Stimulants: the essay
The sale of Ritalinâ increased 500% between 1990 and 1999 in the United States. The sale of drugs containing amphetamine (Adderallâ and Dexedrineâ) increased 2000% in the same time (Woodworth). The United States produces and consumes 85% of the world’s methylphenidate (commonly known as Ritalinâ), according to the United Nations (INCB Report, 1998). Stimulants are used to control Attention Deficit Disorder, they are addictive and many college students have been drawn to using the drug. Using Adderallâ and other stimulants are a growing trend among college students in the United States.
As a response to high pressures from parents and college, students turn to using prescribed stimulants for non-medical use. At the most competitive colleges, 5.9% of students reported using the drug. Students struggling in school with a B or less reported using stimulants 5.2%, while only 3.3% of students with a B or above did. Students who have parents who graduated from a four year college are more likely to turn to stimulants. 5.7% of students with fathers who graduated from a four year college reported using stimulants, and 5.5% of students with mothers did within the past year (McCabe et al., 2005). Because the students who are in a competitive college and those who have parents who completed at least a four year college use stimulants more, it leads me to believe that it is because of high expectations. Another study has found that undergraduate students with higher family incomes reported higher rates of using non-medical prescription stimulant (Teter et al., 2003). Many people feel pressure to exceed the achievements of their parents. Amphetamine’s are sometime referred to as an “academic steroid”, helping its’ users study longer and harder. Some students use stimulants which are not prescribed for them to enhance their studying ability. Even for those without ADD, a restricted amount of a stimulant will cause them to be more focused (“Students”, 2004). The high expectations parents have for their kids lead their children to use stimulants, possibly as a study aid.
Members of fraternities and sororities are more likely to report using stimulants than non-members. When asked about the party drug, James Rosborough (Rosborough, 2006), a prescribed user of Ritalin, attests that students desire the drug to prolong the affects of drunkenness. The 2001 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS), a national study of college drinking, found that fraternity members were much more likely to engage in heavy drinking than their non-fraternity peers (75.1 percent versus 48.6 percent). The results are comparable to sorority members, 62.4 percent engaged in heavy drinking, and 40.9 percent of other female students ("Fraternity and Sorority Members"). The combination of heavy drinking and taking stimulants are common in the college community because many students wish to prolong the effects of drunkenness. 13.5% of students living in a fraternity or sorority house reported using a stimulant, while only 3.5% of students living in a single-sex residence hall did (McCabe et al., 2005). It seems that even living in a fraternity or sorority, where drinking occurs often, can increase your chances of taking stimulants. Using stimulants is a trend among college students who binge drink.
There are also trends to which demographic of people use stimulants. According to a survey conducted of 10,904 randomly selected college students from 119 colleges around the United States, males are four times as likely to receive a diagnosis for ADD and be prescribed a stimulant medication. Males use prescription stimulants for non-medical use almost two times as much than females (McCabe et al., 2005). Males are more likely to take risks and do drugs than women ("Risk-Taking Behavior in Men: Substance Use and Gender"). As a combination between having easy access to stimulant medication and being willing to take that risk, males use prescription stimulants for non-medical use more than females. In a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, white students were approximately twice as likely as black students to receive ADHD medication, according to a study of elementary school students (Lefever et al., 1999). In the study of college students, published in Addiction, 4.9% of the white people surveyed have taken stimulants within the past year (McCabe et al., 2005); higher than any other racial group. There is a trend between who has stimulants accessible to them and those who use it.
Adderallâ originated as a diet pill. One of the side effects for Adderallâ is loss of appetite. Bulimia is defined as “using methods to prevent weight gain, such as…diet pills“("Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa."). The number of bulimic women between the ages of 10 and 39 has tripled between 1988 and 1993 (Hoek, 1995). People are not prescribed Adderallâ for the purpose of dieting; however, it may be desirable for those who wish to lose weight. I experience the loss of appetite when I take Adderallâ, and it caused me to lose weight. And now, when I’m refraining from taking Adderallâ, I feel like I’m gaining weight and reconsider my decision to not take the medicine. Perhaps stimulants like Adderallâ are appealing to some who are interested in weight loss.
It is common for students to obtain stimulants from a prescribed peer. 54% of all students prescribed to stimulant medication had been approached to sell or give the medication away (McCabe, 2004) within the past year. In addition, another study found in a random sample of 9161 undergraduate students that over 90% of non-medical users of prescription stimulants, who reported a source, indicated they obtained prescription stimulants from peers and friends (McCabe et al., in press). Adderallâ and other stimulant drugs are sold illegally for $4 to $10 a pill for a 20-30mg capsule (“Adderall“). From personal experience, I have been approached to sell my Adderallâ from long-time friends. They understood when I explained that I need them. Recreationally, stimulants have nearly identical effects as cocaine. When they are given in comparable doses in the same way, cocaine, amphetamine, and methylphenidate has identical effects (Woodworth, 2000). Obtaining the drug from a peer is common among college students.
Using stimulants do not come without the effects for the growing number of users. The most common side effects of using stimulants include weight loss, inability to sleep, nervousness, restlessness, and dry mouth. Dizziness is also common, which requires you to rise slowly over several minutes from sitting or lying position. Other side-effects include: changes in sex drive, constipation, depression, diarrhea, emotional instability, exaggerated feelings of well-being, fatigue, fever, headache, high blood pressure, hives, impotence, indigestion, infections, insomnia, mental disturbances, nausea, nervousness, over stimulation, rapid or pounding heartbeat, restlessness, stomach and intestinal disturbances, tremor, twitches, unpleasant taste, vomiting, and weakened heart (“Adderall“). These effects are mostly for daily users. In personal experience, besides experiencing loss of appetite, I have experienced dizziness, emotional instability, rapid pounding heartbeat, and twitches. As a direct result of the medication, I was scared to exercise because it felt as if my heart was beating out of my chest, but I wouldn’t get tired. For anyone, including people with ADD, who take an excessive amount of the medication, it causes them to become jittery. The stimulants effects everyone, not just those who unlawfully use stimulants.
In the United States, college students have an increasing interest in non-prescribed stimulants. Because of pressures from family and high expectations, some students feel that an “academic steroid” can help them. Other college students are using the drug to keep the effects of being drunk longer. There is a common trend between the amount people prescribed to the medication and the amount of college-aged people abusing the medication. There is a growing number of college-aged students using stimulants like Adderallâ as a result of high expectations and the desire to feel drunk.
what do you think?