Abuse of Stimulants Among Students

The abuse of stimulants has become very common among college students and it is a disadvantage to them in that it comprises their health in the future. At one point in time the abuse of cocaine and heroin seemed to be an issue and now students have turned to prescription drugs that they can get addicted to. Aderol is a prescription drug used for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) that is one of the drugs that students are abusing to help them focus better and get their work done more efficiently. Concerta and Ritalin have also become popular and students get them from peers with ADHD. This practice has become so common among students that there are more students abusing the drug than students who are actually supposed to be taking the drug. The failure to realize the future health complications of abusing these drugs puts many students at risk for an unhealthy lifestyle. Students usually have tight schedules from going to school, working, peer relationships, and other responsibilities and find themselves doing a lot of school assignments in the last minute. When procrastinating, the use of these drugs is convenient in that it increases alertness and concentration. The drugs later become addicting because it gives them and extra boost of performance and an attempt to keep this level of performance is what causes students to use the drug over and over again. Parents can help prevent their children from further use but a lot of times it the signs are undected until individual gets caught. The drug is illegal for individuals who it is not prescribed to use but yet it is so common. At first I thought that it shouldn’t be a big deal if its helping students do better in school but when I looked at the risks such as heart strokes or other compromises to health it was very distressing.