Another extra stupid thing is that as far as stimulants go, it's less harmful and less addictive than caffeine or nicotine

In 2023 "manufacturers only sold approximately 70 percent of their allotted quota". "in 2022, manufacturers did not produce the full amount" [0] Manufacturers haven't been limited by that quota, they aren't making enough to reach quota. The quota system isn't great, but increasing the quota won't fix it.

The DEA did shut down an amphetamine and MPH manufacturer, which is a big contributor to the shortage, but it was because of shoddy record keeping and "not accurately account for millions of dosages" of opioids. [1]

[0] https://www.fda.gov/media/170736/download?attachment
[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/dea-shuts-down-drug-factory-212040745.html?guccounter=1

Went off on a rant that isn't really fully relevant, but leaving it because I already typed it.

My generic Adderall was labeled as "amphetamine salts" when I was taking it a number of years ago. But I was on generic Adderall for like 5~6 years and can't recall if I ever saw "amphetamine-dextroamphetamine" on any of my bottles. I don't recall ever having it feel any different. But I changed over to Vyvanse because even the generic XR would just not last long enough. Which was also kind of a good switch in recent years as I have seen random folks talk about how their Adderall (name and generic) seemed "weaker" than before. And with shortages ramping up causing issues for people. Though there is a massive shortage of the new generic for Vyvanse ever since my doctor and insurance tried having it filled for me back in December of 2023.

I kept getting an automated message about my refill (or really first fill) being on back order and I wasn't even aware they had a generic yet. So I went to the pharmacy to find out and was told they had literally no idea when it would be available and I was already a week out of meds. Had to be like "well just fill the brand name if no pharmacies had stock please" and just have been paying more. Though it seems my insurance also must have seen how bad shit was. Because my cost the first time was over $250 (was paying only $60~$80 before due to both insurance and a coupon thing Vyvanse had for each year). But after two months, my cost went back down to around $90~$120 from insurance covering more again (just no longer have the coupon thing since Vyvanse stopped providing it).

It's been months since I got the oblong ones... Come to think of it, I feel like it hasn't been working the same. I left some of my clothes in the washing machine the other day... I don't think I've ever done that.

Edit: I take methylphenidate, not what you said. Isn't amphetamine salts just pharmaceutical grade meth?

Yeah I see folks skip weekends and save up a month I'm gonna start doing that I think

Risky buy unless you know the seller and that they got it from a pharmacy. There's a ton of counterfeit Adderall out there, and it's always meth. Even the XR gelcaps are counterfeit now.

Meth isn't a terrible substitute, but it's not going to be dosed correctly or even the same dose pill to pill. It has a much longer half-life.

Ritalin is probably safer because it's less controlled in other countries, so it might be cheaper to import the real stuff than press fakes.

IME illicit sources are usually some college kid selling their legally-prescribed extras, at least in the US, so they're also in shortage. I don't think there's much black market synthesis of theraputic amphetamines because there's a lot of legal supply — you're more likely to find meth which has a lot of shitty side effects and is actually addictive.