Growing Adderall Abuse Among College Students - Research Paper Example

? Growing Adderall abuse among college Adderall abuse increasing among college Adderall lies in the of amphetamine where its use is legal in some nations, but illegal in others. The usage of Adderall is for the treatment and management of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders and narcolepsy, but its sale in Canada and the USA is in the legal prescription list. In other instances, the drug is also applicable in the treatment of obesity, sleep related disorders, and at times severe depression. In recent years, college students have adopted the use of this drug as a way of enhancing their productivity levels in their classes. This has led them to acquire the medicines illegally because of its ability to increase concentration levels for its users, heightening of alert levels for all night study sessions, and increasing their motivation to continue learning. These students take up this drug because of its stimulant nature hence making the percentage of users that do not suffer from ADHD to be at an alarming high. With this, this essay will delve on increased rates of Adderall use among college students by also giving the statistical facts about its abuse rates. Further, the focus will be on the particular colleges that have registered the highest rate of Adderall drug abuse by indicating statistical data to support the claims. According research, college students give the reason for their abuse of Adderall drug as the need to have a competitive edge in the classroom over their classmates. Adderall use has a number of side effects that include insomnia, hallucinations, depression, appetite loss, high blood pressure among a list of many others (Nguyen, 2013). However, these side effects do not deter college students from gaining access to the drug in order to enhance their classroom productivity levels. Another fact that these college students seem not to be aware of is that Adderall abuse leads to Adderall addiction where a student fails o function as required when they have not taken the drug. Analysts have named Adderall abuse as the silent epidemic as the drug influences mental and physical dependency as they also serve as a gateway to the use of other hard drugs. The abuse of this drug is common for students aged between eighteen and twenty two because of the high academic expectations attached to being in college. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health the percentage of these young adults, abusing Adderall stands at seven of the full time college students because of the high admission standards stated by universities (Nguyen, 2013). In essence, the whole idea behind drug abuse tends to be for the sole purpose of escaping from the demands of life and the challenges that an individual might be facing. In this regard, greater numbers of those abusing the drug give their reasons for using the drug as the gender or racial discrepancy that they experience in their respective colleges. The racial or gender prejudice that they face influences them to take education performance drugs such as Adderall in order to be at par with students from other races. On the other hand, college students that may be underperforming opt to self diagnose themselves as to having ADHD in order for them to acquire Adderall prescription over the counter. Other researches have also established that a great number of those abusing this drug tend to buy into the idea that most college students use drugs hence making this the college culture. This is a misperception that students have with a larger percentage of those involved in this risky behavior giving the excuse that the demands by society to perform more has pushed to this vice. Another misconception that has influenced the abuse of Adderall is the claim that prescription drugs do not pose any harm to the human body as they are safe because their sale is by medical practitioners. In many reports, students from the North East and the Southern regions of America seem to be the highest abusers of this drug as their Tweets concerning their behavior tops Tweeter (Hollingshead, 2013). With the advancement in technology and the rise of the use of social media tools, a significant number of Adderall users Tweet about their adventures with the drug majorly on weekdays and towards the start of exam periods. Therefore, social media serves a data collection tool rather than the conventional use of questionnaires as it relays information fast and with accuracy in terms of finding out those that use the Adderall and the frequency of usage. Arguably, the challenge is no longer access to this drug as many of those asked of how their get them they say that they got them from those prescribed to take them for medication purposes. A significant number of those with ADHD say that they find themselves sharing the drug with non-diagnosed peers because of the ties that they share. The implication of this is that students gain access to the drug with ease hence serving as a reason to indulge in its use because of the perceived benefits of using Adderall (Peets, 2013). Many of these students are oblivious to the fact that managing time properly and concentrating in class are the key principles to passing exams without having to strain when exam finals approach (Hollingshead, 2013). In other researches, students form the Miami region tend to get Adderall drug from home rather than when in school as many feel that the sale of this drug is rampant in college surroundings. This makes it easy for students to acquire them from a health care provider form home without undergoing a full examination to ascertain whether they have ADHD (Peets, 2013). Similarly, this trend is also high among college students in Ohio as the rate stands at 4.4 percent of college drug use. The University of Kentucky also tops the list of Adderall and alcohol abuse whose rate stands at an alarming thirty percent (Rush & Fillmore, 2010). Additionally, unscrupulous pharmacist also has a role in the distribution and sale of Adderall prescription drug as they sell them to students under the guise of friendship while their intent is to make money. They engage in the sale this drug without ensuring that those making purchase of Adderall have valid prescriptions and communicating to them the dangers of abusing the drug. Adderall also poses health problems as a side of effect of using it such as nausea, vomiting, shivering, and diarrhea, which may not be common among many users. Related researchers have also shown that a significant number of those involved in Adderall addictions tend to be binge drinkers and might engage in alcohol abuse (Rush & Fillmore, 2010). This explains the shaking characteristic witnessed in these users, which in the end influences unresolved psychological, health, and environmental issues. In the end, Adderall abuse attracts withdrawal like any other drug meaning that an abuser of