The Great Recession, Occupy Wall Street, and the euro zone crisis combined do not hold a candle to the soul-crushing problem that has brought America’s youth to their knees: We’re running out of Adderall.
Recently, the FDA added the drugs Ritalin and Adderall to an expanding list of national drug shortages. According to the FDA’s website, the shortage is due to “API supply issues and uneven product distribution patterns.”
In the United States, 5.4 million children are diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and of those, 66% take medication like Adderall to control the condition. On college campuses nationwide, a surprising number of students are using the drug recreationally to help boost their grades. Adderall increases productivity and focus in an otherwise over-stimulated student body. While it may at first be perceived as a national problem among students, I think that it is a harmless pill to aid in the under-motivated college experience.
[Read more on Adderall addictions: "Adderall Abuse Should Be Treated, Not Punished"]
Students will surely be up in arms, as their magic bullet becomes harder and harder to get a hold of. Often called an “academic steroid,” Adderall is known amongst academics as a cognitive enhancer; it is a drug that enables “high-functioning, overcommitted people to become higher-functioning and more overcommitted.” In a survey of nearly 2,000 students at a Midwestern university, researchers found that over 34% of undergraduates had taken some form of nueroenhancer without a prescription.
The drug is also the procrastinator’s go-to, according to The New Yorker's Margaret Talbot. Talbot reported on a study which found that the majority of collegiate users were white male undergraduates at highly competitive schools — especially in the Northeast — who are inclined to belong to a fraternity or a sorority and to have a GPA of 3.0 or lower. That same study found that the nueroenhancer users were also 10 times more likely to have smoked marijuana in the past year and 20 times more likely to have used cocaine.
Likened to the use of steroids in professional sports, the use of “performance-enhancing drugs” calls into question the issues of competitiveness and fairness. In professional sports, rules have been put into place to protect the integrity of the game, and ensure a proverbial level playing field. To that end, one might wonder, why are the same rules not enacted at our universities? Does Adderall offer an unfair advantage over those whose grades are based solely on their work ethic, or is it a harmless pill, that provides the same advantages as a cup of espresso or a red bull?
While it is hard to imagine how any university could enforce such a rule, it is an ethical dilemma nonetheless. The dialogue between the rival groups will result in neither side yielding to an agreement. To the chagrin of the so-called "straight-edge" students, many will ultimately resort to taking the drug to finish that 12-page term paper, study for that impossible calculus midterm, or even, ahem, to meet that deadline.
While Adderall may give the casual user an initial jump start, it is still on the student’s shoulders to write that essay, read that painstakingly-dull Russian novel, or study for that exam. If there are no qualms with taking credit for the work done during a caffeine-binge or nicotine-induced haze, one should be able to take the same credit for work done while under the influence of Adderall.
The irreconcilable truth is that if the drug is readily available, and many will take it for the competitive edge. As for the shortage, so long as there is a want, co-eds everywhere will eventually find a way to get it.
To all you pill pushers surreptitiously lurking in corridors of the library, waiting for that jittery co-ed in need of a quick fix, a bit of advice: Raise your prices ... demand is about to skyrocket.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Discussion
The fact that there's a shortage should tell you all something about the volume of this drug that is being taken illegally (ie. without a script). Look into alternatives. There's many safer alternatives out there - and much cheaper. I use one called ADDTabz which for me works better than Adderall.
I've been diagnosed with ADHD over and over. My solution? I run. A lot. 3 marathons this year! Calms and focuses my mind. Yoga too. And I feel great! It does, however, take more effort than a trip to the pharmacy. I also tried a natural remedy called addieup which helped. I perfer exercise.
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We are a nation of cheaters. If I took adderall and steroids my mother would have had a lot more to brag about, and I could relate to the GOP, I'd have a false sense of intellectual bravado and think I'm really macho.
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As a 40-something full-time working mom who is involved with church, 12 year-old's Boy Scout Troop and rec football team, volunteers in community impact opportunities and chases a 2 year-old in the process, I find this article very interesting. I came across it today because this week my son's......
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I'd urge people to think about adderall through the lens of the drug war and individual freedom. If someone wants to use adderall responsibly, should we deny it to them? How do we define "responsibly"? Lots of gray area here.
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I think the main concern of readers is that it is easy to imagine situations in which this drug isn't necessary, but is (ab)used nonetheless.
Adderall is a weird drug. The side effects are really very minor compared to alternatives such as Ritalin and while it is kind of addictive, I don't think I've ever had problems wanting to stop usage on 'off' days (and yes I have a legit prescription and most of the time I can function without it).
The best way to describe it that I've heard is that it makes you feel like General Patton on a good day.
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Are you serious? I'm shocked that anyone would endorse the use of a narcotic to help people study. If the student was diagnoses with HDAD, fine. A healthy student should not take any drugs to improve their performance. What happens when school days end, and the person gets a job? Will he or she continue to poison their system with more drugs? And, I must ask if any doctors are willing to prescribe narcotics to healthy students? Don't tell me who they are because I will report them to the police. I wish I could give a negative mic to this story.
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The bigger issue which you should address if you haven't already is the abuse of this drug with the young children. If college age kids want to take Adderall, then so be it. On the other hand, doctors around the country are prescribing this drug to young kids and the side-effects/long-term effects are not well known and potentially dangerous.
Love this piece. There was an interesting article in the Economist a few years ago that argued that if drugs like Adderall could improve an attention span from low to average with few side effects (weight loss? Oh no!), then why shouldn't people use them to improve an attention span from average to great?
I don't know enough about the side effects of this drug, but assuming that there are few harmful side effects, then why not?
I've done a few last minute 12 page term papers myself and never even thought about drugs; maybe I'm the weird one. Wow, I really was clueless; 34%? I don't have any clue what to say except, it does not bode well for anyone if we have to depend on induced chemical reactions to succeed. Funny and interesting article Deanna. I enjoyed your style but I'm not quite sure if I'm supposed to smile or not. :)
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