Adderall advantage?
The NYT has an article on student life at Columbia called The Adderall Advantage.
Relevant quote:
But interviews and e-mail exchanges with two dozen Columbia students suggest that the prevailing ethos is that Adderall, the drug of choice these days, is a legitimate and even hip way to get through the rigors of a hectic academic and social life. “The culture here actually encourages people to use stimulants,” said Barak Ben-Ezer, a computer science and economics major who prefers Red Bull, a caffeinated beverage, and cigarettes over prescription drugs.
And on addiction:
Designer stimulants like Adderall are far less dangerous than cocaine or methamphetamines. According to the Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, which makes Adderall, medical research has found it has no potential for addiction.
August 2nd, 2005 at 4:51 am
For those who just tuned in, check out the comments on another article we posted about this for more first-hand anecdotes: http://neurodudes.com/2004/12/28/adderall-abuse-with-students
Compare “no potential for addiction” with http://neurodudes.com/2004/12/28/adderall-abuse-with-students/#comment-672, for example. Now, there’s different kinds of addiction and I’m not a specialist, but this sounds like something.
(btw, though, I do NOT think Adderall should be banned)
August 8th, 2005 at 12:43 am
:Designer stimulants like Adderall are far less dangerous than cocaine or methamphetamines. According to the Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, which makes Adderall, medical research has found it has no potential for addiction.
Oh. this is precious. I guess they never looked at the ingredients label:
Dextroamphetamine Saccharate 7.5 mg
Amphetamine Aspartate 7.5 mg
Dextroamphetamine Sulfate USP 7.5 mg
Amphetamine Sulfate USP 7.5 mg
August 22nd, 2005 at 3:18 pm
: Try taking adderall for 5 months, and miss a few daily doses than let the experts tell you its not addictive.
October 12th, 2005 at 6:12 am
I have come across no other prescription medication (except maybe Desoxyn, containing only methamphetamine) with as high of an addiction potential than Adderall (or Dexedrine, or any prescription combination of amphetamine salts).
December 20th, 2005 at 2:34 pm
For those of you who are unaware by now, the world is an unfair place and people will resort to much worse to get an advantage. Get used to it.
http://religiondrugspolitics.blogspot.com/
March 22nd, 2006 at 12:02 am
I find it almost absurd what students will do just to keep ahead of the competition, to get that extra advantage, to preform better than the student sitting next to you. Is it just an American obsession as so many authors have pointed out, or is it just a human flaw. We are created with more capacities then any other animal on earth and yet still it isnt enough. Students and adults are willing to put thier life long health at risk just to prove something. But what is it we are proving and to whom? Most we wear are bodies into the ground just to keep up, and if this is the price of becoming “sucessful” is it wourth the cost?
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Nope.
October 3rd, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Actually, Shire does state that Adderall can be addictive. I really don’t think that the average college student who abuses Adderall as a study-drug (and takes a dosage within the normal 5-30mg/day range) has much to worry about, but the potential is ther.
“DRUG ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE
ADDERALL XR® is a Schedule II controlled substance.
Amphetamines have been extensively abused. Tolerance, extreme psychological dependence, and severe social disability have occurred…Abrupt cessation following prolonged high dosage administration results in extreme fatigue and mental depression;… Manifestations of chronic intoxication
with amphetamines may include severe dermatoses, marked insomnia, irritability, hyperactivity, and personality changes. The most severe manifestation of chronic intoxication is psychosis, often clinically indistinguishable from schizophrenia”