How come no one seems to be concerned about all the "study drug" taking by our high school students?

[Anonymous]

"As with the steroids taken by athletes, the downside of prescription stimulants appears after they provide the desired short-term competitive benefits. This was the case with a recent graduate of McLean High School in Virginia, one of the top public schools in the Washington area.

Late in his sophomore year, the boy wanted some help to raise his B average — far from what top colleges expected, especially from a McLean student. So he told his psychologist what she needed to hear for a diagnosis of A.D.H.D. — even gazing out the window during the appointment for effect — and was soon getting 30 pills of Adderall every month, 10 milligrams each. They worked. He focused late into the night studying, concentrated better during exams and got an A-minus average for his junior year.

“I wanted to do everything I could to get into the quote-unquote right school,” he recalled recently.

As senior year began, when another round of SATs and one last set of good grades could put him over the top, the boy said he still had trouble concentrating. The doctor prescribed 30 milligrams a day. When college applications hit, he bought extra pills for $5 apiece from a girl in French class who had fooled her psychiatrist, too, and began taking several on some days."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/education/seeking-academic-edge-teenagers-abuse-stimulants.html?pagewanted=all

This appears to be a serious problem in high schools in this area and across the country especially at more competitive schools and more efforts should be made to stop it instead of sweeping it under the rug.

[Anonymous]

"Many Parents Unaware of Teens' Abuse of ADHD Drugs
So-called 'study drugs' don't boost grades, and abusing them is dangerous, researchers warn"

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/05/31/many-parents-unaware-of-teens-abuse-of-adhd-drugs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
"As with the steroids taken by athletes, the downside of prescription stimulants appears after they provide the desired short-term competitive benefits. This was the case with a recent graduate of McLean High School in Virginia, one of the top public schools in the Washington area.

Late in his sophomore year, the boy wanted some help to raise his B average — far from what top colleges expected, especially from a McLean student. So he told his psychologist what she needed to hear for a diagnosis of A.D.H.D. — even gazing out the window during the appointment for effect — and was soon getting 30 pills of Adderall every month, 10 milligrams each. They worked. He focused late into the night studying, concentrated better during exams and got an A-minus average for his junior year.

“I wanted to do everything I could to get into the quote-unquote right school,” he recalled recently.

As senior year began, when another round of SATs and one last set of good grades could put him over the top, the boy said he still had trouble concentrating. The doctor prescribed 30 milligrams a day. When college applications hit, he bought extra pills for $5 apiece from a girl in French class who had fooled her psychiatrist, too, and began taking several on some days."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/education/seeking-academic-edge-teenagers-abuse-stimulants.html?pagewanted=all

This appears to be a serious problem in high schools in this area and across the country especially at more competitive schools and more efforts should be made to stop it instead of sweeping it under the rug.

A 2013 national poll by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan found that 1 in 10 high school sophomores and more than 1 in 8 high school seniors have used a prescription drug to help them study. Older research, supported by anecdotal reports, suggests the actual share of students misusing ADHD drugs is much higher

[Anonymous]

U mad?

[Anonymous]

Even some parents ask doctors about getting their child on these drugs hoping it will improve their children with grades. Bad decision.

[Anonymous]

It's going on at most of the high schools in the area. Too much competition.

[Anonymous]

That sounds like cheating. May even be criminal if those drugs are sold.

[Anonymous]

It's pathetic and it's also can cause psychological problems and brain damage in the long run. But many people in this area don't think about the long run and pin too much on hitting short-term success markers. (HS GPA, etc.) The problem is that you create kids that get out in the real world and don't feel they can compete without aids.

The other thing is that so many kids are on ADHD medicine that the power of these drugs has been demystified. Everyone has friends on them and they seem to be okay, so....Plus, the drugs work, they sharpen focus, keep kids alert. Know of one standout athlete/student at our local HS who is known as the Addy guy. Is aiming for Ivy or little Ivy and just may get in. But so what? Life is long and too sadly shortcuts, which is all these pills are is for many kids, have a way of catching up. My oldest kid knew kids who used this stuff and he always viewed it as cheating. I do the best to convince his sibs of the same. You've only got one mind, why play with it with powerful drugs when it's still developing?

I feel sad that so many parents are caught up in their kids success that they look the other way or even encourage stimulant use. So proud their kids aren't drinking or smoking pot. What a joke!

[Anonymous]

Huge problem in high schools -- colleges and law schools too.

[Anonymous]

It also leads to heroin addiction, once the prescription meds are no longer available.

Pretty sure that's where my nephew is headed. His mother pushes pills at him every time she wants him to "focus" (i.e. take out the trash). He's so hopped up, he hasn't slept more than a few hours a night in years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huge problem in high schools -- colleges and law schools too.

And has been for at least 15 years. Where have you been?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huge problem in high schools -- colleges and law schools too.

And has been for at least 15 years. Where have you been?

I thought this was a relatively recent problem. Is competition at McLean that intense?

[Anonymous]

I think this is a problem in middle school as well.

[Anonymous]

This has become a problem for those people for whom taking a stimulant prescription for ADHD is the appropriate treatment. Insurance companies are now only allowing 30 day prescriptions to be written and require a doctor's visit for each new prescription.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from college in 1990 and people were taking stimulants then too. This is not new.