Adderall Use Increases on Campus

It was during his junior year at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kan., when Chris Turner* first had an urge to try something different.
He was a successful student, at least by his standards. He passed his classes and had plans to attend Kansas State University after graduation.
But still, something felt different. He felt behind, and he wanted an edge.
By then, Turner knew about the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The condition intrigued him, and Turner frequently felt that he himself might suffer from the disorder, but he never consulted a doctor to ask questions or seek a proper diagnosis.
“[I] wasn’t able to stay focused during classes,” he said. “There were 30 people in each class which was kind of a lot coming from smaller classes in previous (years). There was more to divert your attention, and so when you hear about people beginning to get diagnosed with ADHD and hear about the symptoms, then you kind of start to think that it might be something that you might have.”
Above all, he felt he could do better and though he tried, he never found an answer for his lack of attentiveness and motivation in the classroom.
It was during that junior year of high school though when Turner’s close friend approached him, and offered him a dose of Adderall for the first time. The small capsule was a prescription-strength amphetamine-based stimulant used in children and adults to combat the symptoms of ADHD.
The offer was simple and intriguing to Turner. Others used it and he felt it gave them the edge he was seeking, and so he accepted the offer.
“I was like ‘Yeah sure,’” Turner said. “So I did, and then just noticed I was about a thousand times more involved in my classes for the rest of the day.”
There was no doubt in his mind that the pill had helped. In fact, Turner said he used Adderall a few more times throughout the remainder of his high school career, even though he still never saw a doctor.
The exchange he made with his friend at St. Thomas was illegal, and Turner said he knew it, but that didn’t bother him. To him, the use of Adderall was an academic aide, not drug abuse.
“I think it was purely academic,” he said.
He had found the answer he was seeking, temporarily at least. It was the tool to combat his distractions.
And Turner would soon learn after graduating high school, Adderall is extremely popular to several students for just the reason it helped him that year.

Arriving at K-State
When Turner arrived for his freshman year at K-State in the fall of 2008, he pledged a fraternity house on campus, and immediately was drawn into the social and academic atmospheres that college life offers.
He had only taken Adderall a few times in high school, and didn’t plan on using it again—unless he received a proper prescription.
But it wouldn’t take long for the stress and pressure of college to trigger the thought of using it again.
It didn’t help that Adderall was even easier to attain at K-State.
While he stressed he didn’t plan to use it again, Turner’s workload quickly piled on, and he sought that extra edge once more.
“It just happened,” he said. “I just heard about people using it and how much it helped them with their homework, and so I kind of tried it again. I figured I had a six-page paper due two days later and was just like ‘All right I’ll just take it just for this paper.’”
The atmosphere of living in a fraternity house provided Turner with the opportunity to use the Adderall almost as often as he needed to. But he had to pay for the pills this time, which cost him about $5 to $10 apiece.
The accessibility to the pills amazed him.
“It [was] probably like a one phone call away kind of thing.” He said. “You kind of know who has it, so it’s very easy to get a hold of.”
The fraternity house is where he met Tim Parkin*, also a sophomore at Kansas State. Parkin didn’t have a prescription for Adderall either, but curiosity and the accessibly within the fraternity house and on campus, allowed him to take advantage of the drug with relative ease.
“I knew there were a couple of people within my fraternity that were doing it.” Parkin said. “I tried it a couple of times and it was something that was beneficial for me.”
Together the two of them bought doses of Adderall from members in the fraternity house and around campus whenever they felt they needed an extra boost in their studies or homework. It’s a practice that has become common among college students across the nation.
“It was just for studying for tests usually,” Parkin said. “I took it a couple of times a week before tests or busy weeks.”
It’s a habit that has become increasingly common on college campuses across the nation. According to a to New York Times story a study focusing on college campuses reports that as many as 20 percent of students report using Ritalin or Adderall for academic assistance.
“I have noticed and been able to observe the tendency or the increase in prescription medication to manage all types of behavior,” Travis Linneman, professor of sociology and doctoral candidate at K-State said. “Stimulants such as Adderall tend to be the most common one, and it just makes sense that as kids transition from secondary education to post-secondary education that they would come to college and they might be presented with the opportunity to abuse these drugs more readily.”
Parkin, who began using the pill during his sophomore year at K-State, said immediately noticed the effects.
“There was definitely a difference,” he said. “My tests. I felt better prepared for. With that being said I was at a point, that spring semester when I was on it, I used it as a crutch. It made me feel good because I was actually studying more, and I felt motivated to do it.”
Linneman said students often times use school to justify their abuse of the pill.
“I think some of the deviance related to it is reduced when you think about in terms of doing something pro-social,” he said. “Using this drug not recreationally in a deviant manner to get high or do whatever else, but to be able to accomplish an acceptable task reduces at least some of the cultural consequences of it.”
The Dangerous Side Effects
Taking Adderall does come with its costs. The small pill has some heavy side effects that come with it, some that may be more severe than the typical user may expect.
According to a New York Times Article and a study conducted by the American Journal of Psychiatry, "sudden death" one of the rare side effects of Adderall use among children and adults.
Most of these "sudden death" cases were seen in children who had suffered cardiac abnormalities before taking Adderall, however there were still a small number cases of "sudden death" in children who did not previously suffer from heart conditions.
According to a report from Psychiatric News, there were 20 reports of "sudden deaths" associated with Adderall use, 14 of which were children, while six were adults. In the United States, 12 children were victim of "sudden death."
"These deaths were not associated with overdose, misuse, or abuse," Health Canada said, which eventually took a step to ban the pills from use for
While the United States never took the step to ban Adderall, the FDA did issue a formal warning addressing this rare phenomenon in the use of Adderall.
More common side effects of Adderall use include weight loss, dizziness and trouble sleeping.
Parkin said his doctor discussed these side effects with him during his initial visit.
"He just wanted to check on some things but was a big hesitant," Parkin said. "I guess somewhat reluctantly but said ‘This is how it is going to be but I guess we can try this out', but he did offer alternatives.”

