I hate kids. I've had two of my own, and I've been terribly lucky that they were good kids, despite me being a single parent for about 5 years. But I also know things could have been much much worse.... hence I loathe th every idea of having children.
Now that you know how terrible a monster I am, let me make a few final comments in self-defence.
1. Drug companies are no different than any other capitalist enterprise - they are all are pushing their products. Those products can be good or harmful, depending on the circumstances. A critique that focuses on children is nothing but a cheap scare tactic of the evil-empire-hurting-little-cuties variety - basically the liberal version of the cold war propaganda demonizing the "evil empire." That is tripe in my book. If you want to make an intelligent critique, make a systemic one and eschew appeals to pity.
2. There is a difference between medicating children with severe behavioral problems and abuse of prescription drugs. Most normal people would agree that the former is a more humane alternative to, say, workhouses, boot-camps (which as Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema aptly observed, are a sham), hospitalization, incarceration, or corporeal punishment. As a child, I was both institutionalized and medicated for behavioral problems, so I can compare. And believe me, if I had to choose between the two, I would opt for medication without having a second thought.
As to the overpresecription - yes, overconsumption (including overconsumption of drugs) is a problem of capitalism in general. However, I would also like to caution against the smart alec attitude, oft popular in the lefty circles, of the what-do-the-expert-know variety. What to untreained eye may appear as a source of embarassment to the guardian, is often a symptiom of a serious emotional disorder. Thus, I suggest reserving judgement before knowing all the "gory details."
3. There has been a major shift in the role of children in the household in modern times - from the source of cheap labour and old age insurance to the burden for the parents. That burden was further exacerbated by social engineering, especially the promotion of the nuclear family model which reduced th enumber of responsible adults in the household to bare minimum. As a result, children not only contribute *nothing* to the household, but are financial and emotional drain on the household resources (medical bills, tuition, designer clothing, entertainment, attitude, and then enforcers locking up the old parents in nursing homes to name a few).
So the nuclear family model boils down to the following dictum: "toil without expecting any returns, but if you are not diligent enough - you will be prosecuted, especially if you are a single working class woman." It is difficult to blame anyone for wanting to ease that burden, especially if it is unsually difficult to handle. Medication, the "opiating the masses" is the only solution this society has to offer.
wojtek