Acceptance of Study Drugs

Some students feel as though there is no problem with misusing ADHD medication because the use of study drugs is so common and it is easily accessible.

• Jared Gabay a typical college student at Auburn University, stated that when he had a major exam coming up he turned to a “study drug” for a little extra boost. He described the experience as being more driven and had no trouble focusing. “I don’t focus on anything else. If I have a paper, that’s all I’m doing. No distractions, no socializing, just on with it.
• Another student’s response to using the drugs illegally was fact that it’s illegal really doesn’t cross my mind,” one student says. “It’s not something that I get nervous about because it’s so widespread and simple.”
•  A study done in 2008 which had 1,800 college students discovered that 81% of students interviewed thought the illicit use of ADHD medication was “not dangerous at all” or “slightly dangerous”
• An anonymous student stated that once while confiding in their friend about feeling overly stressed with their workload their friend suggested resorting to Adderall. The friend was academic scholar on the deans list and had a challenging major of biology. This biology student claimed it was crucial for success.
• Results presented by the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada revealed that almost one in five students at an Ivy League college admitted to using a non-prescribed stimulant while studying. Even more remarkable was that one-third of the students did not consider the misuse of the stimulant as cheating.
• A study following these results an anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to 616 sophomores, juniors and seniors without ADHD discovered some unsettling statistics. Approximately 18 percent of students reported misusing a prescription stimulant for academic reasons, while 24 percent admitted to using the stimulants more than eight times.