If we learn anything from Major League Baseball All-Star Jose Canseco, it’s that there are consequences to taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Although steroids aren’t a real temptation for many St. Thomas students, another performance enhancer with similar dangers is taking over college campuses like steroids took over major league club houses in the 90s. This is the “Adderall Era” of the college world.
Unless students have ADHD and a prescription, they should stop taking Adderall. The issue is not that taking study drugs gives students an unfair advantage over students who don’t, because anyone can go to a drug dealer and buy illegal drugs. I want students to stop abusing study drugs because the drugs are dangerous and unpredictable, and it is unfair to students with learning disabilities.
As many college students know, Adderall is prescribed to people with the developmental disorder ADHD. It can improve the focus of students with ADHD so they can keep up with school work.
While only about 4 percent of college students are prescribed Adderall, studies suggest 50 to 60 percent of college juniors and seniors have used it. Adderall gives users without ADHD a sense of euphoria and leads to dependence, just like other drugs. As a result, prescription drugs, including Adderall, are second to marijuana in illicit drug use, according to a February article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Using it can be especially tempting during finals week as students rush to finish papers and study for tests.
The FDA identified nearly 1,000 cases of psychosis in a five-year period linked to drugs such as Adderall. Studies at UCLA show using amphetamines such as Adderall leads to higher rates of aggression and suicide.
Vanderbilt University student Kyle Craig killed himself last year, partly due to psychosis caused by Adderall use. Students shouldn’t be risking psychosis and death for a possible hike in their GPA.
I have a confession for those of you who believe one can’t knock something until they’ve tried it. I took Adderall last year, not to cram for a final, but on the way to a day of horse races at Canterbury. I entered the track with superhuman focus and endurance and promptly lost $200. My co-worker told me about her friend who took Adderall to study for a final and proceeded to play “Bejeweled” for six hours. Taking Adderall can have unwanted results.
Like handicapped parking spaces, study drugs are there to make things easier for those who need them. Handicapped parking spaces aren’t there for able-bodied people too lazy to walk across the parking lot. It’s the same with Adderall. When students abuse Adderall, they abuse a system that makes school possible for students with special needs.
My sister, Betsy, has Cerebral Palsy, and she has had to fight for the few special treatments she has received in school. When students abuse study drugs, they further tilt the playing field that the drugs are intended to level. Don’t take Adderall unless you have a medical need for it.
Alex Keil can be reached at amkeil@stthomas.edu.
I don’t think Adderall was the cause of you losing your money at Canterbury; that is called gambling and an ADHD medication doesn’t tilt the odds of you winning money. You’re making the common mistake of associating a correlation between the two. It’s a “study-drug” as you say, not something that would make you bet on the winning horses. And the coworker that told you the story of their friend taking Adderall to focus for a final and ended up playing Bejeweled; perhaps the person who didn’t have the intelligence to just focus and study on their own for a final examination is just more likely to take Adderall and play Bejeweled anyway?
Exactly my thoughts, Landon.
Should musicians not use performance enhancing drugs either then?
Out of curiosity, what was your reason for taking Adderall before going to a horse track? I do not understand how “superhuman focus and endurance” would have anything effect on gambling. If you went to the track with 200 dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you most likely would have spent it without the Adderall. Also, that is not the first case of a multi-hour Bejeweled/Farmville/Stumbleupon session the night before an exam that I have heard of (Adderall or not), and it definitely won’t be the last.
Thanks for your personal concern. This article was so poorly written. I am embarrassed it is associated with the University.
I suppose my problem with this article is that, while it is true that it is not fair to those with ADD and ADHD that study aids like adderal are abused, it is more true that these disorders and medications are overly diagnosed and prescribed. It would be almost as easy for one to just request the drug rather than just take it when they want assistance.