Adderall abuse on the rise

Josh had one night to write his paper.

Coffee usually keeps him awake, but he decided to try something different this time.

Among some caffeine pills he had taken that night, the 19-year- old Oklahoma State University sophomore popped half an Adderall and washed it down with four cups of coffee.

He finished his paper and said he was happy when he later received a B.

Partial credit for his grade goes to the Adderall, he said.

Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant prescription medicine used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to the Adderall medication guide.

Josh is among many college students who do not have a prescription for Adderall but take it, saying it helps them focus.

Some students may turn to Adderall for help concentrating this week as the pressure of finals weighs in on them.

Of the 2,000 students who went to OSU's Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center for assessments during the past school year, one in five admitted to taking Adderall, said Linda Myers, the center coordinator.

Myers said in the three years she has been at OSU, she has noticed an increase to "dangerous levels" in the amount of Adderall and other drugs students are consuming.

"They don't just take one or two," she said. "They pop 10 to 12 at one time."

More students are abusing Adderall than most people think, Myers said.

To combat this issue, OSU must begin educating its students about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, Myers said.

John Stanbery, a Stillwater police detective, said in an e-mail interview that he has noticed prescription drug abuse is a growing problem among students.

However, students are not commonly caught abusing prescription drugs, he said.

OSU Police Lt. Mark Shearer said there are no reported cases of Adderall abuse at OSU at this time.

The issue of students misusing and abusing Adderall doesn't exist at only OSU, though.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York surveyed about 2,000 college students from four-year public and private universities across the nation.

From 1993 to 2005, the proportion of students who abused prescription stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall increased 93 percent to 225,000, according to the center's report.

The drug itself continues to grow in popularity.

Adderall XR is the most prescribed medication in the U.S. for people diagnosed with ADHD, said Matt Cabrey, spokesman for the company that manufactures Adderall.

Shire Pharmaceuticals introduced Adderall IR, which stands for "instant release," in 1996, Cabrey said.

Adderall IR lasts only four to five hours, and in 2001, Shire introduced a new version of Adderall known as Adderall XR, which means extended release, Cabrey said.

Adderall XR is a capsule. Aperson taking it ingests the tablet, which then dissolves in his or her stomach. Immediately, one bead is released, which will last between four hours and six hours.

Later in the afternoon, the second bead will dissolve and release another burst of medicine into the person's bloodstream for another four to six hours, Cabrey said.

Myers said students misusing the pill aren't just taking Adderall orally; sometimes they will crush it and snort it, giving the medicine an effect similar to cocaine because the medicine is released into their systems quicker and lasts for a shorter period of time.

Although no hard data supports the belief, Shire officials believe most of the Adderall abuse is with the Adderall IR because it is a solid pill, different from Adderall XR, which is full of what look like plastic little balls, Cabrey said.

"When you try to crush them to snort them, it's very difficult and it gets kind of yucky," Cabrey said.

None of the students who asked Sara Hughes whether she would share her Adderall asked her whether her prescription was for instant release or extended release.

They just wanted to know if they could have some, she said.

Hughes, a psychology junior, was prescribed Adderall XR for her ADHD in September 2006.

Hughes said she has no plans to give out her Adderall even though people have offered $5 per pill.

"When you need a drug, you don't hand it out," she said.

If someone had health insurance and a prescription, he or she could definitely profit from selling the pill, she said.

Without health insurance, Hughes said the 30 Adderall XR 30 milligram capsules she receives would cost her about $150.

She also gets another 30 Adderall IR 10 milligram pills, which also cost $150.

However, with her insurance, she pays a small fraction of the price.

But some students have friends who don't make even them pay for the drug.

David, a 22-year-old junior, said he just has to ask his friends who are prescribed Adderall for a few pills.

He began taking Adderall his senior year of high school when he needed to study for Advanced Placement tests.

He takes Adderall six to eight times a semester.

Usually he'll take about five 10 milligram pills for a long night of studying.

