Nonmedical Use of Adderall® among Full-Time College Students

According to The NSDUH Report: Nonmedical Use of Adderall® among Full-Time College Students, among persons aged 18 to 22, full-time college students were twice as likely to use Adderall® nonmedically in the past year as those who had not been in college at all or were only part-time students.

Adderall® is the brand name for an amphetamine formulation that is prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and for narcolepsy. Under the Controlled Substance Act, Adderall® is classified as a Schedule II drug because of its high potential for abuse and dependence. Nonmedical use is defined as use without a prescription belonging to the respondent or use that occurred simply for the experience or feeling the drug caused.

The following are brief findings from the report:

• Full-time college students who had used Adderall® nonmedically in the past year were more likely to be polydrug users in the past year than their non Adderall® using counterparts, that is, both to drink alcohol and use other drugs.
• Nearly 90 percent of the full-time college students who had used Adderall® nonmedically in the past year also were past month binge alcohol drinkers and more than half were heavy alcohol users.
• Full-time college students who were nonmedical users of Adderall® were almost 3 times as likely as those who had not used Adderall® nonmedically to have used marijuana in the past year (79.9 vs. 27.2 percent), 8 times more likely to have used cocaine in that period (28.9 vs. 3.6 percent), 8 times more likely to have been nonmedical users of prescription tranquilizers (24.5 vs. 3.0 percent), and 5 times more likely to have been nonmedical users of prescription pain relievers (44.9 vs. 8.7 percent).