Ignoring
Although many college students are aware of Adderall abuse on campus or admit to abusing the drug themselves, legal consequences for misuse of the drug remain light.
Lt. Cameron Wassman, Central Michigan University Police Department public information officer, said the department only deals with a handful of cases involving Adderall per year. The cases often stem from medical issues that occur while combining Adderall with alcohol or marijuana, or during traffic stops that were initiated for other reasons, Wassman said.
Adderall is a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule II drugs are substances recognized by the Drug Enforcement Agency as having medicinal purposes but also potential to be abused.
“For example, with 1,000 grams in your possession, which is a whole lot of pills, you could be looking at a lifetime felony,” Wassman said. “All the way down to something less than 50 grams, which is a small amount, you’d still be looking at what could be a 20-year felony. Obviously, do people get that kind of a sentence? Not necessarily.”
Of all the instances Duncan Tierney has taken Adderall, it was never before finals week. That was when the drug in high demand and supply was scarce.
Instead he would take it during the summer, when it was easy to find -- and he never had a prescription for the drug.
Tierney, a senior from Lake Orion, hasn’t taken any Adderall for seven months, although he used to take it regularly once or twice a month for a period of two years.
Tierney estimates around 20 of his friends regularly misuse the drug, with that number jumping to around 40 during finals week. Research from the Coalition to Prevent ADHD Medication Misuse found surveyed students thought that 30 percent of their peers misused Adderall or similar medications. In reality, the research found that the true number of students who abuse the drug was closer to 17 percent.
The largest demographic he’s observed using the drug is students involved with Greek Life, specifically fraternities.
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There has been a close to 40% rise in Adderall prescriptions since 2007.
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Facts
“It’s a rich kid drug,” Tierney said. “You don’t get in trouble for it. They’re not the guys getting pulled over by the police.”
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Stimulants like Adderall raise body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure.
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When used regularly for a long time, Adderall may lose its effectiveness.
A study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that among college students, men were more likely to abuse Adderall. Of the students they surveyed, 14.6 percent of men admitted to misusing Adderall in 2018 as compared to only 8.8 percent of women surveyed. The study also found that college students were more likely to abuse the drug.
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Chemical makeup (Adderall XR)
Written by Hunter McLaren, Clara Bryant, Lauren Garchar and Tristan Hagenstein
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Of all the times he has taken the drug, Tierney said the effects he’s noticed have been fairly mild.
“I wasn’t that much better at studying on it,” Tierney said. “It just made me feel like I drank coffee.”
Adderall is a stimulant, or an “upper.” When taken, it can lead to increased heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. It can also interfere with sleep.
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Over a long period of misuse, physical and mental issues could arise. Heart problems, psychosis and paranoia are all possible long-term side effects of Adderall misuse. Tierney said he wouldn’t advise anyone with a panic disorder to take Adderall without a prescription.
The main reason Tierney saw other students abusing the drug was for academic purposes, but he said that he usually took the drug to party -- by combining it with alcohol.
CPAMM’s study found students who abused Adderall were more likely to binge drink. More than 80 percent of both men and women who reported misusing the drug also reported binge drinking. But most of the students surveyed didn’t report using Adderall to study -- the two most common reasons that were cited for misusing the drug were to concentrate better while studying and to be able to study longer.
Video by Hunter McLaren, graphics by Lauren Garchar, header image by Quinn Kirby.