4 ADHD drug abuse Moves from Performance Enhancement to Recreational use

PARTY! PARTY!! With Adderal or other ADHD medications???!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJTBauSKaMg&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Yes, young adults are using ADHD drugs for performance enhancement. I established in my last post that there is a black market for ADHD drugs at high schools and colleges for kids who want to abuse ADHD drugs for performance reasons. There is much more to the story which establishes why this is such a serious concern. Kids are now using ADHD drugs to party. This is a whole new level of abuse because it establishes a market that has the potential go grow very rapidly. It creates a reinforcement context which more deeply ingrains this abuse into the culture of young adults.

Where do the college kids get the ADHD medications? The college kids get ADHD medications from “friends, acquaintances, or even parents” according to the 2008 study by DuPont, Coleman, Bucher and Wilford.

There is overwhelming data that supports the trend that ADHD drug abuse is happening more and more often. The effects are more alarming as you will see in later posts.

In 2008, a relatively large survey sample of 1400 subjects was the basis for the conclusion that “one in five adults misuses cognitive enhancing drugs”1 (Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services). It is amazing to consider the prospect that one if five adults have misused an ADHD drug. This was a poll in which 1 in 5 “college students and shift workers admitted to using Ritalin, Provigil or beta blockers to stimulate focus, concentration or memory”. These people were using these medications as “off label” essentially to improve performance. The explanation for the increase was that this group is using these drugs for performance enhancement essentially.

Another large-scale survey was published in 2008 investigated the “non-medical use of Ritalin”2 or methylphenidate (MPH). The authors of this study state that the “nonmedical use of MPH has increased particularly among college students,” they found this: “Of 2,087 respondents, 110 (5.3%) used MPH nonmedically at least once. Most obtained MPH free from a friend, acquaintance, or family member. Misuse of Ritalin® occurred four times more frequently than Concerta®.”2

ADHD drug abuse (and addiction) has not been restricted to enhancing the performance of these college students. They have been using such medications as Ritalin and Concerta “nonmedically for recreational reasons as well as to improve academic performance.”2 The recreational abuse of Ritalin creates a reinforcement system of a totally different magnitude and sets the stage for massive abuse. This puts Concerta abuse and Ritalin abuse along with the abuse of other ADHD drugs on par with the abuse of alcohol and marijuana. What I take this to mean is that there is a culture of young adults who abuse ADHD drugs. There was no culture of young adults abusing ADHD drugs when I was that age. It simply didn’t exist. As such the reinforcement for ADHD drug abuse is at a dangerous level. This is particularly the case as we consider the risks of these drugs in later posts.

Both of these initial studies are surveys, but they do have good sample sizes. However, a much larger study with a sample size of 24,409 was published in 2007. This study was investigating gender differences in the prevalence and characteristics of methamphetamine (meth) misuse and prescription stimulants among adults aged 16-25. “About 1 in 10 youths reported any misuse of stimulants in their lifetime.”3 Basically one of the findings is that boys or young men are more at risk for abusing ADHD medications.3

This puts the range of Concerta abuse, Ritalin abuse and other stimulant abuse in a range between 5% and 20%. Wu, et al (2007) were the first researchers I found to unabashedly give this warning: “Parents should be informed about the risk of prescription stimulant misuse.”5

Part of my purpose is to warn parents that ADHD medications are being abused and that high school kids and college students are abusing and partying with these prescription drugs. This means at school there is a black market for your child to sell his ADHD medications. Since I have not engaged with this part of the health care system which prescribes medications for ADHD, I do not know to what extent parents are warned that prescription medications for ADHD are one of the drugs of choice by high school and college students. I wonder.

At least you now know and you can spread the word.

1Survey: One in five adults misue cognitive enhancing drugs, e-Update 2008 Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.

2Performance enhancing, non-prescription use of Ritalin: A comparison with amphetamines and cocaine. Svetlov, Stanislav I.; Kobeissy, Firas H.; Gold, Mark S. Journal of Addictive Diseases. Vol 26(4),2007, 1-6.

2 Characteristics and motives of college students who engage in nonmedical use of methylphenidate. DuPont, Robert L.; Coleman, John J.; Bucher, Richard H.; Wilford, Bonnie B. The American Journal on Addictions. Vol 17(3), May 2008, 167-171.

3 Misuse of methamphetamine and prescription stimulants among youths and young adults in the community. Wu, Li-Tzy; Pilowsky, Daniel J.; Schlenger, William E.; Galvin, Deborah M. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Vol 89(2-3), Jul 2007, 195-205.

Tweet This Post