Tag Archives: Ritalin

How to Help Students Understand the Risks of “Study Drugs”

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Contributed by Donna Wentworth

Drawing of prescription drug bottles

For college students facing the stress of final exams, taking a “study drug,” a medication usually used for ADHD, might seem like no big deal. After all, if their friends are taking it with no side effects, why shouldn’t they?

Daniel Gittins, AOD coordinator at Duquesne University, warns students that prescription medications are intended only for the individual they are prescribed to and no one else.

For “person A,” he explains, a medication like Ritalin® will have primary benefits, but also secondary effects such as “elevated blood pressure, faster heart rate, etc.” But if “person B” borrows the medication without considering their own medical history – such as a family history of high blood pressure, stress, or heart concerns – “the risks can be far more significant.”

How can you get this message across to students? Here are three strategies you can try:

  • Got Drugs? Take Them Back. Tackle the problem at the community level by participating in a take-back program such as the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day last month. The FDA has additional information about the safe disposal of prescription medications.
  • Student, Know Thyself. MyStudentBody works at the individual level, using scientifically validated methods to help students understand the risks of misusing prescription medications. It also gives them practical information about how to safely manage their medications if they are using them for medical reasons.
  • Parental Guidance Suggested. Help prevent abuse of study drugs before next year’s freshmen show up on campus by reaching out to their parents. MyStudentBody-Parent, an important component of our program, is designed to help parents communicate effectively with students about alcohol and other drugs, including prescription medications. You can log in to the program to access a newly updated, print-ready companion guide, College-bound: Strategies for Parenting Your First-year College Student, and hand it out during orientation.

*MyStudentBody administrators -> If you have questions about how to use MyStudentBody to support your drug abuse prevention efforts, we encourage you to contact Amy Cavender, our Implementation Specialist, by email or phone at (800) 848-3895, ext. 205.

Overheard On Campus: Is it okay to use a friend’s ADHD meds to help study for finals?

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It’s finals time again and that means many students will be studying like crazy or pulling “all-nighters” to finish up projects and papers over the next couple weeks. Some students turn to their friends who have prescription medications for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to get an added edge during this stressful time. Medications like Adderall and Ritalin, frequently called “study drugs”, are in high demand on college campuses during finals because students say they help them stay up late to cram for a test or keep them focused. This is isn’t anything new – countless studies and surveys have been done on college campuses over the last decade that show an increase in the amount of people using these drugs without a prescription.

Photo credit: Mystudentbody.com

We recently got a question from a student on our website about whether or not it’s okay to use their friend’s prescription medications to help with studying during finals. Here are some things for students to consider and administrators to share from one of advisory board members, Tavis Glassman, Ph.D.:

Photo credit: MyStudentBody.com

“The key to getting good grades involves attending class regularly, keeping up with the readings, and preparing for tests well ahead of time. Cramming and staying up late the night before an exam may hinder academic success. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs are prescribed for people who have very serious problems concentrating to the point where they could not pass their course work without them. ADD and ADHD drugs also decrease the probability of experiencing unintentional injury, such as car accidents, among those clinically diagnosed with these disorders.

Persons who take prescription stimulants for ADD or ADHD without a prescription may experience adverse health consequences, especially if they have any underlying health issues or drug allergies. Also remember, drug experimentation for some leads to abuse. For example, certain students who use ADD/ADHD medicines start taking the drugs in greater dosages and with increasing frequency – a hallmark indicator of addiction. Remember the next test, paper, project is forthcoming, but you only have one body, nevermind the ethical considerations of giving yourself a potential, unfair advantage.“

Check out these other resources for more information:

Of course taking someone else’s prescription drug is illegal, but it can seem pretty harmless when you know lots of people who have done it and they seem to be just fine. In general, there are always potential dangers associated with taking a medication that isn’t prescribed to you. When a physician writes a prescription, they will assess other medical conditions that could be negatively affected by the drug, or if the patient takes other medications that can interact poorly with the drug. If you take a medication without a prescription you run the risk of a problem.