The pressure is on. Only 12 days left until graduation, and the 10-year journey through college will finally be over. There’s only one thing standing between Matthew McDonald and his cap and gown from the University of San Francisco School of Law: a 30-page paper, one of the longest he’s ever had to write.
Passing the finish line to graduation is the ultimate goal for any college student. It’s attainable — but not before a few exams, term papers and all-night study sessions.
One of the most popular study aids on the market, Red Bull, is sold on college campus at $2.99 for 8.3 ounces. Another popular study aid has hit college campuses for $5 a pill, and it isn’t just for students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Adderall.
Adderall is a once-daily central nervous system stimulant that can help increase attention and decrease impulsiveness, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
McDonald, 28, started taking Adderall in 2011 during his graduating year at the University of California, Los Angeles. After attending Santa Rosa Junior College from 2004 to 2008, he became one of just 12,179 accepted students, out of 55,708 applicants with an average GPA of 4.22.
“It’s harder to get into UCLA than a lot of other colleges,” he said, “so when you get in, you want to stay in. The pressure to do well weighs heavy on you.”
McDonald never had problems getting motivated in school prior to UCLA, but once he joined the big leagues, he felt desperate to perform. His first dosage of Adderall came to him unprescribed and illegally, courtesy of his friends who used it to study.
The 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health’s study revealed that 15 percent of college students have illegally used stimulants, including Adderall, within the past year, contrary to the 2 percent of students with prescriptions. This figure has risen more than 8.6 percent in three years; in 2009, 6.4 percent of college students used non-medically prescribed Adderall, according to the U.S Department of Health Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“I remember it was my last semester there,” McDonald said, “and I had a huge paper due, probably 15 to 20 pages, so I popped a couple pills.” The Adderall extended-release pills provided eight hours of intense concentration that helped him complete his term paper and study for his finals.
“My auditory sensors are more blocked out so I feel more visually focused with reading and studying,” he said.
When McDonald graduated from UCLA, he continued his education at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he was prescribed Adderall through his primary care physician on campus. He told his physician he was getting the pills from his friends and through the black market, and felt like he needed to get it himself. He paid a small fee of $15 for 60 pills.
“People would sell me one pill for $5, so if I did that for all of mine, I’d make $300 or more. When finals come, people will sell them for $10 each,” he said.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 14 percent of Adderall-prescribed students stated that their peers have offered them money in exchange for their pills.
Although he likes how Adderall keeps him focused, McDonald warned about physical side effects you have to prepare for, such as decreased appetite and increased heart rate.
SRJC nurse practitioner Kit Conover said the effects of Adderall depends on who is taking the pill.
“When a student who actually has ADHD or ADD takes Adderall, it works to help keep them focused,” she said. “When students don’t have ADHD take Adderall, it works more as a high to make them feel happy, which is probably why it’s so appealing.”
College students like McDonald use the “high” of Adderall not only to study but also as a gateway drug to other substances.
Garrett Braukman, program director of rehabilitation at Malibu Beach Recovery Center, said, “We have a lot of college students that take Adderall not prescribed, and a lot of my clients typically end up abusing molly or cocaine in addition to Adderall.”
Indeed, the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration list Adderall as a Schedule II Controlled Substance due to its high potential for abuse leading to psychological or physical dependence.
“There’s something different about someone using an amphetamine and someone using a pill that is prescribed as an amphetamine,” Braukman said. “Mentally I believe people rationalize easier with a drug like Adderall despite it being terrible for you. Because it’s a marketable pharmaceutical, and it’s a lot easier for people to assure themselves it is socially acceptable to take because a doctor can sign it off, unlike cocaine. However, the two have a lot of the same effects.”
Braukman added that female patients tend to enjoy Adderall’s appetite-suppressing effects, which can help them lose weight more easily.
McDonald claimed that when students can’t get cocaine, they will chop Adderall and snort it. He himself had done it before, recalling the quicker effect and “a sweet taste in the back of [his] throat.”
Adderall, unlike other stimulants for ADHD like Ritalin and Vyvanse, still work when chopped up, Conover said.
McDonald has also used Adderall outside of studying and in the party scene to help him consume more alcohol.
“When you’re drunk and you feel like you’re going to be sloppy, you can snort an Adderall to make you feel more focused. It’ll make you feel more concentrated on your actions and feel sober, which will just make you want to drink even more,” he said.
Ahmad Bunyad, a senior at Chico State University, said although he is not a habitual user of Adderall, he finds it useful when final exams are crammed into one week.
He also said Adderall drives him to smoke large amounts of marijuana once he doesn’t want to feel the effects of Adderall any more.
“Whenever I would take Adderall for an ‘upper’ affect, I would use weed as a ‘downer’ to come off of the high,” Bunyad said. “Adderall makes your heart run a marathon, and when I’m almost done studying, I’ll smoke marijuana to help me feel mellow and lazy in order to get a few hours of shut eye. It doesn’t take a small joint, but a few bowls.”
Although Bunyad only smokes marijuana on occasion, he agreed that Adderall can be a gateway drug to smoke pot concurrently.
McDonald is aware of the health risk involved with taking Adderall unprescribed, but he plans on taking it as long as it works. He will continue his education after graduation to complete his law degree in 2015.
