More students using ADHD drug to cheat

More students using ADHD drug to cheat

8:07 AM, May 3, 2014   |  
A bottle of Ritalin sits on the counter of a pharmacy.
A bottle of Ritalin sits on the counter of a pharmacy. / Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Society has clearly come out against performance-enhancing drugs in sports, but they are becoming increasingly common in academics.

Nearly one in five students at an Ivy League university have misused ADHD drugs to improve their school performance, according to a new poll being presented Saturday at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. The lead researcher, Andrew Adesman, declined to name the college he surveyed, saying that he’s confident that the rate is virtually the same at every other school.

“I don’t think this is a phenomenon that’s necessarily any greater a problem in the Ivies than anywhere else,” said Adesman, a developmental pediatrician and chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park.

Some school honor codes, such as at Duke University in North Carolina, expressly forbid performance-enhancing drugs, Adesman said.

But many others have not yet acknowledged the growing use of these stimulant medications on their campuses, said Sean Esteban McCabe, a research associate professor at the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center.

Students in the poll reported mainly taking the drugs to write an essay or study for or take a test. One-third did not consider taking stimulants as a form of cheating, while 41% thought it was.

For someone with ADHD, the drugs might help them focus for 20 minutes instead of the possibly five or so minutes that come naturally, he said. For someone without attention issues, who can already focus for 30-40 minutes, the drugs might help them tune in for 50 or 60 minutes. “It will improve performance,” he said.

But whether that boost is enough to improve grades remains doubtful, McCabe said via e-mail.

The benefit “appears to be more of a myth than a reality.” Several studies have shown that students who misuse ADHD drugs are already on the academic fringe, with lower grades and more drug and alcohol problems than their peers.

Plus, the possible health problems caused by medication abuse can erode academic performance, said Katherine Keyes, an epidemiologist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

They can be addictive, she said, and they can cause problems like insomnia and agitation.

“It’s not something you want to mess with without a physician’s oversight,” Keyes said.

The majority of people who misuse ADHD drugs do so in combination with other drugs, according to research by McCabe, who said emergency room visits for stimulant misuse more than doubled from 2005 to 2010.

“Many college students who simultaneously drink alcohol and use prescription stimulants have no idea how dangerous the interactions between these substances can be,” McCabe said.

full story here:

http://www.freep.com/article/20140503/FEATURES08/305030042/Ritalin-...

Views: 119

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Spydaman13 on May 4, 2014 at 9:19am

 must drug test kids with academic scholarships

Comment by Lincoln Vyas on May 4, 2014 at 8:02am

Its ironical , students get into colleges to become productive citizens and what a lot of them become is entirely opposite ..In facT these people would have had a better life if they did not get into college ..

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

cheeki kea posted photos
8 hours ago
rlionhearted_3 posted photos
10 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
13 hours ago
rlionhearted_3 favorited Sandy's photo
yesterday
rlionhearted_3 commented on Sandy's photo
Thumbnail

Screenshot_20250505-172225~2

"Hunter Biden fucking filmed himself with children and drugs!!!!!"
yesterday
rlionhearted_3 commented on Sandy's photo
yesterday
Less Prone favorited Sandy's photo
Wednesday
tjdavis posted a photo
Wednesday
tjdavis posted a video

2073 - Official Trailer

It’s the year 2073, and the worst fears of modern life have been realized. Surveillance drones fill the burnt orange skies and militarized police roam the wr...
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Doc Vega favorited cheeki kea's blog post The Decades of Evidence SSRI Antidepressants Cause Mass Shootings
Tuesday
Doc Vega commented on cheeki kea's blog post The Decades of Evidence SSRI Antidepressants Cause Mass Shootings
"We have American soldiers coming home from serving in the Middle East under 14 different…"
Tuesday
cheeki kea posted a blog post
Tuesday
Sandy posted a photo
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Sunday
Sandy posted videos
May 2
Doc Vega posted a photo

main-qimg-19b75f134be0b3510b58f15807ee9b98

Two sodomite fucks who hate America!
May 2
Doc Vega posted blog posts
May 2
Doc Vega posted blog posts
May 1
Sandy posted a video

RISE OF THE RAINBOW CHILDREN (2021)

📺AMAZON/FIRESTICK/ROKU: Thescariestmovieever.tv https://watch.thescariestmovieever.tv/webtv-v3/ 💯EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES HERE (*Specials):…
Apr 30

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted