More than Muscle Milk

After weeks of research on performance-enhancing drugs there are two questions that continually cross my mind. Does the pressure to be the best ever end and will people always do whatever it takes to be the best?

I got both of my answers in one news release. No and yes.

Last Thursday, May 20^th, a news report was released that Floyd Landis, 2006 Tour de France champion, finally admitted that he was a long time user of performance-enhancing drugs. Landis had already been stripped of his winning title and trophy after testing positive for synthetic testosterone but it took him four years to admit the truth.

Synthetic testosterone used in sports can easily be compared to the use of Adderall in schoolwork. This artificial testosterone is considered to be doping in all competitive sport leagues. Testosterone can be given to an athlete in injections, patches, or implantable pellets. This testosterone is taken to improve your muscle development, power, and stamina. It physically makes your muscle fibers become larger than normal and repair faster than the average healing time. This testosterone is not only common among athelets and young men. They are being abused by older men who find trouble trying to make their bodies younger again.

The biggest problem not only lies in the fact that Landis illegally used performance-enhancing drugs, but also that he claims he had no choice. In a recent interview with ESPN Landis said that doping was so common in cycling that if he wanted to participate in the highest level of his sport he had to cheat.

Landis confessed to ESPN,  “I did what I did because that’s what we did and it was a choice I had to make after 10 years or 12 years of hard work to get there and that was a decision I had to make to make the next step. My choices were, do it and see if I can win, or don’t do it and I tell people I just don’t want to do that, and I decided to do it.”

The students we interviewed this term for our research on Adderl all had similar answers about their use of the drug. Adderall was their way of going beyond that amount of school work they are normally capable of . While synthetic testosterone improves the stamina of your muscles, Adderall improves the resistance you have to becoming distracted. When Landis explained that taking performance enhancers was what he had to do to make it to the “next step” it made me ponder a new question. How far are people going to go to always get to the next step?

Adderall for all? Some believe this might one day be true

Proof is out there that an increasing number of college students are turning towards Adderall to improve their performance in the classroom.  In the late night library community, the days of pounding coffee or energy drinks are being replaced by a pill popping fraternity.

A statistic that has been thrown around since it was reported during a piece on 60 Minutes with Katie Couric is that 34 percent of University of Kentucky students, reported to have illegally taken an ADHD stimulant.

The rise in the use of the “brain steroid” can be contributed to a non-chalent attitude students possess about the drug.  And it is this attitude that has lead to the suggestion to make Adderall available to everyone, regardless of having a disorder.

“We should welcome new methods of improving our brain function,” states Martha J. Farah in an article she and six other scientists and ethicists published.

The article draws attention to the idea that artificially enhancing our cognitive abilities leads to the development of new ideas, ones that can improve our society.  If the brains of the public are functioning at full capacity, “more smart people are more likely to discover a cure for cancer,” says Farah in an interview with Katie Couric.  She says that neuro-enhancement is on an ever-increasing trend to become as commonplace as cosmetic surgery.  Society must learn to discard this idea that enhancement is seen as wrong, in order for stimulant medication to be used for the greater good.

And who is to say that this isn’t the direction our society is progressing towards?  As this first generation of stimulant abusers influence the study practices of students to follow, we see that many are beginning to believe that the risks are far outweighed by the rewards.

Dr. Alan DeSantis, a communications professor at the University of Kentucky, learned that students have a “stigma free attitude” towards the use of ADHD supplements.  In his research of Adderall use on the Kentucky campus, he found that students do not view its use as cheating or in ill practice, but rather as nothing more than a “stiff cup of coffee.”

The longer-term effects of Adderall use still fail to deter students from recreational use.  Desantis states that students who have witnessed children growing up on this prescription medication, haven’t suffered any negative ramifications for the most part.  So if fellow students appear fine from its prescribed use, why should non-prescribed students believe they will suffer from the side effects in their intermittent use?

Our society is adhering to an evolutionary mindset of prescription drug use, and one that has people asking the question not why use it, but why not?  While the opinions of Farah appear radical, they illustrate the fact that we are journeying into a brave new world of drug use.

Works Cited:

Extreme Studying “Brain steroids” at C.U.

Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy

Boosting brain power

Adderall Use Among College Students

Police, DEA could use Tweets to track Adderall abuse among college students, probably already are

Does this tweet proved enough evidence to prosecute?

“With Adderall by my side anything is possible,” tweets Destiny Manifest. “I need to sell more Adderall. Who wants some? I’m dying because I’m so broke. Help me out!” tweets Bekah VoorHees who needs to get a hold of John “DJmagnitude86” in Utah who tweets, “Does anybody know anybody with Adderall?”

A twitter search for Adderall is a telling sign of the drug’s increasing acceptance among the college-aged demographic. The bigger problem for these tweeters, however, is that precedence could soon be set that would allow their tweets to be used against them in the court of law.

Adderall is an amphetamine that helps an individual with a prescription cope with attention deficit disorder. The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies the drug as a Schedule II controlled substance, which means Adderall is in the same classification as its much broadly enforced cousin: Methamphetamine.

In Oregon, a schedule II drug is considered to be a Class B felony, which means cases are referred to the United States Justice Department to be tried even for simple possession of the drug. The Controlled Substance Act, passed in 1974, and amended several times, outlines the severe penalties for use and sale of the drug without a prescription. For possession, you will be subject to a fine of $10,000, in addition to jail time. For selling, you will go to jail for no more than 20 years, unless a death occurs than it will no less than 20 years. Along with jail time you will also be looking at a $1-5 Million fine.

Even with such severe penalties, some college students seem to have little fear that their use of Adderall can lead to legal consequences. The masses simply don’t fear being caught, which has translated into tweets and status updates (on Facebook) that express the open desire to use, attain or sell Adderall.

But what if those tweets could be used as evidence? For years there have been cases where diary entries have been used as evidence. There is little difference between diary evidence and posts on social networks, aside from the fact that tweets are public. (As a matter of fact, Twitter entries are now being archived on servers within the Library of Congress.) The Federal Bureau of Investigation has even come up with a data collecting training program for social networking sites.

A recent New York State police investigation used Twitter to establish a murder case against a young man after a Twitter battle led police to discover “bad blood” between the killer and the victim. In Oklahoma City, a man was arrested for making “threats” via his Twitter account towards Tea Party Activists.

If police use Twitter to establish a murder case or stop a potential bloodbath, what could stop them from going a simple search on Adderall and come after Ms. VoorHees for drug trafficking or DJMagnitude86 for solicitation?

Works Cited:
Drug Enforcement Administration: Section 841 of the Controlled Substances Act
Drug Enforcement Administration: Trafficking Penalties
Drug Enforcement Administration: Drug Scheduling
The Library of Congress Blog: How Tweet it is, Library Acquires Twitter Archive
Emergency Physicians Monthly: Anything You Tweet can and Will Be Used Against You
ZDnet: FBI, Feds collect Facebook and Social Media Data, Why are You Suprised
Wired Magazine: Oklahoma Man Arrested for Twittering Tea Party Death Threats
Twitter.com: Search for Adderall
Twitter.com: Destiny Manifest Tweet
Twitter.com: Bekah Voor Hees  Tweet
Twitter.com: John “DJmagnitude86″ Tweet
NY Daily News: Twitter Becomes Key Evidence in Case

The Real Danger of Adderall

America's most prescribed drugs--notice one missing?

Adderall has become a trendy subject in the media of late. From NPR articles to 60 Minutes feature stories, the media is weighing in on this prescription drug– and they don’t like what they see.

But while a media hurricane decrying Adderall brews, comparisons of Adderall to other drugs tell a slightly different story. A report released by IMS Health of the top 25 selling prescription drugs has Adderall toppling from number 12 to 21. DAWN, a public health surveillance organization, released figures (pdf) of 2007 drug-related mortalities from participating cities and states and found that deaths from stimulant abuse, such as Adderall, were well behind deaths related to alcohol, cocaine, opiates, anti-depressants and benzodiazephines, such as Xanax. Opiates averaged 288 deaths per 100,000, while stimulants averaged only 31.

This is not meant to deemphasize the health risks involved with Adderall abuse. A New Jersey paper reported on May, 13th that a 14-year-old girl was hospitalized for two weeks after taking only one Adderall pill.

But while the drug is dangerous, it does not pose near the threat to human life as other substances prevalent in society. Why is Adderall attracting so much attention?

