It is well known now that prescription drug abuse has been increasing at an alarming rate in the United States. This is not only due to an increase in the number of individuals being addicted to drugs, but also due to unethical doctors and pharmacists. The doctors tend to prescribe opioids even when the patients can do without them, and the pharmacists supply the opioids without properly checking the prescriptions.
There has been an increase in the number of students complaining about suffering from ADHD i.e. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. However, in reality, these students are raising false claims in order to be prescribed Adderall, which gives them an immediate high and is used as a treatment drug for ADHD.
Reason For False ADHD Claims
Adderall, also known as the ‘study drug’, contains an element called amphetamine which helps in increasing the attention span and also helps the students to stay awake for longer hours. Thus, it is a very popular drug amongst students who face academic stress, have a tendency to postpone the pending work, and have high anxiety levels during examinations. These students treat Adderall as a ‘miracle drug’.
Though Adderall is readily available in supermarkets, gas stations and convenience stores, children sometimes want to procure it through and with the consent of their parents. They do this by raising false alarms of suffering from ADHD. The diagnosis of ADHD is a very simple and short process, which only involves answering a brief questionnaire about the students’ school, unwary nature and attention span problems. This questionnaire is not difficult to answer for most students, and they can easily manipulate the answers in such a manner that the result finds them to be suffering from ADHD. They are then prescribed Adderall as a preventive drug, and thus are able to use it with the consent of their family members. According to Dr. Carver Nebbe from the Thielen Student Health Center, there has been a huge increase in the number of ADHD evaluations over the last several years.
The Facts On Abuse
Though the United States has only four percent of the world’s population, it produces eighty eight percent of the total legally available amphetamine in the world. This clearly shows the high increase in the use of amphetamine in the US. According to the National Survey on Drug use and Health, in 2010, about 11.4 percent of the individuals in the age bracket of 12 to 14 years were involved in using prescription drugs non-medically in the last year alone.
The study showed that in the age bracket of 18 to 22 years, the full time college students were twice as likely to be under Adderall abuse as compared to non-college going students of the same age bracket. It was also observed that full time college students under the influence of Adderall were three times more likely to have used marijuana in the last year as compared to non-college going students. About 90 percent of these full time college students were found to be binge drinkers, and about 50 percent were found to be heavy drinkers. Statistics also showed that around 30 to 40 percent of the students who had Adderall also misused at some time.
These statistics show that it is very important to educate the students about the long term ill effects of Adderall use like feeling lethargic after some time, high blood pressure, lack of sleep, loss of appetite, reduced ability of the mind to make decisions, headache, and heart problems. Very serious problems can obviously arise.
Contact Narconon treatment facilities for more information.
Source: http://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/article_82ad5eda-3f14-11e2-8788-001a4bcf887a.html
