Essay On Prescription Stimulants

Nearly five years ago, Kyle Craig, a well-rounded and bright student at Vanderbilt University, took his life at the young age of 21. Kyle was described to be a “confident, but not arrogant” young man. He had a solid 3.5 grade point average and was extremely active in his fraternity. His parents said he was, “…a thrill a minute, focused, happy, achieving and social” (James). Kyle, in short, seemed to have it all together. What no one knew is that Kyle illegally looked to Adderall to keep up his “I’ve got it all together” act. Adderall is a stimulant prescription drug for those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as ADHD (FDA). Kyle took Adderall illegally and abused it much too often just to perform better academically and socially. While abusing the drug, Kyle slowly began spiraling into a dangerous state of psychosis that no one seemed to catch on to. That dangerous spiral led Kyle all the way in front of a train, taking his own life (James). Kyle is not the only young college student to suffer from the effects of stimulant or amphetamine drugs like Adderall. Almost 1,000 cases of psychosis were found to be linked to medications such as Adderall or Ritalin between the years 2000 and 2005 (FDA). Stimulant and Amphetamines are also known to heighten or produce suicidal and depressive thoughts (FDA). With all of these unsettling facts, 1 in 5 college students abuse these drugs and use them as study aids (CBN News). For the last

Some of the most commonly abused substances, that can cause serious psychological and physical side effects are stimulants. Substance abuse has been a problem in the United States and many other countries for a long time, stimulants are one of the biggest problems that the United States faces today. One specific drug that is abused is crack and crack cocaine. By examining the history of stimulants such as crack and crack cocaine, it 's connection to crime and violence will be revealed.

The addiction of methamphetamine amongst juvenile’s and adults has reached epidemic proportions that affect the individual, families and communities. Methamphetamine abuse has crossed all social economic boundaries that have negatively impacted law enforcement, social and clinical services. According to Anglin, Burke, Perrochet, Stamper and Dawud-Noursi (2000), methamphetamine, also known as meth, crystal, or speed, is a substance that affects the central nervous system creating a stimulant effect that can be injected, smoked, snorted, or ingested orally. Individuals who use meth for an extensive period of time tend to become addicted and will likely need to continue to use meth at high levels for its effects to continue to provide the euphoric symptoms and sensations. Anglin, et al, also describe methamphetamine as a derivative of amphetamine, this form of amphetamine was often used for medication purposes in the 1950’s and 1960’s to treat symptoms of depression and obesity. Durell, Kroutil, Crits-Christoph, Barchha, and Van Brunt (2008), also stated that illicit methamphetamine use is a public health concern in the United States with an increase use among teens and young adults in the 1990s. The Mental Health Services Administration conducted a national survey on meth use in the United States and found that currently as least a half a million of Americans used or have used methamphetamine. Meth use is an epidemic that is slowly becoming a destructive

This week I chose to further explore the article Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction: Past, Present and Future: The Paradigm for an Epidemic written by P. B. Hall MD, DABAM, AAMRO, Denzil Hawkinberry II, MD, DABA, Pam Moyers-Scott, PAC, MPAS, DFAAPA as more and more individuals are abusing and becoming addicted to prescription medications. The article provides a great amount of statistical data for the US but is primarily focused on the population in West Virginia where Governor Joe Manchin III states, “Substance abuse affects a broader segment of West Virginia’s citizens and their state and local governments than any other single issue confronting us today” (Hall, Hawkinberry, II, & Moyers-Scott, 2010). West Virginia is far from the only state facing the prescription drug epidemic as it is becoming more and more prevalent across the US each year. “It is estimated that in 2009, the number of adolescents and adults with a substance abuse and/or dependence problem has reached 23.2 million in the US” (Hall, Hawkinberry, II, & Moyers-Scott, 2010). In the past, addiction has been thought of as the disease of the weak, but with advancement in brain imaging technology to accurately measure neurotransmitters addiction is now recognized as a disease. Prescription drug abuse and addiction has enormous socioeconomic costs in the areas of medical expenses, drug related crime, and unemployment. “Current estimates of the financial burden to society due to substance abuse exceeds half a

Contexts 10, the prescription of a new generation, discusses the increasing prevalence of psychostimulants, through the use of prescriptions and illegal methods. In the eight years between 1990 and 1998 the number of prescriptions of Ritalin increased a five-fold (Hartmann and Uggen, 2012). In addition, the use of unprescribed Ritalin and other psychostimulants has also increased, as up to 25 percent of college students per campus have reported using non prescribed psychostimulants (Hartmann and Uggen, 2012). Since, doctors and other medical professions across the world haven’t been able to create a concrete diagnoses process, it would be easy to blame the high prevalence of psychostimulants on unreliable diagnoses.

Prescription drug abuse is defined as using prescription drugs in a way that is not prescribed by a doctor or using someone else's prescription. People abuse prescription drugs for a variety of reasons (Misuse of Prescription Drugs). Some people abuse them to get high, others keep using to avoid withdrawals from the drug. Whereas stimulants such as adderall are often abused by students to improve academic performance.

