America is known as the land of opportunity. The endless amount of resources to do anything that we desire. Whether it is people, business’, physical things, etc. Our country has the best chance of giving people a future. We have some of the best doctors in the world that bring medication to help people with their issues. Medications is something that should be used to aid a disease. But what happens when a thing made for good turns into a bad habit? Should ADHD medications be used freely without a prescription amongst college students?

ADHD is a brain disorder that effects staying on task and focus of an individual. The way that people with this overcome it is by medication. Medications such as Adderall and Ritalin are the main two used to even out their concentration. Getting a prescription is not a hard thing to do in this time if someone wanted the medication bad enough. This being said, what are these kids wanting it so bad for? Is it for academics only? Some students may argue that, but the bigger problem is what they do after the class gets over.

There was an article done showing how many people used the medications without a script. Of the people interviewed, around 36.8% of psychoanalytic drugs are used without a prescription. Students are seeing the success of fellow students that use Adderall and are wanting to have that same success. 

The desire to have a good grade in college is one of the main motives in the use of the drug. Stress occurs when students are wanting to do good or are wanting to at least get credit for the classes they are in without having to retake it. The constant weighing of keeping the grade up or passing a test to make sure that they are safe in passing the class is an ongoing struggle. According to D.R. Moore in the article “Addictive Behaviors”, the students who use these drugs to reduce stress in school are also the ones who wait till the last minute. Adderall and other ADHD medication are what is known as “speeds” which allows students to somewhat make up for lost time that they used procrastinating. The New York Times did an interview of a student that was a senior at UCLA in 2007. The student said, “I started taking Adderall and things changed fast. I focused in the library for hours without distraction. I cranked out a 15-page research paper in one night, without wanting to take a break. I could shut out the world.” This type of success is the main selling point for students to use ADHD medication without a proper prescription. Dr. Merck, a psychologist and professor at the University of South Carolina, once said a quote that pertains to this situation. She said, “Anyone will do better if they use a simulant.” This statement shows that ADHD medication use isn’t just to those who are in need, but can be obtained by anyone.

Research has been done to show that college students are at the prime age of people who have the highest stress. The two main things that people at this age are stressed for is like I had said before, school or what people call the “real world”. Adderall and other medications are something seen as a safety net to help them from falling behind or failing without room to recover. When asking Dr. Malone, a local psychiatrist, after taking Adderall or any other medication, the highest effects are anywhere from 2-5 hours after. Also, the rate of which students take this medicine increases whenever they are in a situation that requires their best performance. The levels of worry and stress in students dramatically drop after all finals are completed. According to an article by Nicholas Tomeo at the University of Cincinnati, stress in college students is due from an oversupply of cortisol to their prefrontal cortex of their brains. The oversupply of cortisol causes the students higher order thinking to decrease. This effect of lowering the level of a student’s thinking can be the motive toward them taking medication to increase their focus.

In the article “Addicted to Adderall”, it says that the “ADHD medications are used to bridge a gap that is between academics and social life.” Student who are looking to increase their academic status due to the possibility of if they do good in a class, they will be socially wanted. The article “Why Using Meds for ‘Neuroenhancement’ Is a Scary Thought.” ties into this as well. This article states that this research was done at Harvard and Stanford. Both schools agreed that the cognitive enhancement will get a society response. This means by students using ADHD medications more often, the habit will spread and soon be known as a resource to pass a course.

The fear of failure is also a main contributor in the use of these drugs among college students. The expectation that is set by society or their fellow peers is viewed as a stressor for students as well. This need for societal approval is not isolated by gender. Both male and female have this internal desire to be successful. The part that is overlooked is the negative effects that abusing these types of medications can have long term. Research supports the fact that students will do things that are illegal if it means them succeeding. However, it has been proved that males are more likely to misuse drugs if they have had some type of grade issue themselves. Females were four times more likely to obtain the drugs for a friend or group. Both are still adding on to the issue how students misuse these drugs and how they can be sold or bought so easily. An article was shown in a drug abuse class on a college student explaining how easily Adderall was sold by social media. The student said, “I use Snapchat because that is actually the most secure ways to hide what you've said.” The more society evolves, the more ways to get medications are formed. But the issue of having ADHD medications can have an impact a student’s life academically without having to do any school work. Doctors are worried about the issue of the medication use in college kids because of the consumption of alcohol. 

 

College is known for things besides the classroom. In the article “Characteristics of College Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms Who Misuse Their Medications.”, it said that around 23.3% of students that were asked mix ADHD medication with alcohol. This is a larger number of students that were asked from the article “At Such a Good School, Everybody Needs It’: Contested Meanings of Prescription Stimulant Use in College Academics. “Around 15% of students at a university misuse of mix medications with alcohol. The main effect on college kids when mixing is experiencing liver failure. The article “Adderall Induced Acute Liver Failure”, Rohini Vanga found that around 39% of students develop liver failure when using to high of a dose of Adderall. That percent went up by 8% when mixed with alcohol. For example, at the University of South Carolina, there is about 34,000 students who attend. Of those 34,000 students, 5,100 students will misuse or mix medications with alcohol. Out of 5,100 students, 2,397 on average will experience liver failure of some kind. This number fluctuates depending on the size of the school. Alcohol consumption with medications at parties or social event is mainly due to peer pressure. Students don’t want to be looked down on or seen as weak for not involving themselves in drinking or partying activities. So, to keep or build up their reputation or image, students will mix or drink without making rationale decisions about how the substances can physically harm them. They choose to be liked or loved over their own health. Is the risk of health issues not enough to grab the students and college official’s attention that this is a serious issue?

The decision to take ADHD medication without seeing a doctor or mixing with alcohol is only made by the student themselves. But could other people be guilty for contributing as well? According to the article “Adderall Abuse on College Campuses: A Comprehensive Literature Review.”, Matthew Varga states that the use of medications to improve academics and social life among college students have dramatically increased since the last 10 years. The start of the misuse is not certain but based on measurements of the past decade, the habit got exponentially worse. The large amount of time of misuse has let society make this into a normal trend in academic success. Finding an easier way to accomplish a task is one thing, but to put yourself in a situation where you could develop health issues is another.

Society is a major contributor to the misuse of these medications. The standard that every student tries to meet while balancing their social life is a constant internal war. The problem is proved to be getting worse with the percentages showing the exact number of students that are misusing the medications. Universities have a policy that forbids students selling unprescribed drugs. But the drugs are still accessible to almost everyone. So, should universities set some more strict policies in place that could decrease the percent? 

The issue of students misusing these drugs will not completely go away based on the fact that if students want to succeed bad enough they will do whatever it takes. With the information and research given, I agree that this is issue that is containing to increase and must be fixed. I propose that there are three solutions that will lower the level of illegal activities with ADHD medication. The first thing is to have programs of prescription drug abuse go to colleges a speak about the research and surveys that have been done on this issue. Spreading the statistics on this issue in person will impact students to give a second thought to misusing the drugs from the side effects they learn from the research. To decrease the rate of selling and misusing, universities can start to make it mandatory for background and medical information when applying. Universities getting their students medical information could inform them if that student is prescribed any ADHD medications along with background check to see if there is any prior criminal history related to this problem. And lastly, universities should give classes on effectively studying. All students don’t know how to properly study but if they learn some techniques, the procrastination factor will be gone. Using these solutions will inform, challenge, and educate students on this ongoing problem. Doing these things will better society and learning institutions while keeping students safe from any physical harm.