The legality, a constant battle on campus
Even though he didn’t have a prescription, Turner was never worried about the legality of his involvement with buying and selling Adderall.
And he’s not alone.
According to a study conducted by the Psychology Health and Medicine Journal in August 2002, 35 percent of college undergraduates at one university, reported to have tried prescription amphetamines without a proper prescription.
That statistic doesn’t surprise Turner.
“I think it’s more casual than a regular kind of illegal drug,” he said. “I would say 75 percent of the people that use it illegally, use it for academic purposes instead of recreation. That is probably one of the biggest differences.”
Ronnie Grice, chief of the K-State campus police department for more than 16 years, admits that controlling the distribution of Adderall and other prescription drugs throughout campus is a difficult task. The campus department has received very few reports of illegal use of Adderall, which creates a difficult scenario for officers.
“Adderall is a difficult drug to detect abuse in.” Grice said in an e-mail interview. “We are aware of the illegal use, but have taken very few reports. They are easily concealed from roommates and family, odorless, and can be perceived as prescribed drugs.”
But if students are caught, the penalties are harsh, and even include prison time. Those who are actually caught by law enforcement illegally selling Adderall to students face the same punishment as selling any other illegal drug in the amphetamine category. Engaging in the buying or selling Adderall is considered a schedule-two, controlled-substance drug under the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s five level list, with schedule one drugs considered as the highest offense. Other drugs categorized as schedule two include cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine.
It’s a tough system that Linneman says many students are not aware of, and could easily fall victim to.
“In those cases the rationality of our drug system is designed to get street level dealers of all drugs,” Linneman said. “(It) files everybody under the same kind of rubric and doesn’t have anyway of being flexible.”
After using the pill for some time and becoming familiar with its effects, both Turner and Parkin said they felt an urge to make the process legal.
So during his sophomore year, after using Adderall illegally for three years and becoming familiar with its effects, Turner sought out medical help.
“The reason I wanted to get prescription was to kind of make it official,” he said. “I thought I should at least go to a doctor and see if I did actually have it (ADHD). It wasn’t even necessarily to go there for a prescription, it was to go and see if I actually had ADD, and see if I could make it legal or legitimate.”
But what he discovered during his appointment with his psychiatrist was the diagnosis process was much different than he anticipated.

