Posted June 13,2011
College students might be tempted to buy or bum Adderall or other prescription stimulants to “get in the zone” as finals come to a close this week.
But it’s unsafe, illegal and downright wrong, campus officials warn.
“National policymakers call prescription-drug abuse an epidemic, and I’m particularly concerned about students using prescription stimulants designed to treat attention-deficit (disorders) as a study aid,” said Kenneth M. Hale, an assistant dean at Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.
Drinking among college students has been relatively steady in recent years, but the abuse of prescription drugs — most notably stimulants, sedatives and painkillers — has soared, Hale said.
The misuse of Adderall and other stimulants can lead to increases in blood pressure or heart rate, addiction and even death, he said. In recent years, prescription-drug abuse has become the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio and many other states.
Ohio State, Ohio University and Otterbein University have expanded their public-awareness campaigns.
Among those 18 to 22 years old, full-time college students are twice as likely as their peers to misuse a stimulant, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
By the time students reach their sophomore year in college, about half will have been offered these medications by friends or fellow students, the agency found.
“I have frequently overheard conversations about taking Adderall and have even witnessed students popping 10- to 20-milligram pills into their mouths and getting back to work at 1 a.m. in the libraries,” said Kristyn M. Sturms, a 21-year-old pharmaceutical-sciences major at Ohio State who has been working to educate students about the dangers.
She said that Adderall is fast replacing Red Bull, 5-hour Energy and other caffeinated drinks for a quick pick-me-up because it is so easily accessible.
Too many students mistakenly believe that these stimulants are safe for uses other than those they were designed for because they are FDA-approved and prescribed by a doctor, said JD Bickel, a 22-year-old pharmaceutical-sciences major at Ohio State.
“But every medication has its risks,” said Bickel, who helps lead OSU’s Generation Rx initiative to teach kindergartners through college students about the dangers of abusing medications.
Taking prescription medications inappropriately also has been linked to other high-risk behaviors, said Julie Saker, director of student conduct and wellness at Otterbein, a private university in Westerville.
Full-time college students who misused Adderall were almost three times more likely than fellow students to have used marijuana in the past year, eight times more likely to have used cocaine or prescription tranquilizers, and five times more likely to have misused prescription pain relievers, she said. Also, nearly 90 percent were binge drinkers, and more than half were heavy alcohol abusers, according to SAMHSA.
Illegally selling or possessing Adderall is a fifth-degree felony that could result in a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
“Using Adderall out of context is just not the best way to study,” said Holly Leupp, a 23-year-old social-work student at Ohio State.
Users are just setting themselves up for failure, she said.
Dispatch reporter Erin Perkins contributed to this story.
epyle@dispatch.com
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