Misuse of stimulants poses health risks
photo by Maribeth Eiken
April 2, 2014
Labeled as the “study drug,” Adderall contains central nervous system stimulants: amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, both of which affect areas of the brain relating to both hyperactivity and impulse control. With attention and focus being the primary concern in high school settings, abuse of Adderall became commonplace.
The abuse of the drug has been steadily increasing since 2009, according to drugfree.org.
“There’s been a lot of times where I’ve been approached by either my friends, or my classmates to see if I’ll sell my medication to them,” Perry said. “I never do it because my dad rations them to me one per day. If I were to sell my one pill for the day to one of my friends, then I wouldn’t get to take it, which I like doing because I definitely think it helps with my studies.”
While students often only see benefit in a drug such as Adderall, it can pose serious health threats, said licensed psychologist at the University of Missouri—Columbia, Dr. Deborah Wright, in an email interview.
“Individuals may develop tolerance to stimulant medication (i.e., addiction). Stimulant medication can increase the risk for cardiac problems in some individuals including increase in blood pressure and risk of heart attacks,” Wright said. “Stimulant medication can also increase anxiety. There is also concern that it can suppress growth in children.”
Prescription medication abuse is specifically forbidden in the RBHS student handbook. Because of this strict policy, the punishment for illegal possession of prescription drugs at RBHS is currently arrest, as well as a 10-day suspension, School Resource Officer, Keisha Edwards said.
“One thing that myself, the administrators and staff members here at RBHS are good at is knowing who we are around every single day. Our teachers are good at knowing the students in their classrooms. I am good at knowing the kids who are in the hallways. The principals are good at knowing the kids that come into their offices. But what we are really good at is knowing what they look like every single day,” Edwards said. “Every single day when kids come into school they have one of several looks on their faces; either they’re sleepy, frustrated, what have you. But there is this look in their eyes every single day, and we get used to that look. And when that look isn’t the same one that we are used to, we know something is wrong.”
The diagnosis of Attention Defect Disorder relies heavily on the patient’s self report of their own symptoms, Wright said. Because of this, doctors diagnosing the illness must cautious.
“The symptoms of ADHD are well known and diagnosis, in part, is reliant on self report. Thus, the symptoms are easy to fabricate. Part of the diagnostic process relies on “self-report”, or the symptoms of a patient as reported by that patient. In that sense, it is relatively easy to fabricate symptoms,” Wright said. “However, other parts of the diagnostic process require information from other individuals; in the case of minors, parents and teachers are asked about symptoms. Additional cognitive testing is often required in order to rule out learning disorders and/or other issues that may cause “ADHD-like” symptoms.”
By George Sarafianos
Jenna Liu • Apr 11, 2014 at 1:09 pm
It’s concerning how readily available drugs are at Rock Bridge. Though punishment is somewhat necessary as a method of deterring such use, we as a community need to focus more on education and counseling instead.
Riley Martin • Apr 10, 2014 at 5:10 pm
I agree, this may seemingly be harmless but if that continues, with some people it can become highly addictive and desensitize the users so that they move on to even more extreme drugs. But you also must remember, if people want to do something-they’ll find a way anyhow.
Grace • Apr 10, 2014 at 2:14 pm
Teenagers are told time and time again all through life that drugs are bad, and can have permanent damaging effects. I wonder how long it will take before they realize that. School is a big part of most teenagers’ lives’ so I hope teachers can sway some of those kids who might be going down the wrong path.
Ronel Ghidey • Apr 10, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Although I think that drug abuse is becoming to common of a problem to leave alone anymore, I just hope that parents and supervisors would go about this problem in the correct manner, not to punish those who are abusing these drugs, but to help them find their way again
Devesh Kumar • Apr 9, 2014 at 1:15 pm
I believe that the school should do something about this drug business. I know lots of people that take drugs during school. We should apprehend these drugs meaning the school needs to make some decisions involving more teachers on the lookout for drugs. Drugs are even being passed in class.
Abby Kempf • Apr 8, 2014 at 10:38 am
I think it is really dangerous how common teenagers are taking drugs, it just strenghtens the idea that we fee, we are invincible. Hopefully parents and teachers can help mitigate this issue and still help the students who have gone down the path, not just punish them.