College Kids Choose Adderall Over Ritalin For Illicit Use

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medi...=55427&nfid=nl

College Kids Choose Adderall Over Ritalin For Illicit Use

More than 75% of college students who reported using prescription stimulants
illicitly last year chose amphetamine-dextroamphetamine products, like
Adderall, over methylphenidate products, like Ritalin. The study,
first-authored by Northeastern University Pharmacy Professor Christian
Teter, also found that the primary motives for illicit use were to enhance
academic performance, while less than a third of illicit users intended to
get high or experiment with these stimulants. However, alarmingly,
approximately 40% of these students had snorted prescription stimulants.

Titled, "Illicit Use of Specific Prescription Stimulants among College
Students: Prevalence, Motives, and Routes of Administration," the study
randomly sampled 4580 undergraduate college students from a large,
midwestern university. Using a self-administered Web survey, the authors
assessed lifetime and past-year prevalence to find out what prescription
drugs students use illicitly, for what purpose, and how they administered
these pills.

"We knew prescription stimulant abuse happened on college campuses, but
until this study, data regarding the prevalence of individual drugs had been
scarce," says Christian J. Teter, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice
at Northeastern University School of Pharmacy and Clinical Research
Pharmacist at McLean Hospital. "The only way to effectively combat this
problem is by assessing the prevalence and motives for illicit use of these
potent psychostimulants."

While there were no differences in past-year illicit use between men and
women, the study found significant ethnic-racial differences. While not one
African-American student reported getting high as a motive, nearly thirty
percent of Caucasians and nearly twenty percent of Asians, Hispanics and
others did. These groups were also more likely to experiment with
prescription stimulants than their African-American counterparts.

The study found that most lifetime users started while in college. Also,
those students who began using pre-college were almost three times more
likely to still use during the past year, than those who began while in
college.

"We also found that students who started illicitly using prescription
stimulants during college were motivated primarily by a desire to improve
concentration, possibly due to academic competitiveness," adds Teter.
"However, most pre-college initiators reported using it to get high, lose
weight, and for experimentation."

The study also puts forth several hypotheses as to why
amphetamine-dextroamphetamines, like Adderall, are three times more popular
than other stimulants. Authors note that Adderall might be more appealing to
a student because it is an extended-release drug with effects lasting 10-12
hours, whereas Ritalin and similar stimulants may produce a so-called roller
coaster response with effects lasting no longer than 6 hours in many cases.
Another possibility for the overwhelming prevalence of illicit Adderall use
may be the fact that it is the most commonly prescribed brand-name stimulant
in the U.S.

The study appeared in the October 2006 issue of the journal Pharmacotherapy,
and is authored by Christian J. Teter, Pharm.D. (Northeastern University),
Sean Esteban McCabe, Ph.D., M.S.W. (University of Michigan), Kristy
LaGrange, Pharm.D. (Northeastern University), James A. Cranford, Ph.D.
(University of Michigan), and Carol J. Boyd, Ph.D., R.N. (University of
Michigan). The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on
Drug Abuse.

About Northeastern

Northeastern University, located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, is a
world leader in practice-oriented education and recognized for its expert
faculty and first-rate academic and research facilities. Northeastern
integrates challenging liberal arts and professional studies with the
nation's largest cooperative education program. Through co-op, Northeastern
undergraduates alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid
work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, giving
them nearly two years of professional experience upon graduation. The
majority of Northeastern graduates receive a job offer from a co-op
employer. For more information, please visit http://www.northeastern.edu.

"Jan Drew" wrote:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medi...=55427&nfid=nl

College Kids Choose Adderall Over Ritalin For Illicit Use

Drug abuse is bad, Jan, but what does it have to do with the agendas
of any of the groups you posted this to?

snip story about drug abuse
--
Peter Bowditch aa #2243
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