My parents’ generation’s college years were filled with marijuana and LSD. Students abused these drugs with the notion that it was essential to dispute the government, expand their creativity and discover the unknown.
While I don’t necessarily envy the drugs of this era, I do covet the amalgamation of its youth. They fought together, lived together, and in extreme circumstances, died together.
While psychedelics still exist on college campuses, stimulants seem to be the drug of choice for today’s young adults.
I’ve been thinking about Adderall a lot recently after reading an article in The New Yorker last April. Margaret Talbot focused on the ease of getting hold of a prescription and its affect on students. According to Talbot, “white male undergraduates at highly competitive schools – especially in the Northeast – are the most frequent collegiate users of neuroenhancers.”
According to erowid.org, a nirvana for drug statistics, over twenty percent of high school seniors are prescribed amphetamines (Adderall, Ritalin) by their doctors.
Additionally, over fifteen percent claim to have taken these drugs without a prescription. Those statistics (unfortunately the best I could find) were from 2003.
One can assume that a current poll would show a higher percentage. Schedules have become more demanding in the last six years and those polled were in high school, not college, where parents are ubiquitous and neighbors are less likely to be drug dealers.
At first, I was all out against the drug. I compared the usage of amphetamines on a college campus to the use of steroids in sports. A baseball player who normally does not have the strength to muscle a ball over the fence could take steroids and accomplish the feat. Similarly, a student who lethargically writes his or her paper at 3 AM to receive a B or C could now execute the same late-night strategy, and with Adderall, remain alert, avoid the dreaded interruption and walk away with an A. Isn’t that cheating?
While meeting with an English professor, I brought up the cheating aspect of the drug.
“Do you ever consider a student’s possible drug usage when grading papers?” I prodded. I figured a veteran professor might have some tactic to shuffle through words and be able to identify a student’s abnormal writing styles.
Her answer: “How could I?” She explained it would be like judging a student based on their familial situation, their mood at the time, or what they had for breakfast. The paper and its grade, I was assured, reflect not a student’s overall intelligence, but only their work on that one assignment. Obstacles, both good and bad, will always exist.
I considered the counter argument that maybe everyone in our society should be on Adderall. Any long-term negative effects are unknown at this time, and if there is a drug that can make me smarter, more focused and more competitive, why shouldn’t I run after it? Maybe this is a miracle drug that can assist us in our attempts to follow our dreams.
There’s that old expression, “There are only so many hours in a day.” Adderall can make these few hours more productive, less exhausting, and we can maybe make some extra cash by finding an online job while our professors are sleeping.
A Connecticut College senior, who wished to be quoted anonymously in order to protect his/her integrity, had this to say about Adderall, a drug he/she takes on a regular basis without a prescription. “My resume now shines brighter, my papers read better and I have time to drink with my friends on the weekend.” Sounds perfect!
But why? Why are we so competitive?
My parent’s generation marched down the streets of Washington together, they smoked joints together and they held hands together. Maybe this is a hippie mentality, and maybe I won’t survive in our zealous world, but I question how our generation would be different if, instead of trying to keep pace with one another, we tried to keep peace with one another.
