The "high" that is caused by MA use is largely caused by the increase in extra cellular dopamine in the area of the nucleus accumbens, and basal ganglia. These are both areas in the brain that are involved heavily in mediating pleasurable responses. Since dopamine is involved with pleasurable sensations it makes sense that there are many cells that produce dopamine located here. The high felt is similar to that felt by cocaine users. Here is a chart showing the levels of MP activity and how those levels are associated with the feelings of a high. These activity levels are compared to those of cocaine

As you can see, the "high" line for both cocaine and MP follows very closely with the line showing the increasing absorption of each drug into the brain. However once the absorption level reaches its peak, the level of reported "high" drops-off steeply. It is believed that the "high" felt from each of these drugs is caused by the drug reaching its peak level of absorption. After peak absorption has been reached, and the maximum level of drug has been taken-up into the brain, this high then ends or "crashes." Therefore, it makes sense to think that the "high" is caused by the increase in absorption levels, and once this increase stops the "high" drops, despite the fact that the overall content level of the drug does not. This concept becomes very important in the following section.

The answer to this question is no. In the same study in which 16% of students reported using MP recreationally, 12.7% reported they had used it intranasally (snorting). This is an important fact. Route of administration is a crucial factor in determining if MP will produce a noticeable "high." Intranasal and intravenous administration of a drug are 2 ways for the drug to enter the blood stream very quickly, and therefore get to the brain quicker.

This graph shows the levels of MP activity in the brain for intravenous administration and for oral administration.
The Intravenous administration reaches its it's peak level almost immediately, (8-10mins). When taken orally MP's effects last for longer and reach the same peak level of absorption, however it reaches this level much more slowly (60-h).

As we said above, the increase of MP and cocaine absorption is what is believed to cause the "high." Therefore if this increase is slowed it would make sense that the "high" would not be nearly as noticeable, because the rate of increase is not as fast. This turns out to be the case, which can be seen from this chart:
The individuals in this study who took MP orally did not report a significant feeling of high. Therefore it appears that the faster the MP is absorbed and begins blocking DATs, the stronger the drug's pleasurable effects are. The ultimate level of DAT blocking is not the issue here, because the same level is reached through both oral and intravenous routes of administration.

This answers the question of will you get high when taking Ritalin? The answer is no. This is because oral administration takes too long to produce any noticeable feelings of "high." Oral administration is preferred over other forms because it is longer lasting and less invasive.

MP has been shown in clinical studies to have a lower abuse potential than cocaine. This means that people are more likely to get "addicted" when abusing cocaine than when abusing MP.

Q.Why is this?

A. This is a result of a difference in chemical action of the two drugs. As noted above the high that comes from abusing cocaine or MP is a result of the levels of the drug rapidly increasing to their maximum concentration in the brain. Once the increase in concentration has stopped, even though the drug is still present, the high begins to "crash."

As you can see from looking at this chart the "high" lines for both drugs sharply peak and then drop-off sharply. The "high" lines for both of the drugs are very similar. The difference is with the other line. The line with the square points is showing the concentration levels of the drug in the brain according to how much time has gone by.

As you can see the levels of cocaine in the brain drop-off much more rapidly than levels of MP.

This is the reason for the difference in abuse potential. The fact that cocaine clears-out of the brain at about the same rate that the "high" declines means that once the "high" has "crashed" most of the cocaine is out of the brain.

An individual could then use cocaine again, in a relatively short amount of time (20mins), and this would cause their levels of cocaine to increase which would give them another "high." The same would not happen if a person took another dose of MP 20mins after their first dose. As you can see from the chart, at 20mins MP is still almost at 100% concentration level in the brain. This means that if a person took MP again there would be no increase in MP levels (because it is already at 100%) and thus no "high" would result. MP saturation levels in the brain clear-out much less rapidly than cocaine.

In fact MP takes approximately 120mins to clear-out to about the 50% level. If a person would attempt to take an additional dose of MP before the 50% level there would be basically no resulting "high."

A person is less likely to use MP as frequently as cocaine because no "high" would result from additional doses. If a person uses a drug less frequently then they typically have lower potential for developing an addicted. This is why MP is believed to have a lower abuse potential than cocaine.