Free Paper on Adderall Abuse Among College Students: Causes, Effects, and Societal Concerns

Introduction

The use of stimulant medication has been on the rise for many years. These stimulant drugs are well known for treating individuals with attention disorders-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Narcolepsy, among others. People suffering from one or more of these problems are treated with stimulant drugs such as Adderall (León, Kenneth, and Daniel 2010). The main effect of the drug is to help those with the attention problem to maintain a normal ability that would help them remain focused on their tasks without being distracted. Most students have been endorsed into the use of these stimulant drugs, more specifically Adderall drug. Adderall is a prescription drug, but nowadays, students have turned to it to boost their learning abilities. It has become the choice of many college students who do take presentations, exams, or even during study time. The world has currently become very competitive, even in the education sector. As a result of this, the demand for quality work has been on the rise as well.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Consequently, the need for students to produce quality and competitive work has been a critical thing in the education sector. As a result of this, many colleges, students have turned their focus to these stimulant drugs mainly Adderall as a help for the improvement of their school work ( Varga 2012). This paper will primarily focus on the addiction of college students to using Adderall, the main reason for them taking the prescription drug, the effects of the drug as well as the view of the society on the same and what can be done to help curb this.

Literature

As described earlier, the use of stimulant drugs among college students has been on the rise in recent years. Also noted are the reasons that make these students vulnerable to the use of this stimulant drug, Adderall. As noted, most students take this stimulant drug for academic purposes. Most of them take the drug so as they can remain alert for a long time while others want to stay awake over the night (Aberg, 2017). However, this does not always make students perform better than those who do not abuse the drug. It does not require them smarter than others and to some extent; such students score even lower grades. It has also been noted that some students take the drug for social purposes. Some take it to stay awake for a longer time as well as being active while others just want to feel high (Aberg, 2017). Male students mostly do this. It has been noted that some female students take the drug to lose weight. This problem of nonmedical use of this stimulant drug has been well documented in many sources. The use of the drug is prevalent among many college students, and basically, the most common reason for them using the drug is for academic purposes. This is so common for students attending colleges with very high-quality academic standards as well as high school admission qualifications. Well, as much as some of the students might be having some mental disorders, however, most of them use this drug for nonmedical reasons. Some of them get these drugs from friends and fellow students through sharing. Adderall and Ritalin are viewed as schedule II controlled substances by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration which comes with heavy punishment should one be found in possession of these drugs without a valid prescription which would attract penalty for the same. However, students have been seen in the use of these drugs even with the existence of laws prohibiting the illegal possession and use of the same. A study has shown that many college students obtain these drugs from friends diagnosed with ADHD. Further, the research has shown that many students are diagnosed with this mental disorder leading to increased prescriptions for the drug.

A study has shown that at least one in a group of three students has engaged themselves to use these NPSU drugs (León, Kenneth and Daniel 2010). The study has shown that the use of the drug can be attributed to different forms of exposure from or to groups that have been exposed to these stimulant drugs as well as through membership in these groups. Further, it has also been found that some people who have been exposed to the abuse of other drugs initially may decide to have tried these stimulant drugs. Such are the cases of some of those people who have been involved in issues like heavy drinking before college. Once these get to college, they might self-select themselves to a certain group with a similar pattern of life (abusing drugs). As it is reported in some sources students who are prescribed to use the drug, and those who used the drug for other purposes other than medical one had a history of using other drugs such as marijuana, Cocaine among others, and engaged themselves in very dangerous behaviors other than drug abuse (León, Kenneth and Daniel 2010).

As observed, it is quite evident that college students do involve themselves in the nonmedical use of the stimulant drug Adderall. Continued use of this drug leads to addiction which comes with adverse side effects. One well-known side effect of Adderall is insomnia (Aberg, 2017). Study shows that the use of the drug causes gastrointestinal, very high blood pressure, as well as body temperature, increased heart rate, among other effects. It has also been noted that Adderall would be very dangerous for people with heart problems.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as vivid as it has been noted, college students indulge in the use of stimulant drugs such as Adderall. Mainly students use the drug for academic purposes such as staying awake for a longer time. Others use it for recreation purposes like the feel of being high. Most students obtain this drug from their fellow students or friends diagnosed with ADHD disorder. Continued use of this drug leads to addiction, and this comes with so many adverse effects. Some of the health problems related to the abuse of Adderall drug is increased heart rate, high body temperatures, hallucinations, high blood pressure, among others (Aberg, 2017). It is therefore essential that society looks into this to protect the youths and college students from suffering these effects.

Works Cited

Aberg, Simon Essig. “‘Study Drug’ Abuse by College Students: What You Need to Know.” National Center for Health Research, 1 May 2017, www.center4research.org/study-drug-abuse-college-students/.

Arria, Amelia M, and Robert L DuPont. Nonmedical Prescription Stimulant Use among College Students: Why We Need to Do Something and What We Need to Do. 29 Oct. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951617/.

Desantis, Alan D., and Audrey Curtis Hane. “‘’Adderall Is Definitely Not a Drug’’: Justifications for the Illegal Use of ADHD Stimulants.” Substance Use & Misuse, vol. 45, no. 1/2 Jan. 2010, pp. 31–46. Academic Search Complete, doi:10.3109/10826080902858334.

León, Kenneth S., and Daniel E. Martínez. “To Study, to Party, or Both? Assessing Risk Factors for Non-Prescribed Stimulant Use among Middle and High School Students.” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, vol. 49, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 22–30. Academic Search Complete, doi:10.1080/02791072.2016.1260187.

Varga, Matthew D. “Adderall Abuse on College Campuses: A Comprehensive Literature Review.” Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, vol. 9, no. 3, June 2012, pp. 293–313. Academic Search Complete, doi:10.1080/15433714.2010.525402.