the drug tends to be weak, experiences panic attacks, and paranoia at the times when they are not using the drug. On the contrary, peer pressure is another contributor to Adderall abuse as students tend to help one another cope with the challenges of college by providing their peers with information on where they would get the drug. Ideally, America is the world’s largest producer of legal amphetamine whose rate stands at eighty-eight percent hence making the availability of the drug a matter of ease to the college-going students. In the recent times, this drug use has spilled from the original college students as they seem to be taking the vice to their workplaces. The implication here is that the dependency without early intervention to this drug leads students to rely on the drug in order to be productive at their places of work. Therefore, the worrying trend is that the dependable population becomes drug dependant becomes of their cultivated perception that they are not productive when not on Adderall (Jacobs, 2005). Adderall abuse has evolved into being an ingredient that many students use in order to success because of its stimulant capabilities hence becoming the easiest alternative to academic prosperity. Those suffering from ADHD also help in the distribution of Adderall as most of them sell their prescriptions to those that need them in order to earn extra cash to survive on campus. According to Jacobs (2005), one pill of Adderall sells at an average of five dollars making it a booming trade because of the increasing number of dependants on the drug for performance. Students using Adderall should explore other ways of staying focused before exams such as meditation and not prescribed medication of amphetamine salts. Researchers believe that there is a non-medicinal way of curbing anxiety before exam final for college students such as yoga, tai chi, music therapy, and calm breathing exercises. These are excellent ways of de-stressing rather than opting to take drugs in order to be smarter for the period preceding exam time. The most worrying trend is that students have made Adderall use an online trend as most of the online conversations tend to be about the abuse of this prescription drug and the results of using the same. This has become a social norm, which has attracted the interest of social network sites as they have now attempted to track those abusing the prescription drug. In essence, students Tweet about their tweaking escapades, which attracts a large online interest hence serving as an avenue for peer pressure and influence to start using the drug in order to achieve the results that other students tweet about (Hanson et al, 2013). However, the social media tool sits untapped in the fight against the increasing rate of Adderall abuse as the information given through trends can help in solving public health challenges. For instance, the trending topics on tweeter have enabled officials to get word of public health crises that they were probably not aware of hence provoking action. In the same manner, public health stakeholders may use the user-generated information posted on tweeter to enhance their research and provide possible ways of tackling the menace using the first hand accounts from the students using Adderall. This would be essential as it would aid in better understanding this health care problem and acquiring new information on the changing trends. One advantage is that relevant information that can be accessible through tweeter trends would be the drugs that they couple with Adderall in order to achieve the perceived ultimate concentration before their exams (Nguyen, 2013). Presently, Tweeter is the data gathering tool for Adderall related researches because of the preference that students have on this social media platform as compared to the rest. Data on Tweeter usage shows that 26% of internet users aged eighteen to twenty-nine, 31% of those aged eighteen and twenty-four hence making this tool the most used within the social media circle (Hanson et al, 2013). The advantage that tweeter offers is that gives researchers the opportunity to monitor nationwide or international usage of Adderall simultaneously. This is far much better than the conventional mode of data collection through questionnaires as Tweeter posts happen in real time and have some sense of accuracy in them. In summary, Adderall use has deviated from the initial treatment of ADHD to perceived increase of concentration levels for college going students. A majority of those involved in Adderall abuse tend to be between ages eighteen and twenty-two because of the high expectations attached to being in college. Many of them use the drug in order to stay alert all through the night when studying for their final exams, which gives then the satisfaction of succeeding in their exams. However, this trend has extended to those in the job market as they tend to carry on the habit from college to their places of work because of their desire to have an edge over their peers. Adderall used has escalated due to various reasons that range from peer pressure, drug availability, the challenges of life, and the desire to be at the top. In recent times, researchers have adopted Tweeter usage in order to track Adderall abusers and to know the drugs that they combine with the amphetamine in order for them to draw up substantive intervention strategies. Therefore, despite the growing rate of Adderall abuse the involved stakeholders are devising ways of intervention in order to avert future crises. References Hanson, C. L. et al. (2013). Tweaking and Tweeting: Exploring Twitter for Nonmedical Use of a Psychostimulant Drug (Adderall) Among College Students. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Retrieved on October 5, 2013, from http://www.jmir.org/2013/4/e62/ Hollingshead, T. (2013). Adderall use as college study aid ‘trending’ on East Coast. Brigham Young University Press. Retrieved on October 5, 2013, from http://news.byu.edu/archive13-apr-twitteradderall.aspx Jacobs, A. (2005). The Adderall Advantage. The New York Times. Retrieved on October 5, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/education/edlife/jacobs31.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Nguyen, K. (2013). Adderall Abuse Growing Among College Students. Sunrise Recovery Press. Retrieved on October 5, 2013, from http://drugrehabranch.crchealth.com/staff-articles-and-drug-treatment-news/adderall-abuse-growing-among-college-students/ Peets, R. (2013). Illegal Adderall use rises among students. The Miami Students University Press. Retrieved on October 5, 2013, from http://www.miamistudent.net/news/campus/illegal-adderall-use-rises-among-students-1.3028397#.UlCSkth-Iwo Rush, C. R. & Fillmore, M. T. (2010). Alcohol consumption may increase amphetamine abuse. University of Kentucky Press. Retrieved on October 5, 2013, from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-12/ace-acm120710.php Read More