Student doping

Passing classes at any cost

By Chase Christensen

With finals week at Utah State University only a few days away students are facing considerable pressure to pass classes worth hundreds of dollars, according to Jeff Jacobson, a marketing major. But some students are willing to resort to unconventional methods to pass those classes, even if it means turning to an illegally obtained prescription drug named Adderall.

Adderall is a pharmaceutical drug often prescribed by doctors to combat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD as it is more commonly called, according to Dr. Jim Davis, a doctor at the Student Health and Wellness Center. But he warned against its misuse by students who do not need the drug and are only using it to try to pass classes.

“It’s dangerous, it’s illegal and it’s felony drug diversion,” Davis said. “It’s a controlled substance just like marijuana or cocaine, but the FDA and the DEA both regulate who can prescribe it and who can possess a stimulant such as Adderall.”

But some students dispute its negative health effects and focus on its positive attributes.

“If it is so harmful I doubt they would be prescribing it to people,” said a source who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of repercussions from school administration or law enforcement. “Plus how it lets you focus is worth some risk, I really don’t think taking it a couple times a semester is really going to hurt me or addict me to it though.”

This line of thinking can be dangerous, Davis said.

“It increases your blood pressure and it increases your pulse, so it creates a situation where you’re more able to have a stroke,” Davis said. “I have seen young people with stroke brought on by stimulant use.”

Nausea, headaches, appetite suppression and even heart attack have all been seen as well, he said.

After a while the medication also becomes less effective and dosages in patients have to be increased, Davis said, this is one of the first signs of addiction.

But students who illegally take the medication said that it was a small price to pay to pass classes.

“There is a lot of pressure riding on some classes,” the anonymous source said. “And $50 a pop is worth it to make sure you don’t fail. Passing these classes with good grades is pretty much the difference between passing and failing at life.”

Others students felt saddened and cheated by students using the drug to pass.

“I think that it’s sad that there is enough pressure on us that some people are resorting to drugs, even if they are somewhat legal,” Jacobson said. “But even with all that pressure I don’t think it’s OK to use them. They are just going to end up depending on it to do anything hard later on in life.”