Sydney Newton
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If you perform a simple Google search of “college study drugs,” your first result will be Adderall, a prescription drug used to treat people diagnosed with ADHD or ADD. The drug is safe and completely legal, for people who have a prescription, that is. The use of Adderall among college students is climbing higher and higher. The problem begins when students think it’s an easy way out and that it’s always more helpful than harmful.
A study released last week from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that incidences of misuse and emergency-room visits related to Adderall increased dramatically for young adults between 2006 and 2011. Non-medical use of the drug increased by 67 percent and emergency-room visits skyrocketed by 156 percent.
Adderall can be dangerous when abusive habits form and it’s combined with alcohol or other drugs. The side effects that can come along with Adderall include insomnia, heart problems, and loss of appetite. But many students are willing to take the risks as long as they can benefit from the productivity and focus they get.
Adderall is very valuable on pretty much all college campuses, and ours is no exception. “Adderall is extremely easy to obtain on campus. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who’s ‘prescribed,’ ” one student said. “I have never once witnessed or heard of someone getting reprimanded for illegally using it, but I’m sure it does happen.”
Another student, a UI sophomore who has ADHD, agrees with this sentiment. “Adderall is extremely easy to get on this campus … I don’t think people really classify it as a serious drug, therefore, they don’t see it as a problem.”
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With the convenience and significance of this drug, there doesn’t seem to be a stop to it anytime soon.
Adderall is special in that the sometimes dangerous effects tend to be played down and ignored. Why stop when you don’t believe it’s a bad thing? I think there’s a fine line between students who truly need it and have prescriptions versus the students who have basically diagnosed themselves and get it from friends or family.
It’s also incredibly easy to obtain a prescription for Adderall. “I know three people off the top of my head who have gone to the doctor specifically seeking Adderall and successfully gotten it,” said the junior student. But with the rapid increase of Adderall abuse, it might become harder for this to happen. Many people believe that you can only be diagnosed with ADD as a child, but it’s not uncommon for adults to realize that they have it as well.
Bad habits are very hard to break. Adderall is an extremely helpful drug for people who are diagnosed with ADHD or ADD. When students are self-diagnosing and using it as a substitute for studying, this says a lot about the mindset of college students. It’s important to realize why so many students are taking it and why it’s becoming more and more popular.
