Substance Abuse

In an effort to keep up with an active social life and compete against other classmates in a highly competitive academic environment, many students on today\’s college campuses have turned to the use of substances to either enhance their performance or stay up later to study. Especially on Ivy League college campuses, students find that workloads are overwhelming and they can get an added edge by using chemical substances to keep them awake longer.

The newest drug of choice is Adderall, in the classification of analeptics, or those drugs used to treat attention deficit disorder. As the number of students who were diagnosed with ADD in the 1990s are now reaching college campuses they are bringing their drugs with them. Students have found that using these analeptics they are able to stay up later, cram more and stay alert during the test. (1)

While these designer stimulants are far less dangerous than cocaine or methamphetamines, they can interact with other drugs and create problems, especially when taken in dosages which are not prescribed specifically for their individual use. According to Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, the manufacturer of Adderall, it has no potential for addiction and the main side effects are increased heart rate, agitation and a certain kind of paranoia and disorientation that results from insomnia induced by amphetamines. (2)

In early 2009 the Canadian government suspended the sale of time released Adderall specifically stating 20 international reports of sudden death related to heart and stroke in children and adults who were taking Adderall. The FDA in the United States took note of the action but said it would not prevent the sale of time released Adderall in the United States.

Unfortunately, the use of performance-enhancing drugs is not as much of a health issue as it is an issue of fairness between students. There are those who refuse to imbibe in performance-enhancing stimulants but who fiercely resent the advantage it gives their fellow students because it comes as close to cheating as a University allows.

Some research has also confirmed that college campuses continue to have issues and problems with alcohol and other drug related abuse. Alcohol appears to have caused the most problem on college campuses and studies show that 43% of all students reported drinking in a high risk manner while 23% reported drinking in a high risk manner often. Surveys across the country show that 32.3% of students use marijuana, 6.5% use amphetamines, 7.5% use hallucinogens, 3.7% use cocaine and 3.6% use designer drugs such as ecstasy. (3)

Many of these drugs and alcohol problems have been related factors in tragedies which happened on college campuses such as date rape, hospitalizations for overdoses and even death. Substance abuse affects not only those who engage in high-risk drinking or drug use, but also those students who are in the near vicinity.

Colleges and universities across the world are beginning to implement policies and programs which help their students to decrease alcohol and drug use in an effort to reduce the number of associated negative consequences. Some colleges and universities also have broad prevention programs that combine both traditional education with strategies at changing the entire environment and offering support to students at multiple levels. Using this approach recognizes that student behavior, really anyone\’s behavior, is influenced at multiple different levels such as personal, institutional, work, community and public policy.

Some colleges are even working with their local communities to ensure that alcohol is not serve to minors and that students who become intoxicated are taken care of. Colleges are also strengthening their academic requirements and scheduling classes on Fridays which discourages Thursday night parties. Also, by keeping the library and recreational facilities open longer they give students an opportunity to make choices beyond staying in their dorm rooms.

Colleges are disciplining repeat offenders and those students who engage in unacceptable behavior through notification of parents, suspension and eventually expulsion from school.

Students who abuse drugs, whether alcohol or other chemicals, report several different reasons for engaging in this dangerous activity. Some of these reasons include stress from being away from home, their peers are doing it, it\’s the only way they seem to be able to get through class and they entered college campus life already addicted to the use of chemical substances.

Colleges and universities who engage in prevention and treatment programs for their students are going a long way towards ensuring the health and well-being of not only future citizens but also the future of their country. It is, after all, graduates of these colleges and universities who one day sit on the boards of education, become elected officials and will be the doctors and attorneys who become the backbone of local communities.

(1) American Psychological Association: Male College Students Believe Taking Performance-Enhancing Drugs for Sports is More Unethical than Using Stimulants to Improve Grades, According to New Study

(2) Drugs.com: Adderall

(3) National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Campus safety Awareness – Substance Abuse