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Popping Perfection
Today's college students are raiding the ritalin bottles to get to the head of the class.
by Erin Hallahan
Staff Writer
The pressures of school can lead to drug abuse.
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It is a Sunday evening and for Bryan Donovan that means a barrage of telephone calls. Amid the occasional roar from the Giants game he is watching and the repeated beeping and buzzing of his cell phone, he also attempts to finish writing a six-page paper for English class.
The calls every 20 minutes eventually become too unsettling for Donovan and he hastily turns off his cell phone with a sigh of aggravation. �I can�t get anything done with all the distractions,� says the 21-year-old Nassau Community College student as he takes a pill of Adderall prescribed to him by his physician for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
The calls he continuously receives are not from his family, close friends, or even his girlfriend. The calls are from quasi-acquaintances he has met at Nassau and Hofstra University, who are looking for an extra kick to help them with their last minute studying before Monday morning�s exams. �They want to buy my Adderall off of me,� Donovan says in disgust. �As soon as people find out I have ADHD, the first thing they ask me is if I will give them my medication.�
These callers are among a growing number of college students illegally consuming Ritalin and Adderall, medications intended to help the symptoms of ADHD, a disorder characterized by a short attention span and hyperactivity. Unlike most abused drugs, though, students do not take Ritalin and Adderall for recreation; they take them to improve their grades.
One in five college students have been found to use these drugs illegally to enhance their academic performance, according to a November 2002 study published in The Johns Hopkins News-Letter.
Donovan, also a lifeguard at the Hofstra University Swim Center, has become accustomed to these frequent requests for his medication, especially around finals time. When the crunch is on to ace the concluding tests of the semester, at least three University students a day will visit him at work or approach him while he is visiting his friends and girlfriend, who live on campus. �They offer me money, sometimes a lot, but as appealing as it sounds, I just can�t do it,� he said.
Ritalin (methylphenidate hydrochloride) and Adderall (the combination of amphetamine and dextroaphetamine) have become large commodities on the black market. �I sold it for two bucks apill or traded it for other pills,� said a 21-year-old student from Commack, Long Island, who does not have ADHD. Around finals, the price has been said to jump to at least $6 per pill.
At times students resort to theft in order to obtain these medications. Between January 1990 and May 1995, there were nearly 2,000 reports of Ritalin theft from drug stores and students combined. This number jumped to an estimated 700,000 between January 1996 and December 1997, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, putting the drug among the top 10 most frequently stolen controlled medications.
The primary reason Donovan refuses to sell his medication to others is because he fears they may injure themselves because it was not intended for them in the first place. Many students, though, feel the drugs can�t be too harmful since they are prescribed by doctors and not bought off the streets.
For people with ADHD, Ritalin and Adderall are used to calm hyperactivity and allow them to concentrate. For those without the disorder, the drugs give them an energy rush and hype up their brains. As a result, they are able to stay alert for longer periods of time and focus more intently.
Students take advantage of these side effects in order to pull all-nighters and work on last-minute papers. �I just thought it would help me concentrate more, and it did,� said the 21-year-old, who took Ritalin for studying, research or even if she had an excessive amount of homework.
What students do not realize are the more serious underlying side effects. When abused, Ritalin and Adderall can produce the same effects as other stimulants sold on the street, such as cocaine, crystal meth or speed.
Ritalin and Adderall over-stimulate the central nervous system of people who do not have ADHD, said Dr. Thomas Caraccio of Long Island Regional Poison and Drug Information Center at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. This can cause them to become nervous, agitated and confused.
Since they are stimulants, Ritalin and Adderall have the ability to quickly increase the heart rate, often to an abnormal speed, according to Registered Pharmacist Winifred Benisch of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y. �Let me put it this way, I wouldn�t take it,� she said.
Other results of the drugs include irritability, blurry vision and difficulty sleeping. The directions warusers not to take the last dose after 6 p.m. because it can produce insomnia. �It would take me forever to fall asleep. I would be wired for hours,� said a sophomore at High Point University in North Carolina.
A normal dose of Ritalin ranges from five to 10 milligrams with a maximum of 60 milligrams a day, according to Benisch. But students are looking for instant gratification and often take well over the recommended dosage. �I took up to three 20 milligram pills at one time,� the High Point student said.