The fuzzy diagnosis process
Turner discovered that there is no one universal method of testing for ADHD, despite the sharp increase in diagnosis. Studies show that the diagnosis of ADHD have increased 3% per year from 1997-2006.
Typically patients, like Turner, will encounter a simple question-and-answer session with a therapist where they discuss their symptoms in the classroom or daily life.
At his office in Topeka, Kan., Dr. Bob Alan said he makes sure to fully evaluate his patients when diagnosing ADHD often meeting with his patients several times.
“What I’m looking for in the diagnosis is obviously a deficit of attention,” Alan said. “I kind of reverse those words a little bit. So I’m checking the ability of the kid to pay attention and also I always look at how the family interacts with the child that is going to get a lot of detail and how the ADHD plays out at home.”
During his visit with a psychiatrist, Turner said he discussed openly his previous experience with Adderall, and was surprised at the ease of which he received his diagnosis and eventually an legitimate prescription for Adderall.
“If you have a Mountain Dew you will have all of these symptoms,” Turner said. “It’s kind of shady I would say.”
It’s a situation that Linneman, who worked for 10 years as a high-risk probation officer in Riley County Kansas, said he has rarely seen with any other drug.
“It’s really different,” he said. “I don’t know of any other drug that is that difficult to develop a diagnosis or treatment.”
A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Services found that 4.5 million children ages 3 to 17 years of age have been diagnosed with ADHD. Boys were more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with the condition at 11 percent, while 4 percent of were likely to be diagnosed.
It’s that increase in diagnoses that has stemmed a feeling of familiarity and is fueling the trend of abuse on college campuses, Linneman said.
“I think that it is so common and so often used and engrained.” He said. “We prescribe so many more psychotropic and behavior management drugs in this nation compared to other nations. I think we have normative value or normative standards for it.”

Living legally with Adderall
Adderall has had an impact of both Turner’s and Parkin’s life and after experimenting with Adderall they have both received legitimate diagnoses and prescriptions for their conditions
They now face the temptation of selling the drug themselves as they have an supply themselves. It’s part of living with a label of ADHD.
“I don’t want people coming up and asking all the time if they can buy,” Parkin said. “But I will do it for the financial benefits, and so they can see the benefits themselves.”
It’s the same process both Parkin and Turner went through themselves when curiosity led them to discover their condition. Now, medicated school looks different, in a good way.
But it is clear their needs to be an education process provided to college students across the nation to combat the abuse of prescription medication, and according to Linneman education is the answer.
“Combining clear non-exaggerated information about the risk of any drug and making that available to all students and allowing students once they are educated or informed to make their own decisions.” he said.

Presentation

This week I gave my presentation for my main story in our class. It was a much more challenging experience than I anticipated. Talking in front of a group was slightly different than I thought it would be. It seems to me that writing a story and organizing it in that manner was much easier than discussing it in a presentation form.

Overall, the process of this story was a great experience. I stepped out of my comfort zone and did a longer story on a topic other than sports. I have written sports for the previous two years, and to be able to move away from that comfort was something that made me feel much more comfortable about my journalism skills.

Wrapping up

Well, it seems that I am nearing the end of this story. It has been quite a process. I have discussed in detail the stories of two students concerning their experiences with Adderall, both legal and illegal. They seemed to mirror what I expected, but at the same time surprised me.

The legality of distributing Adderall, no matter how casually, is incredible. Adderall, I have learned is what is called a "schedule two" drug. This means that if convicted of selling Adderall, a person could receive a minimum five years in prison, due to the nature of the drug.

See, Adderall is an amphetamine based drug, which places it in the same category of methamphetamine. Furthermore, drugs that are also placed in this category are Cocaine and Morphine.

It's interesting because of all these drugs, Adderall seems to have a much different stigma about it. When associated with academics, the drug seems to take on an entirely different personality, and therefore those who use it and sell it have a much different attitude about it, despite the possible legal consequences.

And still, students throughout campuses across the nation, rarely think twice about selling or buying these pills. Furthermore, teachers and law enforcement are fully aware about it.

I feel this topic will only gain more and more coverage and attention, as it seems there are very few answers to the problem currently.

The Hard Facts

The facts behind this story are incredible.

Clearly, they show the United States is madly in love with medication. No really, it's almost humorous. The rate at which we have began to medicate children is sky-rocketing, and it doesn't seem to be coming down anytime soon.

