1. Nonmedical Use of Prescription Medications
Adderall
Is it Worth the Risk?

2. For the purposes of this presentation the term Adderall® will refer to stimulant ADHD (Attention Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder) drugs such as Dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine® and Adderall®) and Methylphenidate (Ritalin®, Metadate®, Methylin® & Concerta®).
Adderall® (1996) is amphetamine based. Ritalin® (1944) is methylphenidate hydrochloride based. Both affect the CNS in similar ways and both are classified as stimulants.
Like other stimulants, such as cocaine and amphetamine, Ritalin increases the activity of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and important for reinforcement of behavior. While amphetamines stimulate the release of dopamine, cocaine and Ritalin block the transporters that reuptake dopamine into the neuron that released it.

3. Adderall XR® (time released) is the most commonly prescribed brand-name prescription stimulant in the United States . It is the most frequent abused stimulant drug on college campuses.
Adderall is often taken illegally as a study agent. It has been said to increase a person's productivity. This works for people with ADD or ADHD. However, use of the drug without these disorders is not recommended.

4. Surveys, Studies and Reports
Adderall
Medical Aspects
Legal Implications
Surveys, Studies and Reports

5. Adderall
Ritalin and other drugs:

6. Stimulant Street Names:
Addy, skippy, the smart drug, vitamin r, bennies, black beauties, roses, hearts, speed, or uppers.

7. Medical
Aspects:

8. Indented use/prescribed for:
Short-term treatment of obesity
Narcolepsy (sleep disorder)
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
According to Mayo Clinic, Adderall® is successful in preventing hyperactivity and increasing concentration. It also helps those with ADHD by decreasing restlessness and stabilizing emotions in those who have emotional instability.

9. How is works:
Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant that increases the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain.
Dopamine affects brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain.
The drug is similar chemically to speed and cocaine. It keeps people awake, and it can make a person more productive, but it also can cause the jitters and make them overanxious.
The brain is made up of nerve cells that send messages to each other by releasing chemicals called neurotransmitters. Common stimulants, such as amphetamines and methylphenidate, have chemical structures that are similar to certain key brain neurotransmitters called monoamines, including dopamine and norepinephrine. Stimulants enhance the effects of these chemicals in the brain and body.
Occasional Use of Adderall | eHow.com

10. Common Side Effects -Short-term/low dosage:
Appetite suppression, weight loss
Wakefulness, Heightened alertness
Euphoria
Impairment of voluntary movement
Headache
Irregular or rapid heartbeat
Nausea and vomiting, stomach pain
Skin rash
Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
Some people may experience drowsiness
Nervousness, restlessness

11. Common Side Effects- High Dosage:
Exhilaration and excitation
Agitation and Muscle twitching
Dilation of pupils
Confusion, Hallucinations and paranoia
Flushing
Increased blood pressure and pulse rate
Dry mouth and Vomiting
Fever and sweating
Seizures
Anxiety and restlessness
Excessive repetition of movements and meaningless tasks
Formication- the sensation of bugs or worms crawling under the skin

12. Long-term Side Effects:
Can be addictive in that individuals begin to use them compulsively.
Taking high doses of some stimulants repeatedly over a short time can lead to feelings of hostility or paranoia.
For some people, taking high doses of certain stimulants, or repeatedly abusing them, can cause an irregular heartbeat, dangerously high body temperatures, and the potential for heart failure or seizures.

13. Symptoms of Overdose: Neurological effects:
Irritability, agitation, euphoria, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, lethargy, seizures, tremors (uncontrollable shaking), delusions.
Cardiovascular manifestations:
Chest pain, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), hypertension (high blood pressure),
Upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea, fever
“Abuse and toxicity of methyphenidate.” see references

14. Withdrawal Symptoms:
People show varying degrees of withdrawal symptoms after chronic stimulant abuse.
Those who do have symptoms report an inability to experience pleasure (anhedonia) and sometimes suicidal thinking; anxiety and irritability; fatigue, lack of energy, and changes in sleep patterns, depression and intense drug cravings.

15. Abuse Potential: When used intranasally:
The effects are usually similar to intranasal use of amphetamines and crack cocaine.
A rapid release of synaptic dopamine occurs, producing subjective effects of an instant “high” and intensely gratifying euphoria… quite similar to cocaine.

16. Mixing Medications:
It is risky and potentially fatal to take medications simultaneously without a doctors authorization .
Stimulants should not be mixed with antidepressants (because they may enhance the effects of a stimulant) or over-the-counter cold medicines that contain decongestants. This mixture can lead to dangerously high blood pressure or irregular heart rhythms.

17. Mixing Adderall and Alcohol:
When combining alcohol with Adderall, people find that the depressive effects of alcohol are lessened.
It is important to note that using stimulants like Adderall to prolong drinking can result in a person consuming unhealthy, and potentially dangerous, amounts of alcohol.
Using Adderall to fight off the depressant effects of alcohol does not eliminate those effects, only masks them. Your blood alcohol will still rise at the same rate and to the same levels whether you're "pre-medicated" or not, and very importantly, any and all toxic effects of the alcohol will still occur at the same rate.