According to Psychologist Ellen Pastorino, a Professor of Psychology at Valencia College, “In 2012, an estimated 23.9 million people (9.2%) in the United States aged 12 or older admitted to using illegal substance in the past month” (Pastorino, 149). Prescription medication is useful as a method of treatment for illness, but irresponsible use of a psychoactive substance can lead to addiction. Psychologists, and medical doctors are concerned about misuse of psychoactive substances since it can lead to physiological, and psychological distress, decreasing overall wellbeing. Anyone has the potential of developing an addiction, which is the key danger to these psychoactive medications – they are a useful tool in the medical

Opioid exposure and use in the United States is increasing among adolescents. McCabe and associates (2017) specifically examine medical and non-medical opioid use among adolescents. Monitoring the Future study provided the data that was used. Forty cohorts of high school seniors ranging from 2181 to 3791 participants were administered in the form of paper-and-pencil questionnaires in the student’s classroom setting. Results demonstrated among adolescents that claimed to have use both medical and nonmedical consumption of prescribed opioids indicated that medical use of opioids began before nonmedical use. Prescribing patterns of physicians need to be examined to aid in alleviating medical use of opioids from progressing to nonmedical usage.

Seven out of 10 college students say it is pretty easy to get stimulants without a prescription, according to a new survey conducted on eight U.S. campuses. A majority (83 percent) received them from friends and most said they used the drug to help them study or improve their grades. Overall, one in four undergraduates reported that they used prescription pain medications, sedatives or stimulants for nonmedical reasons in their lifetimes, said Anne McDaniel, author of the study and associate director of research and data management at The Ohio State University's Center for the Study of Student Life. One in four undergraduates reported that they used prescription pain medications, sedatives or stimulants for nonmedical reasons in their lifetimes.

Among 18-25 year old, non-prescribed usage increased significantly from 3.6% in 2000 to 5.4% by 2006 (Lakhan and Kirchgessner 2012). Dr. McCabe and Dr. West of the University of Michigan concluded in their 2013 representative sample of 4,572 high school seniors that about 1 in every 6 high school seniors in the United States has ever had some exposure to prescription stimulants either medically or non- medically(McCabe and West 2013). The reason for the increasing popularity of the drug can found in its ability to improve attention, allow for the user to focus, achieve a state of ecstasy, and stress relief. In 2008, 243 surveys received from dental education institutions in the United States found that 12.4 percent of these dental college students used a prescrip¬tion stimulant non-medically and, of those, 70 percent took it to improve attention and/or concentration. (McNiel and Muzzin et al. 2011). To achieve its greatest pharmacological effect, the maximum quan¬tity of drug must be delivered into the CNS in the shortest possible time, which causes drug abusers to progress from relatively safe methods of administration, such as oral ingestion, to dangerous routes, for example snort¬ing cocaine or intra¬venous injection (Heal, David J et al. 2013). Unsafe methods could lead to exchange of other diseases, such

Prescription drugs are being used for nonmedical purposes and it is becoming so common that it has been deemed an epidemic. Literature suggest that prescription drug abuse among college students is high. This could be due to the stressful environments college students are placed in. Prescription drugs will be discussed broadly but in some instances, limited to opioids. Many people are prescribed medication on a daily basis and not everyone uses them as they are intended. What happens to the leftover medication? Do people share their medication with other people? Why do people use prescription medication for nonmedical purposes? What is being done to fight the epidemic? What treatment(s) is/are available? These questions and the answers will be discussed later on.

Adderall is a drug used to increase the focus and concentration of someone with a mental disorder such as ADHD. Although illegal, these drugs are often used without a prescription by students. At one American university, 6.9% of students had admitted to using Adderall at least once in college (Desantis and Hane par. 4). This same study found that 81% of participants think that illegal use of Adderall is “’not dangerous at all’ or only ‘slightly dangerous’” and 0 of the 175 participants admitted to the knowledge that stimulants posed a significant health risk (Desantis and Hane par. 6)

Prescription drugs have been proven to be much worse than marijuana. The fuss people make over the legalization of marijuana does not make sense when one thinks about the effects that overdosed or misused prescription drugs has had. Overdosed prescription drugs kill around 47,055 people a year, and overdosed prescription drugs have no death record. The health effects of overdosed prescriptions are much worse when compared to overdosed prescription drugs. Also, the dangers of prescription drugs are portrayed as often and as correct as the dangers of marijuana.

Although the use of illegal drugs among teens is on the decline, there is an increase in the abuse of prescription drugs. The abuse of opioids is on the rise partially because of its availability. How many of us having an old prescription in the medicine cabinet? It’s not only pain medication either some adolescents think prescription drugs like Adderall will help them study better.

“Would you believe that prescription medication abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States? Prescription medications are now second only to marijuana as the "gateway" of drugs first abused. Alarmingly, six of the top 10 abused substances among high school students are prescription drugs (Sprenger, 2012).”