Author Spotlight
Senior Katheryn Denning* focuses on her test. Her concentration is more intense than normal, and she likes how she feels. Taking the drug Adderall before the ACT doesn’t seem like drug use; to her it’s just a way to try to improve her scores.
Denning is one of a number of East students taking Adderall without a prescription to help raise test scores. Adderall is a mixture of four amphetamine salts that, when taken, stimulate the brain. The drug is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by improving concentration. Most students who take it illegally take it with the intention of increasing their scores due to higher concentration. Principal Karl Krawitz has heard a lot about this problem at the college level, and would consider it to be a growing problem at the high school level.
After taking Adderall four times in a month and a half, Denning noticed her desire for the drug kept growing stronger every time she took it. It started to feel like drug use: she began to feel addicted. The day she knew she needed to stop was the day that she was looking for a dose with no reason. She didn’t have a test that day, she just craved it. It became real to her at this point, she was becoming a person she didn’t want to be. Someone who she wouldn’t let herself be.
“I liked the way Adderall made me feel,” Denning said. “Not only did it improve my test scores on both the SAT and the ACT, but I was way more productive with my day and always accomplished a lot when on it. Everyone seems to do it, but I know from experience that it’s easily addictive.”
Denning hasn’t taken Adderall since July. She realized it could of had a bad impact on her health if she became dependent on the drug, and regrets that she took it four times in such a short time period.
“For people who take [Adderall] to stay awake and stay energized, it’s easily addictive,” UMKC Pharmacist Trish Marken said. “It can get to the point where your body will crave it and its hard to get out of bed in the morning because your body is used to having the drug in their system. If taken long and often enough, the person can turn into a drug addict.”
Rote knew that taking it this much could easily be the early stages of addiction to the drug and didn’t want to be an addict or have the reputation. With fear for her future, she made a vow to herself to never take it again.
Senior Amber Steinwitts* has taken Adderall before the ACT two times. Her first experience, she took a 20 mg capsule, and she noticed increased concentration during the first half of the test, but not very much during the second half. Her second experience, she took a 50mg capsule with her breakfast about 30 minutes before the test, which helped her throughout the entire test by keeping her focused throughout. She says her experience with the drug provided a positive result because she ended up raising her ACT score by four points.
Although the outcome was positive, Steinwitts experienced side effects throughout her experience on the drug. After taking the 50mg dose, she said her body felt completely numb. She also experienced loss of appetite and couldn’t fall asleep until nearly 24 hours after taking the dosage. She wasn’t a fan of the side effects but still believes it was worth it because her score improved so much.
According to the FDA’s Medication Guide, common side effects of Adderall include weight loss, dry mouth, fast heartbeat, trouble sleeping and headache. Steinwitts experienced almost all of these. Symptoms can become so severe that they lead to heart-related problems like heart attack or stroke, and mental problems like bipolar illness.
“I would take it again, but I have no reason to,” Steinwitts said. “I don’t like taking or doing drugs. I only took it to improve my test scores.”
Senior Richard Cranesworth* has illegally sold Adderall to a number of students, including Smith. Cranesworth buys Adderall from coworkers and then sells them, usually around five dollars. He has sold to students for a variety of tests including the ACT or SAT, final exams and Chemistry. Before the most recent ACT test date in October, over 15 people approached Crane for the drug.
Cranesworth believes that there really is no harm in taking Adderall when not prescribed. He explains that if used correctly, and not all of the time, that no harmful effects can come out of it.
According to Marken, it is uncommon for someone to die from taking adderall without a prescription unless the person has a heart disorder. She also explains that if used illegally all of the time it can definitely lead one down the path to being a drug addict, which can lead to a lot more health problems.
“I took it once and I thought that other people should have the opportunity to experience the focus you get,” Cranesworth said.
Junior Tayler Malcolm* took Adderall before the ACT but it ended up having a negative outcome.
“I did worse [on the ACT] than the first time I took it, which surprised me,” Malcolm said. “I think it just got to my head that I was ‘on something.’”
Malcolm said she couldn’t really feel any side effects from the drug with the exception of being a little antsy along with a lost appetite. She was aware that she might have side effects, but didn’t really mind because she wanted to improve her score. She doesn’t think she will ever use it again before taking the ACT.
Senior Christa Edmundson* also had a negative experience with Adderall. She didn’t raise her test score at all and she believes it is because she was more distracted than before. Throughout the entire test, her body was very jumpy and shaky. Johnson says that she will never take it again because it was a waste of a test, time and money.
“I decided to take Adderall before the ACT because I felt a lot of pressure to get a good score on it,” Edmundson said. “I realize that not researching the side effects was ridiculously dumb of me because I didn’t improve at all.”
According to Krawitz, some people have negative reactions to the drug because everyone has a different system. He explains that they don’t get the “high” to help them concentrate. The bad reaction to the medicine causes problems in the body, causing it to shut down.
According to Sandy Walsh, the Public Affairs Representative from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), drugs used to treat ADHD, like Adderall, are federally controlled substances and regulated as such by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The prescribing of them is restricted and physicians who prescribe these drugs must be registered with the DEA.
“Medicines can cause serious side effects if not used correctly,” said Walsh. “Incorrect use of medications, or use for non-medical reasons, can lead to abuse, addiction and serious side effects.”
Walsh also explains that not only is selling or giving away these drugs harmful to others, it is also against the law. As well Adderall has a “Boxed Warning”—the FDA’s strongest warning about the potential for abuse that alerts physicians that the drugs “should be prescribed or dispensed sparingly.”
Kansas Drug Distribution Laws say that someone charged with distributing a stimulant like Adderall will receive the same severity of charge as someone charged with distribution of marijuana, depressants or hallucinogens. The penalty for the first offense can be as severe as four years of jail time.
According to Marken, there are multiple dangers associated with taking this illegally. These include increasing heart problems, addiction and possession of or consuming an illegal drug.
“Any time you take a medication that you shouldn’t be taking, there will be some sort of negative effect,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Sometimes the effect won’t be noticeable immediately, but they will almost always have long-term effects.”
Junior Spencer Grigsby* has ADHD but occasionally will skip dosages to sell to people who need it. He sells 25mg pills at about $10 each.
“When I skip my dosage, I just don’t concentrate as well,” Grigsby said. “I don’t mind going a day without it, and I make money off of it.”
Grigsby usually only sells to his close friends before an important test if they can’t find any other options. He wants to help people out, and personally doesn’t see any harm in selling his medication.
“I usually sell it to them if there is a lot of pressure from their parents to do well on a test,” Grigsby said. “I haven’t heard any bad things about people taking it without a prescription, it seems safe if they don’t do it all the time.”
Nancy Owen, a representative from ACT, says that the staff at ACT is unaware of illegal drug use before the test, but that they certainly do not condone it because it gives the person an advantage before the tests. Dr. Krawitz doesn’t consider taking Adderall to be cheating.
“Its not ethical, but it’s not cheating either because they aren’t looking at someone’s paper,” Dr. Krawitz said. “They are taking a drug to make them feel better but I definitely don’t support it.”
* = names replaced
All photos by Eden Schoofs.
Leave a Reply