Adderall Abuse: Regulating The Academic Steroid

Christopher Wanjek, author of Smart Pills: The Truth About Cognitive Enhancing Drugs, a columnist for Live Science and a health and science writer informs readers over the strict and malicious side effects of smart pills. Throughout the article the author illustrates the merit and ethics behind the use of a drug that can become a popular norm further in the future from advocates, such as college students. However, the author feels very appalled by this and continues to further elaborate on this by exclaiming that,“Ritalin is riddled with side effects, such as heart problems, and Adderall adds all the more to the mix, such as the risk of chemical dependency”( Christopher Wanjek, December 9, 2008, Para.2). In addition, to harmful affects the

In her article, Brain Gain: The Underground World of “Neuroenhancing” Drugs, Margaret Talbot discuss’ the use of different drugs like Adderall, to boost their productivity. She’s writing to people from college up to people who have 9 to 5 office jobs. She uses her essay to not be on one side or the other, but to analyze both points of view. She never puts in, or implies, that she has had a personal experience, and her background doesn’t give her much credibility to speak on the matter to people who already have an opinion on it themselves. Talbot uses anecdotes to…and she uses statistics. But her thesis strays away from what she was indicating about the drugs.

As stated in the article, "Adderall Abuse Alters Brain, Claims a Young Life" James claims “Selling or giving away these drugs may harm others, and is against the law, as well” (James 8). This claim, supported by FDA spokesmen, implies that the selling or giving away of these drugs without a prescription or right to do so is an illegal act. When these drugs are taken by college students who do not have a prescription, they are commencing in the act of buying and using drugs. These drugs are treated as illegal, just like mainstream drugs, not only will it risk health, but also if caught with these drugs it will have the same consequences. The article “Adderall Legal Status” by Addiction blog states that it is illegal to have or dispense Adderall without a prescription, and those who sell or use it illegally get penalized (Addiction Blog 2). This statement means that whoever uses Adderall without prescription is committing a crime which can be punished by law. This proves that taking Adderall without having the right to is an illegal act that can be penalized. So every time one takes this drug to improve their performance in college, they are committing a

Margaret Talbot “From Brain Gain: The underground world of “Neuroenhancing” Drugs” aims to illustrate how the use of neurotransmitters are in the college setting in attempt to aid college students with their busy lives. Using an unbiased tone, relatable people, and comparisons to convey her message, she creates a very realistic view of the current use or abuse of “brain-boosting” drugs.

Unfortunately, students are being deceived by the stimulant drug’s valuable qualities, masking the serious, detrimental effects that the drug induces. Even worse, contributing to Adderall’s extensive abuse across campuses, “instead of condemnation it is implicitly being praised and validated by parents and students who view these drugs as a means of academic

Summary: This article covers a wide variety of factors that result from the over abundant use of prescription stimulants on campuses around the United States. This includes the consequences of taking said drugs, specifically the medical, mental, and academic effects of stimulants. The author also points out four main reasons behind stimulant use on campuses. The first being the pressure of college life. Many students come into college thinking that it will be simple like high

In a society where quantity of work overpowers quality of work, there is no wonder why "neuroenhancing" drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin are on the rise of consumption. As more people adopt the idea that these drugs are cognitively beneficial; the more they secretly use them for non-medical reasons. Margaret Talbot, a writer for The New Yorker, looks more into this problem in her article, "From Brain Gain: The Underground World of "Neuroenhancing" Drugs". Throughout this article Talbot focuses on a new trend of drug use, such as Adderall and Ritalin, for non-medical intentions. She focuses mainly on the increase of drug use by scholars and public intellectuals throughout her article. Talbot successfully proves to her audience that non-medical

Today on college campuses, it is not possible to make it through college without knowing someone who has at least tried a prescription drug or recreational drug for either party uses, to help them study and keep up in school, or simply to help them get by day-to-day. Maybe you have tried them yourself? College students all across the nation are abusing substances such as Adderall, Vicodin, Oxycontin, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc. Those students who drink alcohol are more likely to use prescription drugs for non-medical uses than non-drinkers.

