Student Adderall abuse on the rise
Blake Callahan
Issue date: 10/26/04 Section: News
However, there is a growing trend on college campuses is not the use of Adderall among students with ADHD or ADD but students undiagnosed with the disorders using it without a prescription.
On college campuses students can purchase Adderall from prescribed students for $5 to $10 per pill.
"A pill can be easy to come by depending on if you know someone with a prescription," said the anonymous student, who takes Adderall to study, write a paper or sometimes continue a night of drinking.
"Sometimes college students are overwhelmed by increased academic responsibility along with a social life; many feel the need to use Adderall to stay on the ball. But if one does this and does not actually have ADHD or ADD, they may feel like they are more focused when in actuality they are not containing any information," said Dr. Allen Butler, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Herbert Medical Group in Eunice, La., who has ADD himself.
"For a person who doesn't have ADD or ADHD, taking Adderall has an opposite effects compared to those who take it and actually have ADD or ADHD," Butler said.
According to Jan Edward Williams, the director of Alcohol and Drug Education and Support Services at Loyola, the problem lies with those who take high doses, which can be dangerous, and those who use it to get high.
"What scares me most about Adderall is that if [the students are] increasing their frequency [of usage], they're increasing their tolerance, and they're not even aware of it," said Christen Menzel the coordinator in the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention at Southern Methodist University Memorial Health Center, in an SMU University Newspaper article.
Adderall is an amphetamine-like stimulant, according to Williams. It is also in the "same family of stimulants as Ritalin and street drugs such as crystal meth or methamphetamine," according to Menzel. With high doses comes the risk of side effects.
"What we would see for people using high doses is the same thing we would see with other amphetamines, which is brain damage, chronic memory disturbances and chronic depression. Also, other side effects can include high blood pressure, insomnia, heart arrhythmias and stroke," said Dr. Drew Pinsky in an interview on Syracuse, N.Y.'s "News 10 Now."
On college campuses students can purchase Adderall from prescribed students for $5 to $10 per pill.
"A pill can be easy to come by depending on if you know someone with a prescription," said the anonymous student, who takes Adderall to study, write a paper or sometimes continue a night of drinking.
"Sometimes college students are overwhelmed by increased academic responsibility along with a social life; many feel the need to use Adderall to stay on the ball. But if one does this and does not actually have ADHD or ADD, they may feel like they are more focused when in actuality they are not containing any information," said Dr. Allen Butler, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Herbert Medical Group in Eunice, La., who has ADD himself.
"For a person who doesn't have ADD or ADHD, taking Adderall has an opposite effects compared to those who take it and actually have ADD or ADHD," Butler said.
According to Jan Edward Williams, the director of Alcohol and Drug Education and Support Services at Loyola, the problem lies with those who take high doses, which can be dangerous, and those who use it to get high.
"What scares me most about Adderall is that if [the students are] increasing their frequency [of usage], they're increasing their tolerance, and they're not even aware of it," said Christen Menzel the coordinator in the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention at Southern Methodist University Memorial Health Center, in an SMU University Newspaper article.
Adderall is an amphetamine-like stimulant, according to Williams. It is also in the "same family of stimulants as Ritalin and street drugs such as crystal meth or methamphetamine," according to Menzel. With high doses comes the risk of side effects.
"What we would see for people using high doses is the same thing we would see with other amphetamines, which is brain damage, chronic memory disturbances and chronic depression. Also, other side effects can include high blood pressure, insomnia, heart arrhythmias and stroke," said Dr. Drew Pinsky in an interview on Syracuse, N.Y.'s "News 10 Now."