Adderall use, legal and illegal, prominent on campus

It's 8 a.m. on a Tuesday morning and Bill, a sophomore psychology major at Saint Joseph's University, is preparing for an 8:30 a.m. class.

Bill, like most college students, has trouble functioning during his early morning classes, but he has found a way to keep himself awake. His girlfriend, also a sophomore at St. Joe's, has a prescription for Adderall.

"I need to take Adderall in order to feel awake in the morning," he said, adding that he only takes the drug on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he has an early class.

Adderall, a drug used to treat people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and sometimes narcolepsy, was granted FDA approval in 1996. It was derived from the same formula used in the weight loss drug Obetrol.

Adderall's ability to increase a person's sense of concentration focus has resulted in its growing use among college students, many of them non-prescribed users.

"I think there are a significant number of St. Joe's students that abuse Adderall," said Joan Ryan, Psy.D., assistant director of substance abuse prevention and intervention. "This number represents a minority of the population of students here, but the abuse is still present."

For Ryan, the increase in the number of non-prescribed students using Adderall is "a direct result of more students being prescribed to the drug."

Ryan said the parents of high school and college students seem more willing to seek treatment for their children when they present symptoms of ADHD because they want to make sure that their children are able to give their top performances when it comes to their grades.

Many college students like Bill do not see a problem with taking Adderall, also know as the study drug, without having gone to a doctor and been diagnosed with ADHD or some other behavioral problem.

Kate, a senior marketing major at St. Joe's, who is also a non-prescribed user, does not see a problem with taking Adderall occasionally as long as she is using it for academic purposes.

"I don't think that it is a problem for people to use Adderall to help them study," said Kate. "I guess if the person starts to become dependent on it and can't function or do their work without it, then there would be a problem."

Adderall, which is an amphetamine, is a central nervous system stimulant that affects chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control.

Using Adderall has similar effects to drinking excessive amounts of coffee or taking caffeine pills, Ryan said, adding that she does not think using Adderall as a study drug is justifiable. Both Adderall and caffeine cause the heart to race and provide an extra burst of energy that helps people stay awake.

Unlike caffeine, however, Adderall is a schedule II controlled substance, which means that the drug has a high potential for addiction and abuse.

According to Ellen Trappey, substance abuse and prevention specialist at St. Joseph's, Adderall is highly addictive because of the fact that it is an amphetamine.

"Adderall is a stimulant so some students think that they can stay awake and focus longer if they take it," Trappey said. "I don't think that many students understand the effect Adderall has on a person's body, especially if the person taking it has not seen a doctor and is not prescribed to the medication."

The majority of Saint Joseph students who use Adderall illegally said they are able to study and function without it. They said that they only take Adderall when they have lots of work to get done.

Many students who take the drug without a prescription associate Adderall with positive results on a test or a paper. If a student sees a positive result from using Adderall, that student may be more willing to use it again order to achieve the same end result.

But taking a drug without a prescription can be dangerous, Ryan said.

"They haven't been checked out by a doctor to make sure that they have no medical conditions or prescribed medications that would be negatively impacted by taking Adderall," Ryan said. "Not to mention it is illegal."

For the most part, students do not have to go out of their way to find someone with access to the drug.

It is common for the students who are not prescribed to obtain the pills through other students on campus who have a prescription. Those students who do have prescriptions may not take the drug as much as prescribed, creating an abundance of leftovers either to give away to friends or to sell.

"Adderall is not hard to get a hold of," Kate said. "Most people around St. Joe's know someone that takes the drug that they can easily get it from, whether it is because they are a friend or they are buying it."

While most students are able to get the drug for free from friends, others pay $2 to $12 per pill, depending on whether they are buying instant-release or extended-release tablets and depending on the milligrams of each pill.

Most students who are willing to talk about using Adderall without being prescribed have said that they get jittery and lose their appetite when they use it. They attribute these side effects to their sporadic usage of Adderall.

One of the common side effects of Adderall is that it affects sleeping patterns.

Steven, a senior criminal justice major at St. Joseph's, who is prescribed Adderall, says that he has trouble sleeping if he takes Adderall too late in the day.

Steven has been prescribed Adderall since he was in the fourth grade and he feels that he would not have done as well in school, especially college, without it.

"Since the workload is more intense in college, and I have so much more free time, Adderall has definitely helped me manage my time and get my work done," Steven said.

Megan, a senior marketing major who is not prescribed Adderall, said she plans to stop taking the drug when she graduates. Right now, she typically uses it around mid-term and final exam periods.

"I don't plan on taking it once I graduate from college," she said. "I don't need it for everyday life. I don't use it to go to work or to go out at night so there won't be any reason to take it after college."