By Adam LoBelia

College students who drink cups of coffee to stay awake to study or write a paper are finding new ways to achieve an increased attention span and ability to focus without the extra sleep.

Even though Adderall, an amphetamine designed to handle the effects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is only available with a doctor’s prescription, college students without the disorder are finding ways to get their hands on the pills.

A sophomore business major who wished to remain anonymous said the drug is perfect for her studying habits.

“I can study without interruption when I take Adderall,” she said. “I always take Adderall whenever I have a big test or paper and occasionally when I am studying or just doing homework.”

“I get it from friends who have a prescription,” she said.

Sometimes students get it for free, other times they are expected to pay.

Psychology Professor Roy Aranda said there are many dangers of prescription drug abuse.

“I think it’s really a cause for concern, I don’t want to say it’s time to push the panic button, but all indications say that its use is rising,” he said.

Aranda is concerned that as the drug becomes increasingly common, it will become more difficult for its abuse to be stifled.

“It has an addictive quality,” he said, comparing it to the methamphetamine craze of the 60s.

Aranda is also unsure if students are aware of how dangerous the drug can be.

“It can cause nausea, dehydration and a rapid increase of the heart rate, which can lead to cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat) and possibly even strokes,” he said.

Despite the presence of those side effects, University students seem to be embracing the drug.

“I have only ever used it if I had a lot of work to do, and was worried I wouldn’t be able to concentrate well enough to finish it on time and do it well,” junior English major, Kevin Kilroy said. “It helped me concentrate very well; however, I also got a very nauseous feeling after a little while. It works better than caffeine for me as far as concentration goes, but because I feel sick when I use it I prefer coffee.”

There is also a growing danger of the drug being used recreationally aside from scholastically, Aranda said.

“It’s been dubbed ‘kiddie coke’ at this time,” Aranda said.

He has heard stories of students crumbling the pills down into powder so it can be snorted, which he said is even more dangerous because it dramatically increases the power of the drug and its side effects.

Aranda is worried about students who take the drug, but especially those students who are overachievers with high GPAs and high expectations. He fears they rely on the drug to maintain good grades due to outside pressure. Aranda is also concerned that abuse of Adderall may lead students to take other drugs, including marijuana and ecstasy.

Aranda recognizes the drug can be useful for studying and said students who use it have experienced increases in their grades, but he warns, “Ultimately your performance will decline because you will start to have trips to the ER and stomach pains and headaches, which will interfere with your studying and work.”

The University’s drug policy, which only deals with illegal drugs, does not address Adderall and there are no current plans to start a program to deal with the specific problem, Melissa Connolly, assistant vice president of University Relations, said.

“We do talk about prescription drug abuse and recognize it as a problem,” she said.

However, the Health and Wellness Center does run programs that address prescription drug abuse. Health professionals are concerned about the abuse of Adderall and other legal drugs by students.

Not all students have embraced the Adderall trend. A junior speech-language -hearing sciences major who wished to remain anonymous, said students that take Adderall to study are essentially being lazy and irresponsible.

“If they weren’t up drinking and partying the rest of the nights when they should be managing appropriate sleeping habits, they would have enough time to study,” she said. “It is so simple to fix your sleeping habits and organize and study in advance, why put your body through the negative physical effects?”