Adderall has become attached to cognitive enhancement, a topic fraught with superhuman potential and tragic pitfalls– subjects that lure journalists and commentators alike, many of whom attained their affluence by arduously navigating the obstacles of the college classroom. A pill that acts like a Disneyland fast pass through the ride of academia cannot sit well with those who had to do it without chemical assistance. The problem, then, is not the health risk Adderall poses, but its dilution of the supposed rigor of the collegiate experience. It is threatening to become a cog in the machine entrusted to churn out society’s next great minds.

University of Kentucky Communications Professor Alan DeSantis found in his research that college users of Adderall believed the drug was the difference between a C and an A. If this is true, the boost Adderall lends to academic performance would, like grade inflation, water down the meaning of GPA as a benchmark for potential employee evaluation. Adderall is becoming the resume push-up bra.

In terms of sheer numbers and health risk, Adderall is far behind prescription drugs such as Xanax, Valium and Prozac (see above image). The battle over Adderall is waged across ideological and ethical grounds. It is viewed as an easy way out, a culprit of the ability to develop skills through hard work. Antiquated concepts of gumption and elbow grease are being buried 20 milligrams at a time as the line separating the talented from the medicated continues to blur.

Works Cited

NPR article

60 Minutes feature on Adderall

Top 25 selling prescription drugs

Huffington Post article on top 25 selling prescription drugs

DAWN 2007 mortality figures (pdf)

Article on hospitalized New Jersey teen

Dr. DeSantis Adderall research

An Unfair Advantage?

Every college student is faced with the pressures that come with papers, midterms, finals, and late nights.   Students must find ways to keep up with the high demands that come with obtaining their college degree.   A student’s ability to handle the overwhelming workloads depends on their efficiency and focus.

The answer for thousands of students across college campuses is Adderall.   It’s a drug that students feel improve their performance in school and lead to better grades.   But is there a moral issue that arises whenever a student uses Adderall as a performance enhancer?   If a student without ADHD takes this drug for the purpose of giving themselves an edge in school, is it cheating?

Those who take Adderall see its benefits as a way to boost their grades, lengthen their study hours, and in the end, compete at a higher level.   Adderall use on campus has drawn stark comparisons to steroid use in athletics. With awards, accolades, endorsement deals and millions of dollars at stake, a number of professional athletes have turned towards performance enhancers have a way to separate themselves from the pack.

Consequently, the idea of a level playing field no longer existed as steroid use dominated Major League Baseball.   The athletes who artificially enhanced their performance were labeled cheaters in the sports world.   Just as athletes use illegal substances to gain an unfair advantage on the field, the same is being done in the classroom.

Some University of Kentucky students don’t agree with the idea of using Adderall to raise academic performance. These students feel that it does not enhance their natural abilities in the way that steroids do. It enhances attributes that are imperative to studying, but does not increase the ability to understand concepts.
In an interview with Kristin Jenkins, a college student, she said it is hard to ignore the number of students who attribute their success in academia to Adderall. She felt it allowed her to excel in school, and stated that she failed a class when she did not take Adderall.

There has been a significant increase in Adderall usage on college campuses in recent years.

A study at the University of Kentucky, conducted by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, determined that 34 percent of the students surveyed, have illegally used ADHD stimulants.

This number is a startling reminder of the amount of students who feel Adderall provides them with an academic advantage.

Works Cited

Adderall as a study drug cheats everyone

Adderall: College Students’ Best Friend– Or Worst Enemy

Is Using Adderall Like Using Steroids?

Adderall (& Other Stimulant) Abuse On Campus

Players admit steroids changed baseball

Adderall is a small pill with big effects

College students who use Adderall to stimulate their brains and boost awareness are frequently unaware of the harsh side effects of the pill. The short-term effects of Adderall are enticing and can be attractive, but college students should be aware of the dangers involved with its use.

Loss of appetite. Dry mouth. Insomnia. Headaches. Nausea. Dizziness. Heartburn.

These are only some of the negative side effects of Adderall use.

On April 25, Katie Couric of 60 Minutes interviewed students and professors on the abuse of Adderall on the University of Kentucky. A recent survey of 2,000 students revealed that 34 percent had taken the drug illegally.

