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SALT LAKE CITY -- If a pill could help students get good grades, get into college and compete at the top, should he or she take it?
A growing number of college and even high school students in Utah have already answered that question with a "yes." In fact, so many students are popping these pills it has health care advocates concerned.
Mathew Harding had struggled in college and felt the same pressure that had driven his friends to try Adderall, commonly known on university campuses as the "study drug."
"If it's to compete in college and to do well and compete, then I would say ‘yes,' because there's a lot of pressure," Harding said.
Adderall is touted as a way to focus and study for hours with clear recall. It's prescribed for young people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Part of the pressure, Harding said, comes from knowing so many of his peers were using Adderall, especially around finals.
"People who actually go after it and do it and use it constantly? Probably more like 25 percent, easy," he said.
That number coincides with first-of-its-kind research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teams there found 23 percent of young people admitted to abusing prescription drugs -- and Adderall was one of the most common.
I've had a lot of people come up to me and ask if they could purchase [my prescription]-- a crazy amount of people. I have to tell them, ‘No. I need it.'
–Sean Goodell, student
On the University of Utah campus, students know all about Adderall.
"There's kids who use it to study and focus," said high school senior Mats Sanyer.
The students obviously know where they can find it: through fellow students who have legal doctor prescriptions.
"I've had a lot of people come up to me and ask if they could purchase mine," said student Sean Goodell. "[It's] a crazy amount of people. I have to tell them, ‘No. I need it.'"
The "customers" aren't students typically associated with drug use; they're more likely to be a member of the Honor Society.
"In my school it's more like the IB or AP kids who just happen to find it," said Erik Saltzman, a local high school senior.
"The kids who take it that I know, they are not like druggies," Harding said.
So, if the straight-A students take Adderall, and it's easy to get, doctor-prescribed and offers a leg up on academics, why did Harding decide not to take it? His roommate died while on Adderall.
"The Adderall was kind of a gateway drug, the same way marijuana would be defined as a gateway drug," Harding said. "Adderall was kind of like his base, and then other drugs compounded, not only its effects, but just the availability to get them."
Like other amphetamines, Adderall carries a "black box" warning from the Food and Drug Administration, saying it has a "high potential for abuse" that could result in "severe psychological or physical dependence."
Many students nonchalantly take the drug as a substitute for NoDoz or Red Bull; but Dr. Fred Reimherr, a physician at University Medical Center who sees the cases of abuse, says it's that pervasive, casual attitude that makes so Adderall dangerous.
"In a lot of ways, the college student who is saying, ‘gee, I'm gonna take this to help me,' is actually deluding himself," Reimherr said.
To help students in your family Stay Safe, recognize the signs of Adderall abuse, like erratic behavior and unusual energy. But bottom line: Anyone who is using Adderall without a doctor's prescription is abusing it.
E-mail: dwimmer@ksl.com
