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Adderall Abuse Increasing Among College Students

On college campuses across the country, students have been turning to Adderall, a drug that is usually prescribed for attention-deficit disorders, to help them stay awake and focused for studying and taking tests. However, prescription stimulants like Adderall can be very dangerous when used inappropriately. When combined with alcohol, the drugs can be deadly.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 percent of college students reported having used Adderall for nonmedical use in 2006 and 2007. University of Oregon pharmacist Gregg Wendland said that students have been abusing Adderall since he started working at the university more than four years ago.

Wendland said students tell him that the use of Adderall peaks during finals week and other stressful periods. “Some students who get it (through legal means) will opt to sell some of their supply to their fellow students,” he said. The University of Oregon Health Center has cracked down on prescriptions, making sure students aren’t faking symptoms of ADHD to obtain the drugs.

But it’s hard to pinpoint how many students are using and selling the drug. “It is a problem,” said University of Oregon Health Center Medical Director Jenny Soyke, who plans to implement additional safety precautions before the upcoming school year that will require students to sign a written contract that spells out the legal and medical ramifications of diverting or selling their medication.

“I feel that we have a responsibility to put all that in writing and review it at face-to-face visits so it’s really in their face,” she said. “But when it comes down to it, we can’t follow them home.”

Illegally sold pills at the University of Oregon go for $5 to $15 per tablet, depending on the dosage and time-release of the drug. Students will pay more for pills with a high dosage that will last all day. But the drug comes with side effects—Adderall can cause nervousness, headaches, sleeplessness, and decreased appetite. In addition, a warning label on Adderall notes that adults using the drug have reported serious cardiac problems.

“Adderall is a stimulant—it’s hard on the heart,” Soyke said. “A lot of the problems with stimulants and heart problems is overuse; similar to meth, Adderall users tend to increase the dosage of what they are taking.”

Chris Hammong, a PeaceHealth pediatrician, says that many doctors prefer to prescribe Adderall for ADHD because it lasts longer and has an extended release. “If you don’t have ADHD, it would be more like taking a stimulant or speed,” he said. “Some people may abuse it to lose weight, get high, drive through the night. The overall effect is to increase your alertness.”

Soyke says she worries most about the mental dependence students may form while taking the drug. “The addiction of thinking, ‘I can’t do anything unless I’m on this’ is very real,” she said.

Many college students think Adderall is safe because it comes from a doctor, even if the medication isn’t prescribed to them, said Bob Nystrom, manager of the adolescent health section for the Oregon Public Health Division. In June, he presented a report that said that amphetamines are the second-highest abused drug by high-school seniors in Oregon. In addition, 6.8 percent of students said they had abused prescription amphetamines in 2008.

Students need to know that possessing a prescription drug like Adderall without a prescription is a Class C felony in Oregon, punishable by 18 months probation and up to 30 days in jail. Selling the drugs is a Class B felony, punishable by 24 months of probation and up to 60 days in jail.

Soyke says she tries to stress the severity of misusing the medication to students. “Any time we have a controlled substance, we’re really concerned with what happens,” she said. “Many students have gotten very good at pulling wool over our eyes. I really don’t know how we can get a handle on it.”