Americans medicate their children four times more than any other country in the world. Four times. Why? Well, that still hasn't been answered yet. Money? Maybe. The fact that the medication is actually beneficial. That could be argued.

In the United States, the diagnosis of ADHD in children has risen 3% each year from 1997-2006. As of 2006, 4.5 million children ages 5-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD.


But why are other countries not jumping on board with this new fad? Well it seems that they are being cautious. Actually, Canada recently banned Adderall from being prescribe within its borders in 2005. Why? Because there were over 20 reports of sudden death as a result of taking Adderall. Yes, death. But yet those reports didn't seem to slow down the U.S. diagnosis.

At that time, there were 11,000 patients on Adderall in Canada compared to 750,000 patients in the United States.

Shire, the cooperation which distributes Adderall said they were puzzled as to why Canada had temporarily banned the pills.

“We are surprised by this action from Health Canada,” said CEO Matthew Emmens. “Shire remains confident in the safety and efficacy of Adderall XR.” A spokesperson from Shire said.

Following the incidents of 20 "sudden deaths", the FDA required a label be placed on the bottles of Adderall warning of the possibilty of "sudden death".

Therapist Interview - A Medical Insight

I received my first interview from somebody in the medical field today, as I interviewed Mr. Bob Alan Clifton, over the phone. He is a therapist Topeka who acts as a mediator between patients and psychiatrist. He works with patients who are first beginning to question the possibility of seeking a diagnosis for their symptoms.

He talked to me over the phone, and discussed how he talks to patients about their symptoms, and the process that he goes through when considering a diagnosis. He seemed to be more cautious and conservative than the therapists who diagnosed the sources in my story. He said he usually doesn't make a diagnosis or suggest medication until the second or third meeting with his patients.

This further sparked my curiosity about the diagnosis process and why they are so incredibly different between different doctors.

Anyways, he dealt gave me some good information from a therapists point of view, and I felt it was interesting that he seemed more cautious with his patients, as if somebody finally understood that the medication that children are going on now for school work is incredibly powerful.

Changing the Focus

When initially planning this story, I was very intrigued at the diagnosis process of ADHD in patients. It seemed, to me at least, that it was a very inconsistent process. Why did psychiatrists have the seemingly utter freedom to prescribe this incredibly powerful substance in Adderall, a amphetamine based brain stimulant, to children with a simple question-answer session?

To me, this seemed slightly ludicrous. It seems in all other facets of life, children are protected, screened and given a more cautious approach. To me the medical field should be no different. But in this case, it is. However the problem is this is my opinion, and I feel if I were to focus my story on that aspect of the problem, or as of now a perceived problem, I would have my opinion enter the story too much. If I was to face this challenge I would need more time for the story.

And so now, I am shifting my focus to the story of two students on campus, and telling their stories of their experiences with the process of discovering the condition, and discovering the answers to it. But their stories, like many others on campus, are interesting in the fact that they discovered the pill illegally and bought it from fellow students on campus.

I feel that this focus is more centered around the K-State community and for this assignment, it is more appropriate.

Interview with the Police

I spoke on the phone with K-State Chief of Police Ronnie Grice and Captain Don Stubbings today. I wasn't overly surprised when they told me that it is very difficult to police prescription drug abuse on campus.

Stubbings compared Marijuana and Adderall together and told me that when looking for something like Marijuana, it is easier to detect. Marijuana has a signature smell, as well as evidence of use such as a pipe or bags.

But with pills such as Adderall, it's different.

“When you see a bottle of pills you just assume it is a prescribed drug, and it’s not signaling ‘Well what is this prescription’. Where if you walk into a room and saw a pipe or a sack of marijuana, the red light comes on and says there is a problem here.” He said.

Because of this he told me that less than five cases have been reported that he knows of on the K-State campus.

Meanwhile Grice told me that he too struggles to find solutions to the problem and that the department is working with the university to find solutions.

"The KSU Police department works with staff and students to identify potential problems." He said.

Disability Support Service Offers Counseling to ADHD Patients

Manhattan, Kan. — Nestled in the heart of the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, Kan., Holton Hall has made life a little bit easier for a myriad of K-State students.

