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Amphetamine Abuse is a Growing Concern for Colleges
Connie Butts
JRN 412: Advanced Editorial and Feature Writing
Instructor Carol Grinage
January 23, 2017
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Amphetamine Abuse is a Growing Concern for
Colleges
Getty Images
Amphetamines are used among college students, particularly for their ability to help people focus.
Stress is an underlying reason students use for an excuse for resorting to the use of
amphetamines to keep up with the increasing workloads of current college courses. Educators
recognize the constant vigilance students must have to meet expected deadlines and meet grade
requirements to pass classes but minimize the problem of amphetamine abuse to meet the ever
increasing criteria to achieve.
Using stimulants as study aids have become a common way students meet required expectations
while keeping above average grades. According to the American College Health Association, 5.7
percent of college students abuse amphetamines to succeed academically. This trend has been
steadily increasing according to monitoring that was done by University of Michigan scientists.
According to their data, “illicit drug use has been rising gradually among American college
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students since 2006 when 34 percent indicated that they used some illicit drug in the prior year;
that rate was up to 39 percent by 2013.” Among the drugs noted in this study was the use of
amphetamines as study aids.
Amphetamines are central nervous system (CNS) stimulants that decrease appetite while
increasing energy, wakefulness, alertness, and various degrees of euphoria. Stimulants are
classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as a Schedule II controlled substances
because they have, “a high potential for abuse and limited medical uses.” The medications listed
above are commonly prescribed to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or
attention-deficit disorder (ADD) without hyperactivity.
The most common amphetamines that are abused by college students are Adderall, Ritalin, and
Vyvanse because these formulas are designed to maximize alertness and focus without an
extreme euphoric rush. Many students do not realize the dangers of abusing these drugs because
they are prescribed medications and considered safer to use.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA),
“Amphetamine abuse changes misconceptions about addiction. Young people do not have to
meet with shadowy dealers in alleyways to get amphetamine, and addiction is not relegated to
drop-outs or those with disrupted home lives.” Many of these students get the drug from peers
who are prescribed the medication, by obtaining prescriptions themselves from doctors by faking
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ADHD symptoms, and through advertisements on the internet. When polled, 29 percent of
college students reported having sold of given their medications to friends or acquaintances.
Catherine Hurley, a student who transferred from the University of Wisconsin at Madison to
Brown University, said, “I knew a number of people at Madison who used Ritalin to study and
have met just as many here.” She said students with legitimate prescriptions either give it away
or sell it for $5 to $15 a pill. Scott, at Texas A&M University, spoke of a similar experience
when he talked about an all-night partying with Ritalin and beer. He said, “Instead of being
dumb drunk, you’re an awake drunk.
Known risk factors for amphetamine abuse varies based on student motivations or other
circumstances currently faced in the lives of the user and remain the same for men and women.
Students and athletes who feel they are performing below their personal standards are at risk for
amphetamine abuse to increase grade point averages or to enhance their athletic ability.
General acute medical effects of stimulants are varied and include a rise in blood pressure,
increased heart rate, increased respiration rate, increased body temperature, cause pupils to
dilate, heightened alertness and increased motor activity. When taken in excessively high doses
they can cause a dangerously rapid and erratic heartbeat, cerebral hemorrhaging,
seizures/convulsions, respiratory failure, stroke, heart failure, brain damage, coma, and death.
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With repeated exposure sensitization can take place and a previously harmless dose can cause
catastrophic effects.
Psychological effects seen with stimulant use include a heightened sense of well-being, euphoria,
excitement, heightened alertness, increased motor activity, reduced food intake, reduced sleep,
some enhanced psychomotor tasks, and possible increased socialization. Higher doses cause
restlessness, agitation, and excessive doses may produce repetitive and automatic actions.
Chronic psychological effects of stimulant use include various psychiatric disorders such as
psychosis, paranoia, and suicidal tendencies. There may also be neurological impairments, and
cognitive deficits noted. Tolerance eventually develops to the behavioral effects of stimulants, so
that increasing doses are required to achieve the same effect. The reasons for amphetamine-based
medications need to be evaluated and scrutinized before considering this dangerous choice.
Students considering this means to succeed need to keep in mind that the use of ADHD drugs is
a short term fix at best. Trying circumstances and stressful deadlines are a normal part of adult
life. Seeking out a “quick fix” to get through one only leaves a person less equipped when faced
with future stressors. Using drugs to succeed as a student leaves a student more open to the use
of drugs later in life to escape life’s pressures.
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Consideration should be given to the fairness of using drugs to study concerning other students
and the university as well. Educators must perform a balancing act when considering criteria for
upcoming classes. Using stimulants as study aids make it difficult to gauge the complexity of
material to offer in upcoming classes that provide both challenge and fairness to all students.
Using drugs to enhance attentiveness puts honest students at an unfair disadvantage when
dealing with material that is overly difficult because previous classmates used stimulants to
improve wakefulness and attentiveness.
It must be stressed that this is an ongoing problem which is continuing to grow. Pressure over
grades and competition for college admissions has led to pills becoming a staple in some college
and graduate school circles. New York psychologist, DeAnsin Parker said, “It is throughout all
the private schools here” going on to say it has become the culture. Gary Boggs, a special agent
for the DEA, said, “We’re seeing it all across the United States.”
A common theme noticed when students in advanced classes were interviewed is the need to
keep everyone happy. Madeline, an honor student at the Roman Catholic School in Bethesda,
Md., succumbed to this same pressure after looking over her school schedule. She asked her
friend for a pill after noticing her grades had increased after being prescribed Ritalin. After
taking a test and passing with a 95, Madeline decided to continue using stimulants for the rest of
her classes. She, like so many students, failed to realize the harm that using these drugs can
cause.
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Any student considering this avenue to success needs to ask themselves, is it worth it? Is it worth
the potential dangers it can cause? Is it worth possibly becoming addicted? Is it worth being put
at risk for future drug addictions or suffering from future mental illness? These are sobering
questions to ponder.
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References
Clemmitt, M. (2012, August 3). Treating ADHD. CQ Researcher, 22, 669-692. Retrieved from
http://library.cqpress.com/
Clemmitt, M. (2009, October 9). Medication Abuse. CQ Researcher, 19, 837-860. Retrieved
from http://library.cqpress.com/
(2107). Increasingly Abused on College Campuses. Amphetamines.com. Retrieved from
http://amphetamines.com/amphetamines-increasingly-abused-college-campuses/
Koch, K. (2000, November 10). Special Education. CQ Researcher, 10, 905-928. Retrieved from
http://library.cqpress.com/
Koch, K. (1999, October 22). Rethinking Ritalin. CQ Researcher, 9, 905-928. Retrieved from
http://library.cqpress.com/
(2017). Why Do College Students Abuse Amphetamines? Ampheamines.com. Retrieved from
http://amphetamines.com/amphetamine-abuse/why-do-college-students-abuse-
amphetamines/
Schwarz, Alan (2017). Risky Rise of the Good-Grade Pill. The New York Times (2012 June 9).
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/education/seeking-academic-edge-
teenagers-abuse-stimulants.html
