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Erin Lail Malcolm Campbell English 1103 September 12, 2013 Adderall Abuse

I will be researching the abuse of the prescription drug Adderall, how it is plaguing this generations youth, and leads to an increase in the negative side effects and their severity. This has been an increasing issue for college students. Adderall is blend of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, its purpose is to treat symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This drug is very beneficial if used correctly by a prescribed person, but many college students that are not prescribed use Adderall for the wrong reasons. Adderall abuse starts when it is taken for reasons other than for medical purposes. The NSUDH reported in 2006-2007 that fulltime students ages eighteen to twenty-two were two times more likely to use Adderall for recreational purposes than people the same age who were not fulltime students. Youth suffering from Adderall abuse are subject to extremely harmful side effects. The majority of people who take Adderall that are not prescribed to it start taking it because they think that it will help them be more focused or that it will give them more energy to do school work. Some people are aware that side effects include a loss of appetite; they wont be hungry when they take Adderall so its purpose is then weight control. After people experience the effects of Adderall they may begin to like what it does to their body, causing them to want to take it more. This leads to addiction.

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I was aware of this issue prior to the extended inquiry assignment and I know that it is very relevant to many different people including college students, parents, professors, doctors, and law enforcement. I have friends and family who are prescribed this drug, and I know people who have taken this medicine while they were not prescribed it. I did further research on the side affects and the age group that has the most problems with Adderall abuse. It just so happens that the age group that struggles the most with Adderall abuse is ages eighteen to twenty-two. I discussed my topic choice with several friends of mine who are prescribed Adderall and got their take on it, which helped me look at it from a few different perspectives. I also got some different perspectives from classmates during class discussions. For example, Nora told me that many of her coworkers take Adderall recreationally for work purposes so they can stay alert and energetic for their shift. This topic is very controversial because many students would argue that you cant be addicted to Adderall and that the side affects arent bad at all. I conducted a few informal interviews with fellow students and got their opinions. All of the people I interviewed chose to remain anonymous, several of them were either prescribed Adderall, had taken it recreationally, or were against it all together and said they could just drink caffeine legally and have the same results. I read information from The Coalition Against Drug Abuse that noted many severe negative side affects. I found that there is a correlation between alcohol abuse and Adderall abuse. People will sometimes take Adderall before consuming alcohol so that they can drink more without getting tired, or they think it will help them not have a hangover the next day. Professors and law enforcement are against the illegal use of Adderall. A UNCC campus police told me that any student found with illegal possession of Adderall is subject to being expelled.

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Many parties take the matter very seriously. An anonymous friends parents count her Adderall and monitor her consumption so that they know she isnt selling them. I learned many things while researching Adderall abuse that led me to further questions Id like to find the answers to. I heard that celebrity Amanda Bynes abused Adderall for weight control, which led to her overdosing which caused her to suffer from Mania and Schizophrenia. I want to study more cases like this. I have questions about doctors that are carelessly prescribing Adderall to young people as well. The process to get prescribed Adderall is not very thorough, and I think there are many questions to be asked to drug companies as well. Could there be a better way to detect if someone really needs Adderall? Are there ways to better control Adderall when it comes to substance abuse? Are there any unthought-of ways to deter young students from abusing Adderall? This topic is very intriguing to me because it affects so many people; it is an extremely relevant issue that people in general should be more educated on. My next steps in this process will be to use the librarys resources to conduct more research. I want to look into some individual case studies of Adderall abuse to find specific examples to back up the approach Im taking on the subject. I scheduled a doctors appointment with my physician so that I can ask an educated professional some questions that would give me some helpful information from a doctors point of view. I need to go to the library and find out more references I can use that would be helpful with researching my topic.