"It just makes you focus in on it more," he said. "It's almost like you get tunnel vision toward your homework. It keeps you on track, doing one thing."

The length the pill works depends on the amount one takes and whether it's time released, he said.

David said he usually gets the 10 milligram pills from friends but never crushed them.

The majority of the time David has had positive results after taking Adderall to study but learning how to effectively use Adderall has been "trial and error," he said.

"The kind of thing you have to have is you want that feeling all the way through your test," he said. "You don't want to be crashing when you're taking the test. That'll affect you tremendously. It just depends on if you have enough to go through the night."

However, taking the drug has side effects.

"You don't really want to eat," he said.

"You get dry mouth, and afterward you crash really, really hard."

David said it takes about five to eight hours of sleep to get him back on track after pulling an all-nighter with Adderall.

All and all, he said he doesn't think Adderall is dangerous to take.

Cabrey said a lot of students feel this way.

"There's a preconception out there among students that it's OK to take a prescription medication without a prescription whether it's a stimulant like Adderall XR or another kind of pain reliever because they're a prescription and they're safe because they've been manufactured in a controlled environment in an FDA-regulated environment and have been tested on clinical trials of years of testing," Cabrey said.

However, each prescription medicine comes with risks associated and people should consult their physicians before taking any drug, Cabrey said.

Side effects of Adderall include heart-related problems, such as sudden death in patients who have heart problems or heart defects, stroke and heart attack in adults and increased blood pressure and heart rate, according to the medication guide for Adderall.

Between Jan. 1, 1999, and Nov. 28, 2005, 23 deaths among people taking Adderall XR and Adderall IR were reported to the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Of those reported, 11 were suden deaths with an unknown causes or origins, six were sudden deaths with identified cardiac or genetic conditions, four were suicides and two were classified as "other," according to the reports.

Other side effects include psychiatric problems such as new or worse behavior and thought problems, bipolar illness and aggressive behavior, according to the medication guide for Adderall.

Many students don't realize or want to think about the effects taking a stimulant can have on the body or consider the side effects of a prescription drug, Myers said.

Stanbery said right now the drugs are easy to obtain because they are the most commonly prescribed.

Josh agreed, saying to get Adderall, all a student has to do is go to a doctor and say he or she has ADHD.

However, Steve Rogers, the director of University Health Services, said in an e-mail interview that there are no "magic words" that will result in a student receiving a prescription.

A student might have a general complaint of poor studying, poor academics or inability unable to concentrate.

However, those complains aren't sufficient, and University Health Service officials would recommend the student pursue testing and evaluation, Rogers said.

"Students are only prescribed Adderall if they have been evalu- ated by a psychiatrist or psychologist and tested for ADHD," he said. "The results of this testing must be presented to us. This test- ing must have been done when the student was an adult and within a recent time frame. Without this testing and medical recommendation, our physicians do not begin a student on Adderall."

Myers said students who take Adderall illegally have other ways of obtaining the drug besides through friends and acquaintances who have prescriptions.

Some students travel to Mexico where they can buy the drug cheaper and easier than in the U.S., Myers said.

Students also can use the Internet to find their drugs of choice, Myers said.

Of the 187 Web sites identified in 2007 that offer to sell controlled prescription drugs on the Internet, 157 sites did not require any prescription, according to a study by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in May 2007.

Of those sites not requiring prescriptions, 52 sites clearly stated that no prescription was needed; 83 sites offered an "online consultation;" and 22 sites made no mention of a prescription, according to the study on prescription drug pushers.

Myers said students shouldn't trust medicines that come from places other than pharmacies.

"You don't know what's in those drugs," she said. "Even though it may say Xanax or Adderall, you don't know what's in that drug."

Students are becoming more and more accepting of misusing prescription drugs, Myers said.

However, Myers said she feels regardless of whether a student chooses to abuse alcohol or Adderall, it's still a bad idea.

"To me, it's just a slow suicide."