adderall abuse | Dangerous abuse of Adderall among university students

Dangerous abuse of Adderall among university students



More and more students are turning to the black market to buy this medication after claiming that it helps them cope with their heavy academic load


Dangerous abuse of Adderall among college students (horizontal-x3)
Some of the effects of Adderall include nausea, dizziness, stomach and head pain and loss of appetite. (Vanessa Serra Díaz)
It's 10:30 in the morning and Ernesto just got out of an examination of one of his Law classes. He almost did not sleep all night while he studied endlessly, full of legal cases that would be put to the test the next morning. Beside him, the Adderall tablet.

"I started using Adderall when I entered Law, because it is an excessive amount of readings and long periods of study time," says Ernesto, whose name, like that of other students interviewed, is fictitious.

Adderall is an amphetamine within the group of stimulant drugs that increases the levels of dopamine in the brain. Although its official function is to attend to people suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, due to its great potential for concentration, memory and productivity, many university students have found in it a shelter for long nights without sleep in front of pages and pages full of information.

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"The effect is like a high good similar to cocaine. It is a rush where you feel good alive, where you have very high lucidity levels. You are in a wide awake state where you can really direct your energies towards what you want to do, "says Esteban.

Take a lot of water Although he does not feel like eating-the Adderall takes away his appetite-he eats a piece of banana to keep the sugar levels and potassium in the system.

"I start to tie things together, and I recognize that it's because I'm focused and I'm really internalizing the material. Yesterday, I read a case, 20 pages of a really complicated case. That quick reasoning to be able to connect all the points and be able to understand the integrity of the matter, it makes me much easier. It's like an almost visual effect in that I'm connecting ideas much faster, "he shares.

The first time Adderall consumed was to "janguear" for its effect in keeping the system awake. Then, he chose it as an alternative to deal with a routine of two jobs to sustain himself and night law classes that resulted in long sleepless nights. Now, buy 15 pills of 30 milligrams, and divide each one into four. They render him for the entire semester. In the law exam for which he studied last night, he scored 90 points.

"The reality is that it works for me. I find myself lucid, "he repeats.



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However, Pamela, who is a patient diagnosed with ADHD, so that her possession of Adderall is legitimate, used them for a while, but the side effects in her were adverse.

"It was depression, insomnia, mood swings. I get more sensitive, I listen to things more and they bother me. I get dehydrated, I feel like going to the bathroom, and it leaves a bad taste on my tongue ... The Adderall is like a mountain. You climb to the peak and then fall, you decline until you feel extremely tired. It makes you sleepy, but you can not sleep, "he said.

The fall: dangers to health

The director of the Department of Psychiatry of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, Lillian Segarra Roig, warned that the lack of knowledge of many users about their health damage is the other side of a pill that, well used, can be very efficient

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"It's a complicated problem. Definitely, it is necessary to educate - and mainly to the student population that is in risk - that these medicines are not innocuous, and that could have fatal consequences, even death, "he said.

Before using the pill, a medical evaluation is required. If the patient has an undiagnosed heart condition, the medication can cause arrhythmia, increased blood pressure, tachycardia and, in more severe cases, strokes, heart attacks and death.

In case the subject does not suffer from any medical condition, Segarra Roig warned that he may face attacks of anxiety, palpitations, sweating and nervousness. Even in some first-time cases, it can produce psychotic symptoms, such as allutions, thought disturbances, hearing voices that do not exist and changes in behavior, explained Segarra.

Other effects of the pill are nausea, dizziness, stomach and head aches, and loss of appetite, so there is a population that uses it to lose weight.

However, knowledge about the internalities of the pills is scarce. "Honestly, I have not documented absolutely anything," admitted Esteban. In fact, given his experience, he does not consider Adderall to be addictive. He has spent two months without using the medication and they have not experienced a withdrawal, he said.

However, the Controlled Substances Act of the United States and Puerto Rico classifies Adderall - and the amphetamine group - as a Type 2 controlled substance (CII) because of its high addictive potential.

