Imagine that you’re still feeling the after effects of downing six tequilas the night before, you desperately need a hot water bottle and sleep, but you have three days until your assessed essay that marks the difference between passing and failing your degree needs to be handed in. The pressures of student life are being blamed for the abuse of prescription medication that has crossed the Atlantic and is sweeping through universities in the UK.
In desperate circumstances, a growing number of students across the country are resorting to cheating the exam boards through the use of readily available stimulants such as methylphenidate, commonly known as Ritalin. Already infamous at primary schools up and down the country, where it is estimated that in some areas around 10% of children are given the drug at some point to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Ritalin is growing in popularity among university students. Easy to buy online, for as little as 40p a pill, or from students prescribed the drug, it is nevertheless without a prescription a Class B drug, carrying up to a 5 year prison sentence for possession or 14 years for dealing.
While prosecutions seem to be unknown, it is easy to see why authorities are treating recreational use harshly; on a molecular level Ritalin is very similar to cocaine. Although ADHD can be treated effectively when Ritalin is taken in small controlled doses, when taken as a study aid, concentration is in general still improved, but the effects are in general more like recreational drugs such as speed and can cause dangerous side effects and in some cases, addiction.
Students are increasingly turning to Ritalin during all night study sessions and writing for essay deadlines. Tablets are generally taken orally to aid concentration over long periods, meaning coffee and Red Bull are being replaced with drugs to help students study for hours at a time. Concern has been rising in the US for the previous decade, with up to 18% of students admitting having used Ritalin or other performance enhancing drugs such as Modafinyl or Reminyal to boost their studies.
Although far less students seem to be relying on amphetamine-based stimulants in the UK, the temptation of ‘Vitamin R’ is proving hard to resist; Oxford University has already registered its concern over the use of Ritalin on its campus. It is becoming obvious the use of prescription drugs is not simply a matter of surviving a rare all-nighter, with many students becoming increasingly dependent on the drug and using it regularly to simply manage the pressures of studying and to balance their work with a job, social life and involvement in societies. Studies in the US also show that those who begin using prescription stimulants as a study aid often use it increasingly like other recreational stimulants like MCAT, while BBC report makes disturbing reading in its revelation that teenagers as young as thirteen are buying Ritalin off other pupils for the high or to lose weight.
Worryingly, those who choose to see Ritalin as a method of boosting their ability to study and gain higher marks count in their number a significant amount of experts; Professor John Harris from Manchester University has recently publicly shown his support for the adult use of Ritalin as a ‘brain-booster’, claiming the restrictions on its use are unfair. The ethics of Ritalin use may be a grey area, but the dangers surrounding the drug have been the subject of many scientific investigations for years. The debate over the acceptability and safety of drugging up primary school pupils on amphetamines is still raging. But the dangers of the drug, for both children and adults taking it on a non-prescription basis, have been made clearer by recent studies.
Although some experts maintain that when taken under medical supervision it poses no danger, thousands of websites offer a differing opinion. Parents and schoolteachers of children taking Ritalin report that children taking the drug for a long period of time often become withdrawn and depressed, and suffer from insomnia, nervousness, skin conditions, nausea and dizziness and heart palpitations; children as young of 12 are also buying Ritalin as a weight loss drug, leading to some cases of anorexia. What makes the reports online shocking is that these symptoms have all been found in children prescribed Ritalin by a doctor and taking it in controlled doses; when students use Ritalin without any medical guidance, the dangerous side effects are most definitely exacerbated.
Students using stimulants such as Ritalin in uncontrolled doses run a considerable risk from the short term effects of what is essentially overdosing on amphetamines. Students using Ritalin have experienced the same effects as those taking too much speed or MCAT – insomnia, dizziness, nausea, nervousness and heart palpitations. While these effects are generally short-term, students who find themselves increasingly dependent on the drug in order to study and socialise run the same high risk of addiction. This danger is worsened by the relaxed attitude towards Ritalin – if eight year old kids take it, then surely its safe for a man of twenty to take it? What students don’t realise is that by using it regularly to get better grades, they may be slowly becoming physically and psychologically addicted to what is essentially an illegal drug.
I talked to two students with very different experiences. Barney* has been taking Ritalin for over ten years for a mild form of ADHD, and has never suffered from any side effects. Although he no longer takes it every day, his doctor still prescribes him Ritalin, which he uses during exams and essay weeks. “It helps me study – it improves my concentration, without it I still get really distracted”, he told me. “When I was ten it stopped me being mental! I was awful without it!”. And is his use an unfair advantage? “No, I have adult ADHD, a certified medical condition. By using Ritalin, it levels the playing field and lets me perform as well as any other student that doesn’t suffer from it”.
- Adverse side effects of Ritalin can include dizziness and abdominal pain.
Sinead* has also used Ritalin in the past, but does not have ADHD. “I have taken it occasionally when I really need to study, it helped me concentrate and work for far longer than I normally would”, she told me. Is it fair? “I work really hard at uni and it helps me work even better – it’s not like I’m cheating or undermining the work of other students by taking it”, she argues, but will she continue taking it? “Possibly not, last time I had some my heart was beating noticeably faster and it did feel a bit like I’d taken a small amount of MCAT or something, it did worry me a little. But, I was really panicking about getting my work done and it may have just been the adrenalin rush”.
Dangers aside, the illegal use of prescription stimulants on campus raises questions of ethics that mirror the debates over the use of steroids in sport. While some argue that Ritalin is a viable way of aiding concentration and boosting grades, others maintain it is little more than cheating. Is it acceptable to use ‘smart drugs’ to get a better degree when other students rely on hard work and caffeine? Whatever the risks, many students who use prescription drugs a study aid have found that they are able to concentrate better and work for longer periods of time – should it be a matter of personal discretion or an issue for universities to devise policy on?
*Names have been changed for confidentiality purposes