Spring Break
The Daily OrangeAdderall use aids academics but has dangerous implications
By Katherine Paster
Posted: 10/17/06, 12:17 AM EST Section: Opinion
Our parents' generation got high off weed, acid and LSD. Sadly, our generation's drug of choice is far from recreational and gets passed around college campuses like breath mints. Without it, we can't cram all night for tests, finish papers in half the usual time or make it through a full day of classes. The one drug we can't seem to function without as undergraduate students is that little blue amphetamine that we lovingly call Adderall.
Twenty minutes after ingesting the stimulant you can begin to see why students can't get enough of them. Your heart rate quickens, your thoughts begin to race in an orderly fashion, you have a sudden urge to do all of your work in one sitting and you become unnaturally focused. But few people realize what the stimulant could be costing them.
As a Schedule II controlled substance, Adderall joins the ranks of cocaine, morphine and Oxycodone in the group of drugs that can cause a severe psychological or physical dependence and have the highest abuse potential. It's more than a risk, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which reports that the commercial distribution of commonly abused pharmaceuticals including Adderall increased by 109 percent from 2000 to 2004. More people are being prescribed to ADHD medications than ever before.
"I got a prescription for Adderall because when I take it, it allows me to focus for longer periods of time and not be distracted," said senior English and textual studies major Farrell Fisher. "After a 15-minute interview and a short questionnaire of rating symptoms, the doctor prescribed me to 10 to 20 grams of Adderall taken twice daily. That's up to 40 grams in a day - which is a lot for someone who has never been prescribed to ADD medication before."
The common side effects are pretty standard for ADHD medications which include loss of appetite, weight loss, insomnia, headaches, and dizziness. The severe side effects, however, are scary enough to think twice about pulling an all-nighter.
Twenty minutes after ingesting the stimulant you can begin to see why students can't get enough of them. Your heart rate quickens, your thoughts begin to race in an orderly fashion, you have a sudden urge to do all of your work in one sitting and you become unnaturally focused. But few people realize what the stimulant could be costing them.
As a Schedule II controlled substance, Adderall joins the ranks of cocaine, morphine and Oxycodone in the group of drugs that can cause a severe psychological or physical dependence and have the highest abuse potential. It's more than a risk, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which reports that the commercial distribution of commonly abused pharmaceuticals including Adderall increased by 109 percent from 2000 to 2004. More people are being prescribed to ADHD medications than ever before.
"I got a prescription for Adderall because when I take it, it allows me to focus for longer periods of time and not be distracted," said senior English and textual studies major Farrell Fisher. "After a 15-minute interview and a short questionnaire of rating symptoms, the doctor prescribed me to 10 to 20 grams of Adderall taken twice daily. That's up to 40 grams in a day - which is a lot for someone who has never been prescribed to ADD medication before."
The common side effects are pretty standard for ADHD medications which include loss of appetite, weight loss, insomnia, headaches, and dizziness. The severe side effects, however, are scary enough to think twice about pulling an all-nighter.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 8
Colin
posted 8/02/08 @ 2:05 PM EST
Doctors don't prescribe "grams" of adderall. Taking even one gram of amphetamine would be fatal (adderall is a mixture of 4 amphetamine salts). Good job interviewing the most ignorant person you could find. (Continued…)
Sgt. Banana
posted 9/20/08 @ 4:45 AM EST
Meh, I think I'll keep popping Adderall. I could find more deaths linked to drinking milk than I could Adderall. Nice scare tactic though, but you should keep working on it. (Continued…)
informant
posted 5/19/09 @ 2:41 AM EST
just so you know, acid and LSD are the same thing.
millivanilli
posted 7/01/09 @ 11:54 AM EST
glad to see there are crooked doctors prescribing add meds w/o actually testing for ADD. because the tests cost thousands and take a few months. i have severe ADHD, i've been taking adderall since a kid and have never been on more than 20 mgs (not grams, idiots) in my life. (Continued…)
Sydney
posted 11/17/09 @ 3:08 PM EST
Yall of frieken retarded i LOVE aderall!! haha suck on that skeptics
Brian
posted 11/18/09 @ 10:04 PM EST
I love how this article says its prescribed in gram amounts, and that acid and LSD are implied to be two different substances.
Pretty obvious why newhouse kids choose newhouse. (Continued…)
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