Attention Deficit

The Denver Post (www.denverpost.com) reports that Boulder police arrested three teens on felony charges of distribution and possession of a schedule II controlled substance. The incidence occurred on April 4 at Nevin Platt Middle School where the youth attended school.

Apparently one student had the drugs, gave one to another student who swallowed it and was taken ill. The sick student was then taken to the hospital and released. Other students were involved in the safekeeping of the drugs after they were brought to school.

The student that brought the drugs (Strattera and Concerta for treatment of ADHD) attempted to trade the drugs for alcohol.

The Denver Post says,

Two of the students have been charged with distribution and possession of a schedule II controlled substance and unlawful acts while the third was charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful act. Possession and distribution of a schedule II controlled substance is a felony, officials said.

While these students were apprehended, the incidence of ADHD drug sales and use is quite common among students at middle school, high school, and university.

The New York Times (www.nytimes.com) reported in 2005 in an article called The Adderall Advantage that:

At many colleges across the country, the ingredients for academic success now include a steady flow of analeptics, the class of prescription amphetamines that is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD].

Since Ritalin abuse first hit the radar screen several years ago, the reliance on prescription stimulants to enhance performance has risen, becoming almost as commonplace as No-Doz, Red Bull and maybe even caffeine. As many as 20 percent of college students have used Ritalin or Adderall to study, write papers and take exams, according to recent surveys focused on individual campuses. A study released this month by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia found that the number of teenagers who admit to abusing prescription medications tripled from 1992 to 2003, while in the general population such abuse had doubled.

Dr. Robert A. Winfield, director of University Health Service at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, sees a growing number of students who falsely claim to be A.D.H.D. so they can get a prescription. At least once a week, a jittery, frightened, sleep-deprived student who has taken too many tablets for too many days shows up at his office. "Things have really gotten out of hand in the last four to five years," he said. "Students have become convinced that this will help them achieve academic success."

On campus, the drugs are either sold or given away by people with prescriptions, or they are procured by students who have learned to navigate the psychiatric exams offered by campus health centers, which usually provide the drugs at a discount. Unlike Ritalin, two newer members of the family of analeptics - Adderall and Concerta - come in time-release forms and can keep a patient medicated an entire day.

Louisiana State’s The Daily Reveille (www. media.www.lsureveille.com) reported that a survey documented in the journal Nature cites that one in five students used Adderall & Ritalin for a study booster.

Final exams traditionally have students studying long hours to cram for their final exams. But some students are now using a quick-fix for brain retention.

One in five respondents of adult professionals said they have used drugs to enhance brain power, according to a January survey in Nature journal. The online survey polled 1,400 people in 60 countries.

Ritalin and Adderall were the two drugs participants said they took.

Ritalin and Adderall are commonly used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. They are also used to treat symptoms of narcolepsy and chronic fatigue syndrome. The stimulants are supposed to reduce impulsive behavior and facilitate concentration.

But people diagnosed with ADHD are not the only ones who can benefit from the drugs.

"It does work [for anyone]. We know that from lab studies," said Martha Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, according to CNN.com

This is an international phenomenon. The reason is that low-dose stimulant medication is not a targeted approach to fixing ADHD. Instead, low-dose stimulant medication works the same for non-ADHD students. Here’s an example: if we have 50 ADHD students and 50 high functioning non-ADHD students, give them both a boring task, the both will perform better on that task.

Students know this and it helps the cram for exams. Will it help to prosecute all these students under felony charges? Not likely.