Addicted to attention

Forget bottle popping, several college students are now all about snorting or popping pills - Adderall that is.

Adderall is commonly prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but it is widely abused by students to stay up later to study, party harder and even to lose weight. With so many students abusing to the drug, it is now being referred to as the Ivy League version of crack.

One U of M student admits that she has struggled with addiction for six years now. The 23-year-old senior spoke in depth about her experiences with Adderall, but wanted to remain anonymous.

"Adderall and cocaine abuse nearly killed me," the anonymous student said. "I had a serious problem with Adderall that spiraled out of control, my intentions were good at first - I just wanted to do well in school, but then I started taking it outside of school, and it all went downhill from there."

She might not have died from her experience, but several side effects associated with Adderall have people saying the drug could be to blame. There have been cases where otherwise healthy people have died while taking Adderall, without even abusing it. And with side effects such as heart problems, mental disorders and much more - students are still willing to risk it all.

Linda Myers, the center coordinator for the Substance Abuse Center at Oklahoma State University, said she has noticed an increase in the amount of students using Adderall, but the abuse is not just popular at OSU. A study done by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York indicates that the trend is dangerously snowballing. They surveyed nearly 2,000 college students from four-year public and private universities across the nation from 1993 to 2005. They found the number of students abusing prescription stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall had increased by 93 percent. These students are not afraid to go all out either. Some are going for a more cocaine-like experience by crushing the pills and snorting them so they enter the system quicker and for stronger high. The ones who get high on Adderall by swallowing the pills go to extreme levels, too.

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

Some people may wonder what would make a student want to take a drug they have not been prescribed.

Abuse is common for various reasons, but one of the most common excuses is schoolwork.

"It definitely helps me focus on school," the anonymous student said. "I become an academic machine and actually enjoy doing my homework. I can crank out so much work than I ever could without it, and I find it especially helpful to take when cramming for a test immediately before you have to take the test."

Patrick Howie, senior psychology and anthropology major is another student who has used the drug to study. He has been on a prescription for it since 1999 to treat his ADD/ADHD related symptoms.

"I have used Adderall to stay up during exam times approx 4 to 5 times since I started taking it," Howie said. "I do not recall ever staying up longer than 74 hours due to Adderall and Adrenaline."

Aside from being able to stay focused and alert for hours on end, it also affects the mood. Once Adderall gets into a person's system, he or she can feel a change in mood. Some people feel happier.

"I feel a sense of greater control and concentration when on Adderall," Howie said. "I feel like I'm in control of my mood and my consciousness. I get a little high off of it when it initially kicks in, but that used to be a constant high feeling when I first started taking it or when my prescription was increased."

While the medication is often used to study, other people take a more recreational approach by partying while on Adderall. The anonymous U of M student said she has partied with Adderall quite a few times to get what she calls a "speed high."

"If I have drank too much, and I take an Adderall, it levels me out and I am not so sloppy," she said. "It also gives me energy and keeps me up for all night events."

But not everyone is looking to study or party. Tiara Murray, pharmacy tech for Walgreens Pharmacy, said people often use it to lose weight because it is an appetite suppressant. One female left comments in a Facebook group about how she had gone several days before realizing she had not eaten a meal.

Whatever their reason for usage, many students are using every resource possible to get their hands on the drug despite the fact that the drug is only supposed to be given to those who have a prescription for it. The internet has opened up plenty of opportunities for people to buy Adderall.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University and Beau Dietl & Associates did a study from 2004 to 2006 where they tracked the availability of controlled prescription drugs over the internet.

By the third year, they found the total number of sites they identified that were selling drugs had increased. Only 89 percent of those Web sites required a prescription. The remaining 11 percent allowed customers to simply fax in a prescription making it possible for them to forge signatures or fax their prescriptions to multiple websites. And from 2004 to 2006, they say the total number of sites selling drugs without requiring a prescription had increased each year.

Outside of Web sites specifically selling Adderall, students have even turned to the social networking site Facebook to meet up with others to do business. Just a simple search for the word Adderall on Facebook brings up nearly 200 Adderall related groups. Among those are, "F**k Crack I'm Addicted to Adderall," and "Adderall Anonymous." But they are just two of the many groups in which students openly post requests to either buy or sell the drug. With their identities out in the open, students from all over the world leave these posts despite the legal risks involved.