By Ryan Menard
Will would stumble home deliriously from the InfoCommons, shrugging off 36 hours of consciousness in anticipation of the morning’s classes. The Adderall from the night before was on its way out of his bloodstream, and he would need more before the week was done.
Like many college students seeking extra help to study in defiance of normal sleep habits, Will, who asked to be referred to by only his first name, resorted to Adderall, a stimulant used to treat patients with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, Will is not diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. He started taking the prescription drug his freshman year at Northeastern.
During his first finals week at Northeasten, Will woke up early to find that some of his fellow engineering majors were still up studying from the night before. They were full of energy and surprisingly unaffected by the fact that the entire night had passed them by.
Though Will was perplexed at first with their ability to seemingly defy the laws of sleep, he soon found himself joining the other freshmen living on his floor in Stetson West.
According to a study published in the journal Addiction, 7 percent of college students surveyed at 119 colleges and universities across the country have used prescription stimulants for non-medical purposes. Though calming to those diagnosed with ADD and ADHD, Adderall and a similar drug, Ritalin, alternatively give the normally unaffected mind streams of energy and focus — attractive to students overwhelmed with work.
“You can stay up and concentrate all night,” Will said.
Now a sophomore economics major, he still uses the “study steroids” when he needs an edge over his schedule.
“Sometimes you don’t have enough hours in the day and you need to do something different,” he said.
Will has tried more than just Adderall to study, though, citing ADD drugs Ritalin and Concerta, and even cocaine for its stimulating effects.
“It’s not good for studying at all,” he said of cocaine.
Adderall, though, he advocates highly.
“You will never leave your train of thought,” he said. “It’s awesome.”
This particular study habit is more common, he said. Last year, finals week manifested itself in his residence hall as a collection of tissues stained with streaks of blue and orange, the remains of the crushed and snorted pills. With a price tag as small as $5 for every two pills, the drugs are plentiful and cheap. Those who are prescribed the drug sometimes have leftover or extra pills they do not use, which they sell to other students for a profit.
But while studies have found thousands of students readily take the amphetamine-based drugs without a prescription, researchers caution that such casual use of Adderall can be harmful to the brain.
James Stellar, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who has researched drug addiction, said as an amphetamine and a brain-altering drug, Adderall carries a potential for dependency and the uncertainty of long-term effects.
“Properly taken, the risk of abuse seems very low, but we all know that people combine the medication, grind it up and snort it and do a variety of other things that were not intended,” Stellar said. “Then its addictive potential goes up.”
Misuse is not the drug’s only pitfall. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Adderall comes with a list of side effects ranging from insomnia and stomach aches to depression and “emotional liability,” and can bring out psychosis, hypertension and Tourette’s syndrome in susceptible users.
Adderall, like amphetamines, also reacts differently in different people and should be administered at a minimum dose, according to the FDA. Overdosing, which “may occur idiosyncratically at low doses,” can result in fatigue and depression, hypertension and circulatory collapse, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and, in more extreme cases, coma and death.
Aware of its potential abuse, the label warns prescribing doctors to be wary when treating patients.
“Particular attention should be paid to the possibility of subjects obtaining amphetamines for non-therapeutic use or distribution to others and the drugs should be prescribed or dispensed sparingly,” the warning label reads.
Some, like Will, argue that casual and careful use of the drug is safe and insists that dependency isn’t a risk. Will said he only uses Adderall when he feels he can’t handle the work on his own.
“I only use it when I need to, there’s really no other reason,” Will said. “It’s not fun; there’s not anything fun about it.”
Christine Canale, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, is another advocate of the drug.
“It’s a lot easier to focus and concentrate and I find it a lot easier to pay attention,” she said. She started taking the drugs about a year and a half ago when she heard of the drug in high school, and currently uses it two or three times a month.
She said the medication works so well for her that she now wonders if she may have ADD and plans to see her doctor to find out. But even as a casual user, she doesn’t see any risk in taking it and finds it very helpful.
“You have a lot of control over it,” she said, adding that she never felt overwhelmed by the drug’s effects. After her work is done, she said, she doesn’t feel like she’s “still high.”
As prescribed medication, Adderall is breaking ground for its producer. Shire Pharmaceuticals’ sales of the popular drug are growing a steady 30 percent yearly and account for nearly half the company’s revenue. Adderall’s newest incarnation, the once-daily Adderall XR, has been granted market exclusivity and is now the first stimulant to be approved by the FDA for adults.
Jimmy Maccario, a sophomore psychology and education major, can testify to the drug’s effectiveness. Having been diagnosed years ago with ADD, he’s been depending on Adderall to give him some power over his disorder.
“Basically, if I don’t take it, I have no impulse control. If there’s food in front of me, I won’t stop eating,” Maccario said. “And I can’t pay attention to anything for more than a few seconds, unless it’s really interesting.”
With the help of Adderall, though, he can focus in and out of class and has control over his impulses.
In what was called a “paradoxical effect,” the drugs have a calming effect on those with ADD or ADHD and a stimulating effect on those without, Stellar said.
“We do think that the focusing effects of the drug are therapeutic in ADHD patients and just not needed in non-patients,” Stellar said.
Perhaps the most haunting problem with the drugs, he said, is they alter the brain in ways that haven’t been studied. The FDA notes the drug hasn’t been studied for periods of more than three weeks, and the effects on non-patient users haven’t been studied at all.
Adderall debuted in 1996 as the drug it is commonly known as today. It is manufactured by Richwood Pharmacuticals, which bought out another company that had previously manufactured the drug. The use of the drug was marketed for children age three or older with ADHD as part of an integral program which would typically include psychological, educational and social measures, according to www.centerwatch.com, a clincical trial listings Web site.
“We demonstrate this clearly in laboratory rats in my own lab in both short and long term ways,” Stellar said, warning that his experiments have proved the brain-altering effects of the drug.
In addition, he said the abuse potential actually increases with repeated use, changing the brain in a process of “sensitization,” the opposite of tolerance to a substance. This leads to dependency and can act as a gateway to more serious drug addiction, he said.
Northeastern’s drug policy, though it does not specifically list Adderall, says using any prescription drug without legal prescription is a drug violation and will result in deferred suspension or probation, a fine and required drug education classes.
The extent and future of the drug’s use in non-patients on campus is still unknown. While some students will never dare try, others are likely to try it only once before deciding against the idea.
“It’s something I wouldn’t ever want to do again,” said Kenny, a sophomore biology major, who preferred to use only his first name. Kenny said he tried Adderall once last year when friends offered him some.
“I couldn’t keep my nose out of my book; I read for about 16 hours straight,” he said.
Though it helped him study through the night, and he acknowledges that he probably wouldn’t have gotten the A without it, Kenny could sense it was affecting him in ways that couldn’t be healthy.
“I could tell that even just physically there were consequences,” he said. “My heart wouldn’t stop pounding, and I don’t even know what it was doing to me mentally.”
Opponents to the unorthodox study strategy acknowledge it is dangerous, addictive and damaging in ways yet to be discovered.
“The brain is a finely tuned machine for which we do not have the manual,” Stellar said. “I would be cautious about taking any drug that directly alters brain function, especially one that does not have a long history in practice which allows us to see long term effects.”
