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