As an adult who has used both marijuana and Ritalin I can tell you first hand that Ritalin is a much stronger mood adjuster than marijuana.
About 10 years ago I worked for a pharmacy, delivering medications to board and care homes. On Fridays we had to do 'punch outs', which consisted of punching pills out of bubble packs which were unused and returned from board and care homes.
During my 3 years at the pharmacy I got my hands on plenty of prescription pills, and I tried them all at least once. Most of them did nothing for me, but Ritalin was the exception.
Ritalin gave me super powers. I was suddenly an artist. I was a writer, a philosophizer, a fucking genius. The first time I took Ritalin, I ended up taking a DVD of some Disney movie and drawing the entire front cover. It came out perfect. I even went to the extent of coloring my masterpiece. I was like Michaelangelo.
Then I wrote this 20 page 'essay' on my friends. I documented their personalities, habits and (in my mind) their mentalities. While I was writing I was so sure that it was the greatest piece of 'literature' ever written, I kept picturing in my mind someone discovering the true work of art and begging me to let them publish it. I was like J.D. Salinger.
That night I carved the sickest pumpkin for Halloween. I used one of those crappy templates that you stick to the front of the pumpkin. I took so much care in making sure every cut was perfect, I was sure the head of the Federal Pumpkin Carving Commission was going to honor my pumpkin in their Hall of Fame.
At dinner time I just sat looking at my food thinking, 'wow,this ear of corn was on some farm in the midwest and now it sits here on my plate, amazing!' I looked at all the food and thought about the process by which each piece of food came to me. But I didn't eat a bite. On Ritalin eating is IMPOSSIBLE. In fact, that night I had plans to go to the Offspring concert at which I knew I would be getting hammered. So before I left I tried to eat some bread so I would have something in my stomach to prevent me from puking. But not a chance. I was completely unable to swallow even a single bite. I went to the concert, got hammered, didn't puke and thought, 'man, the Offspring are such a talented band, their music is so intriguing.' I had such a fine tuned ear for music, I was like Mozart.
When it was time to sleep, I was having none of it. On Ritalin sleeping is IMPOSSIBLE. So I stayed up all night and came up with all kinds of ideas to make millions. I had business ideas galore. I meticulously planned out how these businesses would function, what the niche was and how I could capitalize on it. I was a profit turning guru. I was like Donald Trump.
Eventually morning came and the Ritalin was wearing off. Now this is the hard part. It is IMPOSSIBLE to not want to put someone's head through a wall when coming down from Ritalin. I was sooo irritated by any and everyone who talked to me. My girlfriend at the time got on my nerves so bad that day I thought I might have to dump the bitch. Don't give me that 'Good morning honey' bullshit, are you trying to piss me off?
I took Ritalin at the rate of 10 mg per hour for about 8 hours for a total of 80 mg. For about two months straight. Every day I found some new talent, some profound philosophy, some understanding of the meaning of everything. And every night I stayed awake plotting my financial domination of the world. Every morning I was ready to kill someone, until of course I got my Ritalin fix.
Eventually I ran out of Ritalin and had to go back to being a regular know nothing jackass. I craved the shit out of that stuff for about a week and then eventually kicked it. But knowing the effects of this miracle drug makes me want it even to this day. I often find myself looking at a half completed website I've made, having trouble deciding on what to put where...knowing in my head that if I had some Ritalin, the ideas would start flooding and Google would be knocking down my door begging me to help them in their design/writing/implementation departments. Or of course I could be delusional on all aspects of my perceived memory, since I was, after all, high on amphetamines at the time. I was like Marion Barry.