Students like Collins, who take the drugs at their own will and have no prescription to allocate the proper amounts, are at risk of overdosing; and there is no antidote for an overdose, according to Caraccio. The only treatment would be to monitor the symptoms and care for any resulting medical conditions.
Students who take too much Ritalin or Adderall may experience profuse sweating, flushness and an elevated temperature. In severe cases, they may develop heart palpitations, vomiting, increase in blood pressure or psychotic episodes, Caraccio said. Enough of the drugs could cause seizures or even a coma. According to the Federal Drug Administration, more than 160 deaths associated with Ritalin were reported between 1990 and 1997.
Ritalin and Adderall can produce adverse effects on their own, but when combined with other medications they can prove to be more potent and dangerous. �When [students] are taking these things and they are on something else, they can interact,� Caraccio said. Anti-depressants, anti-seizure medication and even something as simple as caffeine can prove to be life threatening when mixed with Ritalin and Adderall.
Students may ignore not only the health risks of abusing Ritalin and Adderall, but also the legal repercussions of their actions. Using these drugs without a prescription or selling them to others is considered a crime. It is also a criminal offense to make such sales on or within 1,000 feet of schoolgrounds. As a result, if someone is caught making a deal in a dorm room or even out in the parking lot by an academic building, they will be hit with two felony charges.
The district attorney�s office and the judge involved in the case take into consideration any prior record or lack thereof and the amount of drugs involved when determining the sentence. But while specific jail time for these crimes depends on the severity of the situation, �a felony will give you more than a year in jail and associated fines,� said Detective Boone of the Nassau County Narcotics Bureau.
University students caught illegally possessing, dealing or consuming controlled substances face probation and even expulsion. They are issued appearance summonses and must plead their case before the dean of students. All substances confiscated are turned over to the Nassau County police who decide whether to press criminal charges, said Assistant Director of Public Safety John O�Malley.
This trend is alarming to both physicians and law enforcement agents alike.
�We have seen a big increase,� Caraccio said. �We�re very concerned about it.� According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, Ritalin-related emergency room visits in the United States have escalated from 271 in 1990 to more than 1,400 in 2001.
Ritalin and Adderall have become as large a concern to police as Ecstasy and GHB, Boone said. They have joined the class of designer drugs. �It�s almost a generational type of crime going on,� Boone said, noting the widespread abuse among the young adult population.
There are a small percentage of students who use Ritalin or Adderall to get high. It can be crushed up and snorted much like cocaine and produce similar effects. Since the drugs can also cause a loss in appetite, there are others who take it in order to lose weight.
Universities and professionals across the country have caught on to these alternative uses of the drugs and are cracking down. The University of Miami has posted fliers and signs informing students of the effects of misusing the drugs. Physicians encourage students who may be abusing the medications to seek help, while law enforcement agents encourage students to report any unlawful dealings of these prescription medications.
The number of prescriptions for Ritalin and Adderall has increased by 167 percent between 1998 and 2002, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical information and consulting company. In fact, American consumers account for more than 90 percent of global consumption of these stimulants.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Enforcement Administration has placed stringent constraints on these medications in order to limit their accessibility. A license is required to manufacture, distribute and prescribe such stimulants and prescription refills are prohibited. In order to curb the drugs� availability, further regulations are in the works, such as limiting the dosage units per prescription
The trend is even an international concern. The Overload Network, a British organization that campaigns against the over-prescription of drugs, has turned to the government to investigate the widespread abuse of Ritalin.
Caraccio understands the severity of the issue and knows Long Island isn�t immune to this ever-growing trend. �It�s a real big problem here.�
And it is a real big problem for students like Bryan Donovan. Students looking for these drugs are not just physically harming themselves and risking jail time; they are academically harming those who need the drugs. Without their medication, students with ADHD have a difficult time remaining focused on assignments. They become frustrated easily and are quick to give up when work gets tough.
�The ironic thing is, I�m taking this medication to help me focus on my schoolwork, but the constant calling and nagging is just canceling out its effect,� Donovan said.
If you or someone you know is suffering from the effects of Ritalin or Adderall abuse, please call the Long Island Regional Poison and Drug Information Center at Winthrop University Hospital at 800.222.1222. If you know anyone who is illegally selling or consuming Ritalin or Adderall, please call the Nassau County Narcotics Bureau at 516.573.3400.
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