Troops admit to abusing prescription drugs

About one in four soldiers admit to abusing prescription drugs, most of them pain relievers, in a one-year period, according to a Pentagon health survey released Wednesday.

The study, which surveyed more than 28,500 U.S. troops last year, showed that about 20 percent of Marines had also abused prescription drugs, mostly painkillers, in that same period.

The findings show the continued toll on the military from fighting wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003. Those wars have required troops to serve multiple combat deployments.

“We are aware that more prescription drugs are being used today for pain management and behavioral health issues,” Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire, director of the Army Suicide Prevention Task Force, said Wednesday. “These areas of substance abuse along with increased use of alcohol concern us.”

The survey showed that pain relievers were the most abused drug in the military, used illicitly at a rate triple that of marijuana or amphetamines, the next most widely abused drugs.

When It’s Crunch Time at College, Students Turn to Adderall

Can ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) stimulants like Adderall (amphetamines) be the answer for college students looking to increase academic performance? They think so.

It’s a week before final exams and you haven’t begun studying. These general education classes are, simply, a drag and you’re already tired from fraternity, sorority or extracurricular activities. Besides, your friends are partying this weekend anyway.

You should, (A) clamp down and study for a few hours every night this week, pacing yourself for finals. But you know you’ll probably (B) start absentmindedly perusing your books four days before the exam to make yourself feel better, or (C) free your mind of finals worries until two days before testing, then pop an Adderall pill and spend 10 and 12 hours a day in the library maniacally whirring through your textbooks.

For a small, but growing, minority of college students, the answer is clearly (C).

In 2005, a national survey found that students’ nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (like Adderall) ranged from zero to 25 percent among four-year colleges and universities. Building on this prior research is a 2009 study, headed by Duke University‘s David L. Rabiner, which explores why these students chose to illicitly use these prescription stimulants.

Overwhelmingly, college students use prescription ADHD stimulants to concentrate better while studying and to increase academic performance. These results might shock a few but — as many college students (and freelance journalists) know — the Adderall culture has been a long established university tradition for overachievers, underachievers and chronic procrastinators.

Are Mind-Enhancing Drugs a Dangerous Fad or a Great Way to Get Ahead?

In the middle of the exam season, the offer of a drug that could improve results might excite students but would be likely to terrify their parents. Now, a distinguished professor of bioethics says it is time to embrace the possibilities of “brain boosters” — chemical cognitive enhancement. The provocative suggestion comes from John Harris, director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics.

Ritalin is a stimulant drug, best known as a treatment for hyperactive children. But it has also found a ready black market among students, especially in the US, who are desperate to succeed and are turning to it in preference to the traditional stimulants of coffee and cigarettes. Users say it helps them to focus and concentrate, and this has been confirmed in research studies on adults.

See also:

Scientists Back Brain Drugs For Healthy People

Students ’should be given smart drugs to get better exam results’

Kids with ADHD Taking Meds Do Better in School