When Couric held a group interview at the university and asked students if it was normal to see their friends “popping pills” during finals week, the group responded with a room full of nods and mumbled yeses. One student finally spoke up and replied, “It’s the norm.”

The truth is that Adderall is a drug prescribed for a medical condition. People who take it under a doctor’s supervision for ADHD versus those who take it illegally, will experience very different effects. Adderall is prescribed to patients who struggle with motivation, focus and self-direction. Someone without these symptoms is likely to experience harsh side effects from abusing the medication.

Dr. Alan DeSantis, a University of Kentucky communications professor, conducted a long-term study on Adderall. Dr. DeSantis was surprised to learn that when it comes to the long- term effects of Adderall, some student assume that because their peers with ADHD have taken it since they were young and do not have problems, that taking it irregularly will not cause them harm.

In the 60 Minutes report, Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said that stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin can be addictive. In fact they are addictive to such a degree that they are categorized in the same class of drugs as cocaine.

Krista Hauk, a University of Oregon student, has been taking medically prescribed Adderall for six years. “I can’t not take it,” confessed Krista. Krista explained that she has become dependent on the pill and although she has been diagnosed with ADHD she never feels like herself when she takes her medication. The side effects that haunt Krista the most is becoming anti-social, lifeless, and zombie-like until the medication wears off.

Legally or illegally, Adderall is not something to be taken lightly. Even though it is not an illegal drug, the process of taking it under the table is unlawful and often taken blindly. The side effects of Adderall are serious and everyone who plans to take it should be fully informed before swallowing “the study pill”.

Works Cited:

Social Media SEO: Adderall, Adderall Side Effects, & ‘60 Minutes’ Video

CBS News: Adderall U.

60 Minutes Video: High Stakes, Poker, & Adderall

Drugs.com: Adderall

60 Minutes Video: The Brave New World of Adderall

60 Minutes Video: Buying Adderall

Med TV: Adderall Side Effects

CBS News: Popping Pills a Popular Way to Boost Brain Power

College students are the rising demographic in Adderall abuse

Adderall abuse on the college campus is statistically becoming a very prevalent issue. It spans the country invading public and private universities all over the nation. The biggest users come from some of the biggest academic bubbles this country has to offer, Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton. However, Adderall abuse is not contained to the ivy leagues; it has grown to endemic status on some university campus and Oregon students are following the trend.

Walk around a college library during midterms and finals weeks in the United States and you will see a common theme, students cramming at the last-minute for an exam or working hard to write the perfect paper. The high stress job of being successful in today’s competitive academic environment is leading many students to look for an extra edge to make it over the hump.

Adderall is a prescription drug used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Narcolepsy in people of all ages. Adderall has become almost synonymous with the college campus because students have seen the competitive edge that use can bring to the classroom. A recent survey completed at Suffolk University showed that nearly 59% of the students have used the drug at least once (medically and non-medically). A similar survey conducted at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee showed that 75% of students knew someone that was taking the drug. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health added to these concerning numbers in their 2009 survey of the drug by finding that, “Full-time college students aged 18 to 22 were twice as likely as their counterparts who were not full-time college students to have used Adderall non-medically in the past year (6.4 vs. 3.0 percent).”

While these numbers are alarming, one of the biggest debates that have arisen is not whether the drug is safe or unsafe but whether Adderall is cheating or merely cognitive-enhancing?

In academia the debate has taken a different turn, Nature magazine came out in support of the use of cognitive enhancers in a 2008 article that has become a base for pro-enhancement arguments, “We should welcome new methods of improving our brain function.”

Should Adderall and other cognitive-enhancers be allowed legally or do you think this is cheating? Leave a comment below and let us know what your thoughts are.

Works Cited:

Associated Content: The Drug Adderall, Also Known as “Ivy League Crack,” is Not What it’s Cracked Up to Be

The Daily Princetonian: Juiced on Adderall

DrugFree.org: Stimulant Abuse on Campus

The NSDUH Report: Non-medical use of Adderall

Inside Vandy: Adderall, buying, selling, using at Vanderbilt

CollegeBingeDrinking.net: Adderall abuse increasing among college students

Suffolk Journal: Adderall use a growing problem among students

Nature Journal: Towards responsible use of cognitive enhancing drugs by the health

Adderall.net