18. “Abuse and toxicity of Methyphenidate.”
Intravenous administration causes a euphoric sensation similar to that of as intravenous cocaine.
Binding sites in the human brain are almost identical for ADHD medication and cocaine- both drugs bind to dopamine transporter.
This article was published in 2002

19. Legal Consequences of
Nonmedical use
of Adderall

20. (high potential for abuse & addiction).
Adderall® and most ADHD medications are Schedule II controlled substance …
(high potential for abuse & addiction).
Using medicine without a prescription is a felony.
Selling medicine is a higher degree felony.
Florida Statute
Florida Statue:
DEA drug scheduling
DEA Definitions

21. What are your career plans?
What are your career plans? How many want to be a doctor? Or other professions in the medical field, Lawyer, Counselor, Teacher, Firefighter, military soldier, coach? These career choices may disappear – be gone forever- if you have a criminal record.

22. Do you really want to limit your choices?
With today’s economy getting a job or acceptance into college is more competitive than previous years.
Do you really want to limit your choices?

23. Being convicted of a felony may limit your job opportunities, career choices, college options and even where you live.

24. Many government (state & federal) positions limit job opportunities for felons.
Jobs that require security clearances may not employee felons.
Some options may be gone forever… doctor, lawyer, police officers, firemen, military, teachers and coaches…

25. Some apartment complexes will not accept people convicted of a felony or with a DUI on their record.
Many volunteer positions such as scouting, Little League and other community organizations… will not accept felons.
The potential for addiction may lead to increase in drug use…which may lead to burglary, violence or other crimes in pursuit of drugs.
Have you noticed how the crime rate has increased? Many pharmacies are robbed throughout our nation by addicts in pursuit of their drugs.

26. Being convicted of a felony may limit your job opportunities, career choices, college options and even where you live. (con,’t.)
In many States if you are driving while impaired you could be charged with a DUI even if it is your prescription.
Some apartment complexes will not accept people convicted of a felony or with a DUI on their record.
Many volunteer positions such as scouting, Little League and other community organizations… will not accept felons.
REJECTED

27. Surveys, Studies
and Reports

28. Nonmedical Use of Adderall® among Full-Time College Students
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, April 2007
Nonmedical Use of Adderall® among Full-Time College Students
Students who use Adderall for nonmedical use are more likely to abuse other drugs.

29. Of concern, 89.5 % of the college students who used Adderall® non-medically also reported past-month binge drinking, & more than half were heavy alcohol users.
Using Adderall increases the likelihood a person will binge drink and use alcohol excessively.

30. Full-time college students aged 18 to 22 were twice as likely as their counterparts who were not full-time college students to have used Adderall® non-medically in the past year (6.4 vs. 3.0 %)

31. Full-time college students who used Adderall® non-medically in the past year were more than twice as likely to use Marijuana (79.9 vs. 27.2%) & almost FIVE times more likely to use OxyContin® non-medically (44.9 vs. 8.6 %).

32. Rates of Emergency Department visits, by drug, type of use and age- ADHD Medicine
2008 DATA
College - Aged

33. “Illicit use of Prescription ADHD Medications on a college Campus: A Multimethodological Approach”, Journal of American College Health, 2008.
First time users have little information about stimulants before trying them and they did not seek out or try to discover information before using.
Illicit use of prescriptions…see references

34. Study Results:
None of the 175 people interviewed sought out information from health professionals, medical or pharmaceutical reference guides.)
Students use was not to increase productivity but to increase intelligent and heightened cognitive aptitude.

35. Study Results:
36%- “felt smarter”- able to memorize and retain information
12%- “make academic work more interesting”
7% Nonacademic motives- “taking them for fun”- made them more social and talkative during their marathon party sessions.
Illicit use of ADHD prescription medications was significantly more common in men, white students, upperclassmen and Greek members (vs. non-Greeks).

36. Study Results:
Most viewed its use as not only physically and psychologically harmless, but also morally acceptable, because it was used for academic purposes and not for social entertainment.
Many were surprised it was a crime to use medication without a prescription.

37. Students Comments: “It was just normal, you know, common.”
“Everyone is talking about it, so it was no big deal.”
“I can grasp everything so much easier…I feel like a genius on it.”
“I don’t use it all the time though sometimes you don’t have a choice.
“Cheap coke.”

38. A Student Cautions Others:
“One college senior recalls using Adderall frequently during her freshman and sophomore years. ‘I started to notice my own addictive behaviors,’ she says, adding that she began using the drug more and more. ‘The more you use it, the more you want to use more of it.’
She knew she was becoming addicted and that she wouldn't be able to afford her habit. So she decided to stop using Adderall.
‘It takes away your own coping skills and your own ability to evolve your own study skills and work ethic. So it's kind of an easy way out.’ And she says it made her feel ‘like a lesser person,’ relying on the drug to do well. During her last two years of college, she says, she's stayed away from Adderall — and gotten good grades.”

39. While students feel smarter and more intelligent, the use of stimulants doesn't make them "smarter" or "better", it just makes their body's organs worker harder and can actually lead to the inability to concentrate or think clearly for any length of time.

40. The CHOICES
You Make Today

41. Will Affect Your FUTURE Forever.
Think of the consequences before you say yes to taking prescription medications.

42. Other Resources: Website links are on each page.
DeSantis, Webb, Noar, “Illicit use of Prescription ADHD Medications on a college Campus: a Multimethodological Approach”, journal of American College Health, 2008.
Klein-Schwartz, Wendy, PharmD, MPH; “Abuse and toxicity of methyphenidate.” Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 2002.
Methyphenidate Abuse and Psychiatric Side Effects.