Another Thing I Learned in College: Study Drugs
By Laura Sack
It’s finals week. But somehow that week extends itself into the prior week’s weekend, probably farther. It’s Saturday morning. Waking up early to ensure a table with coveted plug access on my favorite floor of the library is already losing its allure. Good news is my backpack is already packed from last night’s studying…but it needs to be restocked for today’s studying agenda. Textbooks? Check. Laptop? Check. Pens, pencils, notebooks, calculator, wallet, computer charger? Check. Adderall? Swallow.
Adderall is a legally approved amphetamine classified as having the highest potential for dependence and or abuse. It is a common treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is also prescribed to treat narcolepsy. As defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Adderall is produced by combining neutral sulfate salts of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine with dextro isomer of amphetamine saccharate and d, I-amphetamine asparate monohydrate. In a national study by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) conducted in 2007, full- time college students ages 18-22 were twice as likely to use Adderall nonmedically than their same age counterparts. The same study identified that full time, Adderall- using college students, when compared to their same age counterparts who did not use Adderall, were using cocaine at a rate of 28.9% versus 3.6%, nonmedical tranquilizers at a rate of 24.5% versus 3%, and nonmedical pain relievers at a rate of 44.9% versus 8.7%.
It is easy to understand Adderall’s popularity with full- time college students. As a study aide, it’s reportedly the best. My fellow collegians describe it to me as the drug that provides “tunnel focus,” the desire to read and highlight like never before, and a true competitor against the distraction of Facebook. It is inexpensive and available (often offered to me on the library front steps), and a dear friend of the grade point average. But in order to seriously weigh the pros and cons of Adderrall use, it needs to be taken out of the context of a study aid and looked at for what it really is, a prescription drug.
Like any other prescription drug abuse, nonmedical use of Adderall can lead to unintended results. The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) current medication information website states that only in rare cases would anyone prescribed Adderall for ADHD take more than 40mg a day. It also reports that patients who increased their dosage to many levels beyond recommended have experienced extreme fatigue and mental depression, insomnia, irritability, hyperactivity, personality changes, various skin diseases, and psychosis (frequently clinically indistinguishable from schizophrenia). Its label warns misuse can cause sudden death and serious cardiovascular adverse events. Whether you view Adderall as a temporary means to an “A” end or feel you struggle with prescription drug abuse, if you are not legitimately prescribed Adderall for a medical condition (or even if you are), it is important to recognize it as a powerful amphetamine that has a powerful amphetamine’s effects. Whatever you decide about your Adderall use, make your decision an informed one.
Tags: Adderall abuse, ADHD drugs, college substance abuse, study drugs
