Recreational use of Adderall has become a serious problem among students who use it to stay up late instead of drinking a Red Bull. It doesn’t help that there is currently a lack of education regarding the consequences of taking a drug with amphetamines without having Attention Deficit Disorder. This needs to change.
One of the main perpetrators of the issue is ignorance. A lot of people think that having ADD means you’re hyperactive and scatter-brained. But it’s actually a disorder that occurs when certain brain chemicals cannot function properly resulting in the inability to focus and complete everyday tasks.
I was diagnosed with ADD 13 years ago and have been on medication ever since. Most people would never guess that I have it because I am quiet and focused. But I rely on Adderall to function properly and would not be where I am today without it.
A quick Google search about Adderall abuse will garner tons of results and lead you to different studies carried out on students. But there is one problem. These studies are all American.
There is very little conclusive information available linking Canadian students and recreational use of Adderall. But that’s not to say the issue doesn’t exist.
A study carried out on 2,000 University of British Columbia undergrads in 2014 revealed that one in 30 students have used Adderall and other stimulants that treat ADD without a prescription.
Those numbers come from just one of Canada’s 98 universities, but everyone knows that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
According to Statistics Canada, 1.3 million students enrolled in Canadian universities and 747,576 in colleges during the 2013/2014 school year.
If the UBC study’s findings were applied to the entire Canadian student population, then theoretically there would be over 500,000 young Canadian Adderall abusers and we would have a serious problem on our hands.
If nation-wide studies were to be carried out, I can guarantee that people would start talking about this. In fact, I would bet money on it.