Workloads can be heavy for students at the University of Oregon.
“Trying to juggle school and internships and then cramming for midterms can get really overwhelming sometimes,” senior Adam Jacobs said.
While there are many different options for students who want to manage their time wisely, such as Knight Library’s 24-hour accessibility to office hours and scheduled tutoring, some students find help elsewhere.
Dextroamphetamine/Amphetamine, more commonly known as Adderall, is a go to “study drug” on campus.
But because Adderall is a drug prescribed to patients who suffer from Attention Deficient Disorder and Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder, undiagnosed students have little accessibility to the drug. So for those who choose to take the prescription drug as an academic study aid, they have to find alternate means.
Eric, a student at the University of Oregon, has been prescribed Adderall for three years now. “I had problems focusing in classes due to many concussions I suffered throughout my high school football career,” he explained.
For students with ADD/ADHD or other health concerns, Adderall can be an extremely beneficial tool for study purposes. Allies for Inclusion- The Ability Exhibit, recently set up in The University of Oregon’s EMU claimed that 11% of undergraduates have ADHD.
Adderall can control and alter different brain functions for students diagnosed with the disorder. Stimulants in Adderall affect impulses in the brain and regulate behavior and attention. They influence the availability of certain chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters.
Students who have been diagnosed with the disorder however, are not the only ones taking Adderall for studying purposes.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 11.4 percent of young people ages 12 to 25 used prescription drugs non-medically within the past year and full time college students, between the ages of 18 and 22, were twice as likely to abuse Adderall than those of the same age and not in college.
Many students, including Eric, have sold their Adderall from time to time even if they do not consider themselves “drug dealers.”
“I never had the intention to sell my Adderall,” Eric said. “But when a good friend is in an academic crisis and desperate, I sell him a pill. I haven’t had my prescription filled in two years, so this obviously isn’t a business venture for me.”
While students who sell their Adderall do it for various reasons, Eric said it was never about the money.
“I sold (someone) a 10 mg tablet for $5. I probably was way underpaid but never really cared about the money,” he said.
These little pills are normally sold anywhere from 5 to 10 dollars depending on the dosage, but the risk can be worth more than that if caught dispersing these drugs illegally.
Even the smallest incident can result in large consequences. Selling Adderall is illegal, and a class B felony under ORS 475.752, according to Kelly McIver from UOPD.
“The person could be charged appropriately under Oregon law and face legal consequences through the criminal justice system, including possibility of fines and incarceration,” he said.
What many people don’t know however, is that possession of the substance is just as illegal as distribution. “In most cases, UOPD would become aware of and act on these incidents, including reports of attempts to sell or illegal possession,” McIver said.
Eric understands the risk he takes, “One of the biggest risks of selling it is of course getting caught and having that be on your record as a dealer of a substance even if it was as minor as one pill to a good friend.”