medication and violence.
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