LANSING – Students are responding to the demands of college by abusing a drug that makes them stay up all night…studying?

The drug, Adderall, is an alternative to Ritalin that’s commonly prescribed to children and adults with attention deficit disorder.

Barbara Palombi, director of the counseling center at Grand Valley State University, says

she’s aware students sometimes abuse and illegally sell Adderall. That’s why her staff is careful when referring students to psychiatrists. 

“We don’t want to put anyone on a drug they don’t really need,” she said.

However, Palombi said that regardless of legal restrictions, it will still get into the hands of abusers. 

“There are people who know how to get around any system we can create,” she said.

Adderall is a Schedule 2 stimulant, meaning it has the highest controls the government can put on a drug that has a legal use, said Rogene Waite, public information officer for the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Misuse of Adderall has become a way of life for some college students, said Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore, executive director of the National Library of Addictions in Brookline, Mass.

“They call it ‘kiddy coke’ because it gives you a similar high to cocaine,” he said.  “It’s a powerful drug.”

Taking the drug without a prescription or taking more than the prescribed dosage is abuse, according to Kishore.

Kishore said Adderall is commonly used as an “academic steroid” among college students.  “They think it’s safe to take because it’s medicine, but if you do not need it, it’s a dangerous drug.”

Abusers may encounter sleeplessness, depression, loss of appetite and improper brain function, he said, as well as the risk of addiction.

“It puts too much dopamine into the brain and depletes it, so when it wears off you cannot function properly,” Kishore said.  Dopamine is a naturally occurring chemical in the brain that causes feelings of pleasure.

“They take one pill and it helps them focus, so they think two will help them more,” he said.  “But one plus one doesn’t equal two with medicine.”

David Keasler, 20, a junior at Michigan State University, said, “From what I’ve seen, it’s the most abused drug” at Michigan State.

Keasler is prescribed 30mg of Adderall a day and finds high doses it helpful when he needs to do extensive studying.

“There’s a Starbucks on the corner where people are blowing themselves out on caffeine,” he said.  “They’re getting the same high that we are, except we concentrate, we’re actually productive.”

 Keasler said while most college students who abuse Adderall use it as a study drug, some use it to enhance their drinking experiences.

“You can get ridiculously drunk and still remember everything that happened,” he said.

Howell resident Scott Newlands, 22, attends Lansing Community College and admits he occasionally abuses Adderall to cram several weeks of studying into one night.

Newlands first witnessed Adderall abuse while attending Central Michigan University, where he said students used it for studying or just hanging out.

“When you’re on Adderall, you feel like you could talk all night,” he said.  “It makes you feel really good about being yourself.”

Newlands said that Adderall abuse isn’t limited to the “drug crowd,” and people who normally abstain from using illicit drugs use it because it’s socially acceptable.

“It has a very innocent stigma,” he said.  “All types of people do it.”

Mike Jones, a program leader at a drug counseling center in Lansing, In Sight Recovery, said abuse is widespread, but it’s not an epidemic.

Jones, who councils college students who are ordered to attend therapy as part of their probation for drinking offenses, said he’s spoken to some who abuse Adderall, but none who need treatment. 

“It’s a high-functioning drug for college students, who are generally high-functioning people.”

Grand Valley’s Palombi said Adderall abuse commonly occurs among students due to the competitive nature of college.

“They are just trying to get the edge,” she said.