"It can generate addiction and physiological dependence to the point that if the person stops using it, they can experience withdrawal, or withdrawal syndrome," said the auxiliary treatment administrator of the Administration of Mental Health and Addiction Services (Assmca), Juan Gluck Towers

In addition, if it is crushed and used intranasally or diluted in water and injected for a direct effect on the blood, the harmful or toxic potential is multiplied, he warned.


Sale and use

According to both experts, Puerto Rico lacks formal studies that specifically address the problem of the Adderall, and the incidence of use and abuse in the student population.

The closest, according to Torres Gluck, is a need study commissioned by Assmca and prepared by the Medical Sciences Campus, which analyzes the incidence of use of all substances in Puerto Rico with the aim of creating public policy to combat addiction.

"Amphetamine within the classification of drugs is in the stimulants. After what is nicotine, alcohol and tranquilizers, it would be the fourth most used drug, "he said.

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According to the study, 3.4% of the population uses stimulants. Contrary to most substances, the highest incidence of its use lies in the population aged 18 to 24 years (1.4%), and like almost all, its use is repeated more in the area of ​​San Juan (6.8%).

In the United States, a study by the University of Maryland and published in the Journal of American College Health, found that 61.8% of university students have received offers of prescribed stimulants and 31% came to use them. Contributing to the employer, 91% used the medication for study purposes and 73.9% obtained the pill through a friend or acquaintance with a prescription.

And that is one of the biggest problems, according to Torres Gluck, to address the Adderall issue. "Heroin does not leave the pharmacy because it is illegal, but in the case of Adderall, almost 100% have to leave pharmacies because they are legal when there is a medical prescription. They are diverted to the black market, lend them or give them away, "he explained.

That is the case of Pamela. "(For me), it was not healthy. But I keep prescribing it and, well, I sell it to trusted people who use it to study things that require a lot of effort and a lot of hours, "he said.
Therefore, the seller of Adderall left from an economic need to sell the tablets: the 30 milligrams, sells them at $ 7 a unit, and their relatives are bought in groups of five, 10 and up to 20 units.

"I sell to a few people because I do not feel confident doing that. I do not feel comfortable doing it, "he confessed. Vendors of controlled substances are exposed up to six years in prison.

Faculties that require intense days of study and a lot of material, such as Natural Sciences, Law, Architecture and Medicine, are usually the main sources of illegal sale of Adderall.

In the case of Roberto, he has used it to finish scenography models and memorize scripts for the classes of his department of origin: drama. He even used it several times to work.

The base: society revealed

In his testimonies, both Esteban and Roberto gave an account of "a routine that oppresses", full of intense days of classes and work shifts, which only left room for studies at the wee hours of the morning.

The professor of social work of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, Jenice Vázquez Pagán, stressed that the difficulty to access a full-time education without having to resort to one or two part-time jobs, is a factor that It affects the search for alternatives, regardless of whether they are unfavorable to health.

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"It's due to the economic structure. The precariousness of work requires that (students) have up to two jobs to cover the basic needs of transportation, food ... As a reaction or response to the need to fulfill multiple roles assigned to society - and with the lack of support of the system-, the students are obliged to resort to this pill or other methods, even against their own health ", the academic stressed."

There is a loophole. There are alternatives. But only if the situation is addressed from multiple levels, he said.

On the individual level, in order to make more efficient use of time and concentrate better, the doctor suggests tools such as meditation, music therapy, yoga, relaxation exercises.

In addition, establishing greater control over time or greater structure-it has been recommended to avoid leaving the entire study for the last day-are some procedures that are not "invasive strategies" and "favor that can be cared for physically and emotionally."

In the background, also a collective exercise with colleagues and friends can serve to face the pressure. The development of support networks among peers that allow them to take turns and better organize their daily routine can be options.

And in third plane, to address the root problem, it is important to "improve structurally" the economic and labor system of the country to ensure the full development of the human being. "They can be a support program, legislation, but what we are seeing is a reduction in benefits and labor rights," he criticized.