Prevalence of Stimulant Abuse on College Campuses

Examining the prevalence of stimulant misuse and abuse among college students is crucial to understand how widespread this growing problem is. Understanding the extent of stimulant misuse can lead to better education among college students about the dangers of illicit stimulant use and the potential risks and side effects. In studies done at the University of Michigan and the University of Rhode Island, it was found that many students had used prescription stimulants illegally at one point or another in their lifetime, and found access to drugs such as Adderall very easy to obtain. Many students cited motives for using these drugs illegally, such as using it for a good cause, such as improving grades, and that it was okay because the drugs were not being used to have fun or get high. Many students also justified their use by saying that the stimulants were safe because they came from a pharmaceutical company, compared to other illicit street drugs. Gender differences do exist between males and females using prescription stimulants, however, no gender differences were found in the motives for use. These findings show that it is crucial to educate students on the potential dangers of using these stimulants without a prescription, as many students tend to ignore the potential risks and only see the benefits provided by the stimulants.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of college students who abuse prescription stimulants. There are several different motives for abusing stimulants, such as helping a student stay up all night to finish a project, or weight loss. However, there is difficulty in determining the exact amount of those who abuse stimulants, due to study designs and if participants are being co...

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...ffects. Educating students now about using stimulants without a prescription will hopefully help stop this growing problem before it becomes worse.

Works Cited

DeSantis, A. D., & Hane, A. C. (2010). "adderall is definitely not a drug": Justifications for the illegal use of adhd stimulants. Substance Use & Misuse.

Jacobs, A. (2005). The adderall advantage. The New York Times.

Teter, C. J., McCabe, S. E., Cranford, J. A., Boyd, C. J., & Guthrie, S. K. (2010). Prevalence and motives for illicit use of prescription stimulants in an undergraduate student sample. Journal of American College Health.

Weyandt, L. L., Janusis, G., Wilson, K. G., Verdi, G., Paquin, G., Lopes, J., Varejao, M., & Dussault, C. (2009). Nonmedical prescription stimulant use among a sample of college students: Relationship with psychological variables. Journal of Attention Disorders,