Illicit Use of ADHD/ADD Prescription Drugs (Adderall)

Non-medical use of prescription drugs is more frequent in college students than the use of any other illicit drug only behind marijuana (Arria). Campus health professionals and administrators should address the widespread availability and perceived safety that make them particularly enticing to college students. Lifetime and past-year prevalence of nonmedical use of stimulants and/or analgesics is 19.6% and 15.6% for college students respectively (Arria). Common side effects of use are headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and addiction. Less common side effects are high blood pressure, paranoia, depression, and even sudden death (DeSantis). Contrary to popular belief, both high school and college GPAs were significantly lower among all nonmedical users as compared to nonusers (Arria). While every study found at least some level of prevalence of the use of illicit use of ADHD Drugs, that prevalence varied from a low of about 4% to a high of about 35%. This could be due to many confounding factors such as geographic location, or the section of the student population that was studied. Along with this we found possible selection bias in several of the studies as well. In the study conducted by DeSantis et al there were specific populations (Greek houses, communication majors) that were surveyed so this could have created a bias towards these populations as well. Another issue is the generalizability of the findings in these studies to different universities across the United States …