Is Ritalin (Methylphenidate) an Amphetamine? or Simply a CNS Stimulant?

Question by olivia v: Is Ritalin (methylphenidate) an amphetamine? Or simply a CNS stimulant?
Are all CNS stimulants classed as amphetamines? Does methylphenidate appear as an amphetamine on drug screen initial immunoassay? If so, does it also appear on confirmation gas chromotography and mass spectrometry?
Read the question, please. Does Ritalin appear as an amphetamine on gas chromotography, mass spectrometry following initial immunoassay? Does anyone know this?

Best answer:

Answer by W W D
It’s an amphetamine-like drug but not, strictly speaking, an amphetamine. It will show as amphetamine on many screening tests, but the confirmatory tests should yield exact identification.
I’m not sure how to answer the part about classification. That’s descriptive, and sometimes legal, without a single set standard. Certainly it’s reasonable to classify, say, pseudoephedrine either way, but calling caffeine an amphetamine-like drug is a bit of a stretch, though not totally off-base.

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