In the September back-to school issues of a number of women's and parenting magazines, ads promote the use of drugs for children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The drugs, categorized as Schedule II controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, are considered highly addictive and prone to misuse.

Up until now, U.S. pharmaceutical companies followed a 30-year-old international treaty that discouraged consumer advertising of psychotropic substances. Since the U.S. never passed the 1971 United Nations agreement, however, lawmakers are now looking for other ways to end aggressive marketing campaigns for ADHD drugs.

In Connecticut, lawmakers approved a bill that would prohibit school officials from recommending psychotropic drugs for children. Earlier, Minnesota passed a measure barring schools from forcing parents to medicate ADHD children. Similar laws are pending in Utah and New Jersey, with lawmakers in other states pushing for similar action.

About 3 million children in the U.S. are afflicted with ADHD and related behavioral problems. With those numbers, pharmaceutical companies are banking on a $1 billion-a-year market for drugs that address these problem.

Currently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lacks the authority to prohibit the advertisements. FDA official Nancy Ostrove explained that the agency is not authorized "to treat advertisements for controlled substances any differently" from those for other drugs.

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