KELLY DAVIES
Staff Writer
The face of drug use among college students is changing.
Where caffeine didn’t work, NoDoz took the wheel. Now students are increasingly turning to more serious, illicit drugs that can be prescribed to children as young as six.
The drug is Adderall, the prescription drug commonly used to treat symptoms of attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a condition that affects 3 to 5 percent of the U.S. population. Studies suggest it is the newest ingredient in the quest for academic and social success on college campuses. It can be swallowed, crushed, snorted, liquefied or injected. Most often, it’s handed off to friends in a casual meeting, allowing the user to stay awake for hours and have an unparalleled sense of focus and drive.
Nineteen million prescriptions for Ritalin, Adderall’s sister drug, were filled in 1999, a 500 percent increase since 1991.
Studies show that as many as 20 percent of college students have used Ritalin or Adderall in their academic career.
“But what we’ve seen over the last several years is an increase in usage among students that don’t have ADD but are looking for a competitive advantage in the classroom,” Pepperdine drug and alcohol counselor Dr. Robert Scholz said.
Scholz said the influx of children being diagnosed with ADD in the early 1990s has poured over to today. The kids have turned 20, and they’ve brought their prescriptions with them. Some are either selling or giving away their tiny orange pills on campus.
“John,” a Pepperdine student who will remain anonymous for fear of disciplinary action, has had a legal prescription for Adderall since he was in his early teens.
“I absolutely need it,” he said. “I’m able to hyper-focus, bring all my thoughts to the center of my mind.” But while John may need it, his friends don’t – and he deals it to them several times a year.
It’s not just users like John who have grown – so has the academic load. Scholz said students have more tasks to juggle now than ever before, and that’s why some students are taking part in what they see as the natural progression of study habits.
“They view it as normal,” Scholz said. “They view it as, ‘It’s not illegal; my friend gave it to me down the street, and he’s so normal. They’re not like a drug dealer.’”
Yet possession of a narcotic without a prescription and selling it to those without one is illegal.
“A common question I’ll ask students is, have you ever considered taking crystal meth?” Scholz said. “They’re like, ‘No!’ But they’re both illegal stimulants.”
That’s why although some compare Adderall to caffeine, the two substances are in fact very different: caffeine carries none of the very serious consequences that come with Adderall use.
Classified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as a schedule II narcotic – one of the most addictive – Adderall has a high potential for paranoia, sleep deprivation, psychotic episodes, digestive problems and erratic weight change.
Those side-effects have John worried. “It worries me that something could happen,” John said. “What if I give somebody a pill, and they have a seizure?”
That’s why John never deals to strangers and gives his pills only to friends, typically during crucial periods: mid-terms and finals. “You trust that they’re making the right decisions,” John said, “and that they’re not taking it a lot.”
He understands that dealing is illegal, but said it’s so common that he knows of people who take and deal much more than he does.
John said most people on campus sell a few pills for about $10. The prescribed drug costs just around 50 cents per tablet. Knowledge of this new market is so well-known, that John says there are even specific spots on campus where students know exactly how to find a seller waiting for potential customers. The seller will carry a small plastic bag or bottle and wait for people to approach him.
Adderall can be a legitimate, life-changing drug. But the number of students who don’t see a problem in buying or selling illegally is alarming to Scholz.
“Sometimes students put things in their bodies that they really don’t understand how it’s going to impact them,” Scholz said. “There are definitely cases where they’re not getting Adderall, or they’re getting a form of Adderall that may not be as pure or as good. That scares me.”
It’s also bringing up issues of fairness.
“It would be kind of like cheating, I guess, because it is a drug,” freshman Julia Zaharis said.
But others are saying that those who drink coffee aren’t much different than Adderall users – they see no unfair advantage over those who didn’t down caffeine.
But the fundamental distinctions, Scholz points out, lie in the illegality, threat of punishment and side effects of Adderall.
Right now, there isn’t much known about the long-term effects of Adderall abuse because researchers are just starting to study it. But Scholz said that for those who are not ADD, instead of looking for the quick-fix of a pill, students can do some basic things to increase focus and avoid overexertion.
“Just sleep. Eat healthy, have plenty of water, eat healthy foods and get exercise,” says Scholz. “There are natural things to do, but they require you really look at your life, and it may mean cutting out things or adding things in.”
But John said the things that lead students to take drastic measures will not go away. “As college admissions get harder and harder, and competition heats up in high schools and everything else — the more pressure on the students to perform, the greater the Adderall demand will be. End of story.”
04-13-2006