Housed inside this building is the Kansas State Disability Support Services.

While the hall is home to a service that assists several types of disabilities, nearly 125 students at K-State use this building as a haven, according to service director Andrea Blair, to discuss their troubles with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

To them, it’s a place for them to talk about their daily lives in school battling the effects of ADHD.

“The most consistent thing about all of them (the patients) are the inconsistencies.” Blair said. “But some similarities, what I hear, are students in a test get real distracted when people start getting up from their seats. They get very anxious that they are going to run out of time because everyone else is already done."

Blair personally assists students with their academic struggles related to ADHD, and she says she has seen an evolution of this disorder evolve within the college environment.

“It has definitely increased over time,” Blair said. “But I have had ADHD since I have been here.”

While the center is not an area for students to receive medical treatment for ADHD, it serves as a center for aide in their schoolwork.

“We don’t talk a lot about the medications,” Blair said. “We talk more about academic accommodations such a test-taking accommodations, time management, more class room accommodations.”

Blair also does not discuss the possible negative side effects of Adderall such as weight loss, dependency, depression and even sudden death, according to an article published by Dr. Vicent Iannelli on the Pediatrics webite of About.com

“They [doctors] are the ones actually prescribing the medications.” Blair said. “They are the ones that are going to need to have the conversations with them about the medications. I’m more about the grades and the classroom.”

In fact the Disability Service Support Service has strict guidelines when treating ADHD and patients who take Adderall. According to the Disability Support Services website, students wishing to receive accommodation for not only ADHD, but for any of their services, must complete an application for services.

This application asks the student questions regarding their demographic background, information about their specific disability and questions about what types of services they wish to receive from Blair and her staff.

“[The application asks] how you have been diagnosed, how it affects you, and what the impact is, if you are on medication, does that change things.” Blair said.

Blair has been working at the Disability Support Services at K-State for 16 years and had been handling students with ADHD the entire time. She says ADHD has been an evolving condition on the K-State campus, which makes her position even more important.

For college students suffering from ADHD, daily activities of college can be challenging.

John Knutsen, a sophomore at Kansas State University, who has been prescribed Adderall to combat his condition, said he has noticed the benefits.

“One thing I did notice was my notes that I took in class were a lot more organized after that.” Knutsen said. “I don’t know why but it was definitely easier to remember what the teacher was saying and then put it into my own words and write it down and take notes.”
And that is exactly what Blair teaches her students.

“If anything I talk to them about remembering to take it.” She said. “I tell them to keep a few in their backpack for the middle of the day when they remember so they will actually have one, and it’s not at home.”

The Disability Support Service is located in room 202 in Holton Hall.

ADHD in Schools

This video, from a local Fox Affiliate in Atlanta, GA investigates the use of Adderall at public universities including the nearby campus of Georgia Tech.

Similar stories can be found around the country as seen in the cases of Chris* and John Knusten, both sophomores at K-State.

ADHD on Campus

With the myriad of students who suffer from ADHD, Kansas State University offers a Disability Support Service located in Holtz Hall. This service is headed by Andrea Blair M.E.d.

Blair has dealt with many students who suffer from ADHD, many of which have been prescribed Adderall to combat their condition.

Their Symptoms, Looking For an Answer

John and Chris* are similar. They are both college students attending Kansas State University, both members of Greek houses on campus, and both have the ambition to succeed in the ever-challenging nature of college academics.

But what happens when that ambition leads to the using unconventional means of success?

In the case of these two students, they have. But they aren’t alone.

See both struggled to stand out in high school. They felt school and the work along with it came harder to them.

Chris, who asked to use a false name, said he felt it wasn’t a medical condition but rather his drive.

“I really had to set time aside and really jump into it [homework], and get the wheels spinning to get studying.” he said. “It was tough for me to get started studying.”

John has a similar story. He knew about Adderall, a stimulant commonly used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and felt that it could benefit his lack of academic success in high school as well. His friends had used the drug to aide in their studies, and the idea intrigued John.

Soon, he would understand first-hand the effects, positive and negative of using Adderall to aide, and treat, his lack of academic achievement.

This blog will explore the story of John and Chris. and their experience with ADHD at Kansas State.

*Chris is a fictional name of source who asked his real name not be used in this story.