The old days of all night cram sessions fueled by strong coffee and caffeine pills (or no-doz) are somewhat a thing of the past. College students of today are turning to a more potent source of stimulant, prescription medication. The medications being used are stimulants like adderall, Ritalin or other medications that are prescribed for ADD or ADHD. These “Smart drugs” are stimulants, they are amphetamines that help the students stay up all night and make them feel as if they retain more knowledge in a lesser amount of time while on the drugs.
lcohol is still the most widely abused drug on any college campus, the problem with that is that alcohol is a depressant.
Many students say that the drugs are harmless and as long as they only use them around exam time there is no real threat to their health. However, after the exams are over and it’s time to celebrate the stimulants come into play again; just in a much different role. Alcohol is still the most widely abused drug on any college campus, the problem with that is that alcohol is a depressant. If you take an amphetamine before going out drinking or even while drinking the stimulant effects of the amphetamines make it so you can drink more and party longer. Of course the more you drink the more you lose your self-control and the more stupid things you do. Suddenly snorting a line of cocaine does not sound so bad, actually it sounds like a good idea, or a little bump of crystal meth would be ok after all it’s a party, right?
The old saying “it could never happen to me” does not fly when it comes to drug addiction. Drug addiction can happen to anyone; it crosses all boundaries and affects every social and economic class. A 21-year-old girl that was attending a competitive privet northwestern college said the same thing 2 years before she was forced to leave school for poor academic performance. Her parents had no idea why she had failed until she returned home and started hanging out with a group of “friends” that she had never associated with in the past. The drug use was obvious after a couple of weeks at home. Her parents said that their little girl went from straight A’s in high school and her freshmen year in college to a drug addict before they even knew there was a problem. It had started with a few pills from her roommate to help her stay awake while cramming for exams it ended in a trip to the emergency room where she had her stomach pumped and was on a respirator for a week. She had overdosed on a combination of different pills and alcohol. From that point it was into a qualified rehabilitation center where she learned the skills needed to live a productive life without drugs and alcohol.
Drug addiction is not a death sentence; Drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers have come a long way in the past twenty years. Success rates of quality rehabilitation centers are in the 70% + range today, and the fact that addiction is a disease and a life long illness is no longer the way we look at addiction. There are still traditional programs that believe that drug or alcohol addiction is forever and that you are powerless over your “disease” but their success in long-term sobriety is very low. The most successful addiction rehabilitation centers will teach the addict how to live a productive life without needing the artificial stimulants in their lives no matter what the circumstances are.
There is no such thing as a “Smart Drug”.
Doug Mcgarry is a professional addiction counselor that has been helping people into treatment for over 7 years. He has a great passion for helping families find treatment centers that can save their loved one from the cycle of addiction. His personalized approach when dealing with families and addicts alike has helped many addicts live a productive and successful life after addiction.