Also, the mechanism of dependency and addiction varies from person to person. Some people can smoke a cigarette at a party once every couple months and nothing more. Some people can’t. Be smart. Don’t be too sure that ’self-control’ is going to keep you from becoming addicted to amphetamines. Some people can get away with taking a pill or snorting a line every so often with minimal effect. Lucky them. I’m certainly not one of them. I’d rather have the 4 years of my life back that I spent putting stuff up my nose in order to feel smarter, thinner, and better about everything.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t take adderall if you have a diagnosed condition and your doctor feels that it will help you (and if it does help you). I’m not even trying to tell you how to get your kicks. Just be aware of what you’re doing. And be aware that if you find yourself taking meds without a prescription, the underlying reason you’re doing so may be different than you think. Many people try to self-medicate legitimate psychological problems with drugs and alcohol without realizing it.

I don’t mean to come off as too preachy (even though I am), I just wouldn’t want anyone else going through what I went through with addiction if it can be avoided. Entirely apart from the psychological effects, I spent time in jail. For prescription drugs–not coke, not crystal meth, not heroin. My case isn’t exactly typical, but I’m proof. You can be a relatively smart, well-meaning, normal person, and still succumb.

Final note: abusing stimulants stops seeming cool after college. Just like drinking until you black out and having sex with every person you come across just because you can.

guess what? i managed to work 2 jobs, raise a child, run a household and get a degree in chemistry, all while smoking pot daily, which i essentially outgrew. i did it as a reward, much like a person has a glass of wine at the end of a day of hard work, and it was not a gateway drug as i did not drink, snort or inject anything else. i did not peddle it to children (mine has no idea), support terrorism or burn my brain cells into oblivion. now i take adderall because 2 years ago, i went through a depression that while lifted, left the lethargy and lack of motivation to get everyday things done. i plan on taking it to get me back to where i need to be and then be done. i don’t plan to continue taking it to get myself or someone else killed, so i can ruin for everyone. chances are, if you feel like you shouldn’t be taking it or it is beginning to overshadow it’s supposed benefits, then stop. get help and address the root of your problems. either find another medicine that may work for you or get some kind of therapy and quit expecting a fucking pill to be the answer to hard work and sifting through the rough shit in life. if you are taking it to get some sort of buzz or enhance your beer pong skills, you are a fucking douchebag who will probably be dead in 10 years anyway.

Because I was uninsured and am a poor student (whose parents are not in a position to help financially), finding a therapist to test me and a doctor who would work with me was virtually impossible. It took two months following my diagnosis to gain access to a doctor. The reason: I would call saying that I was being treated for ADHD by a psychologist, and that I had a letter from her suggesting I work with a doctor about this, and possibly another physical problem (thyroid, which also impacts focus, and was suspected due to my very cold hands and lack of sense of smell). I was usually turned away because they said that they didn’t want to work with someone my age about ADHD unless they had a note from an insurance co. testifying that they werent a drug dealer.

During that two month gap I did buy adderall on the black market, which at my school is pretty large. I bought it for a friend who had been taking it for studying on and off for years. This friend lives off of energy drinks, and adderall doesn’t make him hyper-focus or crazy, but just helps him study, keeps him calm, and prevents distraction. He’s watched the way I’m reacting now that I have medically supervised treatment (on lower cost, and IMO, more effective dexedrine SR) and is now seeking assessment himself. Research done by therapists who work with ADHD patients suggests that self-medicating with caffeine and illegal amphetamine use is common among those who are not diagnosed, and that the majority of people with ADHD have never been assessed or diagnosed, in part because they were not seen as disruptive or hyper as children. The zombie effect and other complaints that people, particularly kids, have about meds is possibly a result of misdiagnosis of very active children as being hyperactive. Women make up the majority of undiagnosed adhd cases, followed by primarily inattentive men.

Sorry if this is kind of rambling. My main points are these:
1) recreational use of adhd stimulant meds by college kids makes it harder for their peers who have adhd to gain access to the services and treatment they need by creating a bias that people in this age group are frivelous drug seekers.
2. because it is very hard to get adhd legitimately if you do not have insurance (even if you have been diagnosed with adhd by more then one therapist or counselor) sometimes people who really need that medication have to turn to the black market.
3) frequent recreational users, particularly those who don’t see some of the more negative side effects listed above, should seriously consider getting tested for adhd, or at least spend some time on the google machine looking into the research done on addiction and self-medication (esp. with amphetimines) by people with untreated adhd. Particularly look at studies of testing done on men in prison for meth.
4) Many people currently prescribed ADHD meds do not need them, and many do not have ADHD. Most people with inattentive type ADHD are not diagnosed. While the black market for stimulants is a good way for people in the first category to make money (and I won’t deny this), it makes it more difficult for the second to recognize that they need treatment, and once they do decreases their ability to get treatment, both because of the stigma attached to seeking treatment because of the positive effects of illegal self-medication, and because both people who have ADHD and people who don’t take adderall recreationally it normalizes the behavior, and suggests to those who legitimately need treatment that their struggles and responses are normal, and are the way everyone else is reacting to school, stress, and the stims.

One final point: if you fall into the category of people who have used stimulant meds recreationally and think that you might actually have a problem, please get tested. And if you are serious about wanting to get help then your best move would be to not tell whomever it is doing the assessment that you have used adderall etc. illegally. They will turn you away, and you will go on a blacklist. Also, best of luck to you.