In this article, Talbot’s targeted audience plays a large role in the organization and choice of evidence that she provides to the reader. The targeted audience that Talbot reaches to are those readers who are interested in the use of the stimulants as cognitive enhancers and their benefits. Talbot’s choice of evidence through testimonials is a crucial part of her being effective toward the targeted audience because she uses the examples she knows that the readers want to hear. The extended use of Talbot’s “Alex” example in the article helps to support her

Finals week remains a stressful time for college students. A student may have three to five tests in a matter of four days. However, these tests, unlike most, can be worth up to twenty percent of a semester grade. That is a great amount of pressure on a student. With about six hours of sleep a night, eighteen hours of study never seems like enough. Then again, there may be a solution that allows the student to focus on the study so eighteen hours is enough. Better yet, maybe sleep is unnecessary. This is a reality for the 6.4 percent of college students that use unprescribed Adderall. College students all over the country take Adderall everyday to improve performance in school.

The authors of this study used quantitative and qualitative methodologies to investigate the college student’s perceptions and use of illegal Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) stimulants. There are important differences between a qualitative research design and a quantitative design. Qualitative research is conducted in a natural setting seeking to understand a certain complex human behavior and then presenting a narrative description of that behavior. With a quantitative research design the gathering and analysis of data is expressed in statistical form. Both have their places in research and the characteristics of each are unique to the effort. This study was conducted with participants from fall 2005 through fall 2006, and the authors used 1,811 undergraduates from a large, public, southeastern research university in the United States. Many different ranges of upper class and

College students are embarking on what is likely to be the best years of their lives, but they are also enrolled to receive a necessary educational foundation that will assist them into their future. While in college, students are expected to be active in athletics, Greek life, organizations, and in addition excel academically in all of their courses. For assistance throughout their difficult and demanding college journey some student use “smart drugs” to stay focused, improve their memory, and ultimately enhance their intelligence. The article "The Ethics of “Smart Drugs”: Moral Judgments About Healthy People's Use of Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs" from the publication Basic & Applied Social Psychology explains that “smart drugs” are also called cognitive-enhancing drugs and when correctly used they are prescribed by physicians to lessen the symptoms for diseases such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s disease, and narcolepsy (Scheske and Schnall 508). Healthy individuals misusing these drugs to gain academic success is unfair.

If everybody used performance enhancing drugs the net result would be twofold: nobody would gain competitive advantage and a number of side-effects would be suffered. In other words, the outcome would be an increase in human suffering with no personal benefit, which no sane person could possibly will. Furthermore, by applying the categorical imperative to this situation, we come to realize the use of CEDs would be counterproductive towards one’s imperfect duty to cultivate one’s talents. The college situation in particular is intended to provide intellectual and social stimulation in order to personally develop and thus failing to cultivate personal talents does not promote the goal of treating one’s self as an intrinsically valuable being. When CEDs are used, one is choosing to miss out on the process of psychological development that comes with challenges in order to rapidly alleviate the frustration that we experience when faced with the inevitable challenges of college and adult life. As a maxim the usage of “smart drugs” not only eliminates any competitive advantages academically and causes mental damage, but it also decreases one’s cultivation of talents. Therefore, this maxim as a categorical imperative would be contradictory to one’s desire to be successful and happy.

The season is finally here, many college students are making their way into the library and cramming information left and right for finals in hopes of not failing. With scholarly grades, comes hours of study sessions and hard work which results in an tremendous amount of stress put on an individual. As a result, many students resort to a different route and illegally acquire cognitive enhancements drugs in hopes of balancing their education and personal life. My first experience with these “Smart Drugs” was during finals week in my senior year of highschool, I was given several adderall pills from a close scholar friend and he briefly explained how these pills would aid me greatly during this stressful time. The first pill I took, I felt a great euphoric feeling within minutes and I knew this wouldn’t be the last time I would take this. Education in today’s society can be perceived as a competition between students as employers are searching to recruit the top students out of college. Therefore, students will do anything at any cause to be categorized as the top of their class. With all this in mind, it becomes apparent that college students find the need to use cognitive enhancing drugs to gain an edge among their education due to the superior benefits gained through the use of it.

Also, this review’s purpose is to examine possible factors, which could lead people, especially college students to the use of drugs and enhancements. There are many different paths that could possibly lead to the use of enhancements. Not everyone is born in an optimal condition. Some suffer from disorders like bipolar, autism, dementia and so on. Others can be under stress from personal issues.