Many students are taking midterms and exams now, or they will be taking them shortly. Instead of studying or cramming in the normal ways, some students unfortunately turn to substances that they will think will help them study. These substances include Adderall, Concerta, and other drugs.
Adderall and Concerta are prescription medications. Doctors prescribe these drugs to help children and adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The doctors hope that the medications can help people with these conditions focus and control their hyperactivity and impulses.
Students who use Adderall and Concerta improperly can put themselves in great danger. That’s because they’re stimulants, substances that stimulate processes in the body. Side effects of stimulants include
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure
- Elevated body temperatures
- Sleep problems
- Appetite changes
Adderall is an amphetamine. That name alone is scary, because it brings to mind methamphetamine. Many people with even a casual knowledge of drugs know about meth, even if they’ve only seen a few episodes of the television show Breaking Bad. Even though it was fictional, the program graphically depicted what methamphetamine could do.
Concerta can be dangerous as well. Drugs like Concerta and Ritalin (another drug used to treat ADHD) are known as methylphenidates, drugs that can produce the same dangerous reactions that other stimulants produce.
Students might take Adderall and Concerta to focus on their studies. But if students are experiencing racing pulses and other dangerous side effects, they certainly won’t be able to focus on their studies.
Even if they don’t experience health-related effects, students who abuse Adderall and Concerta might run into other problems. If they don’t have prescriptions for the drugs, they’re buying and using them illegally. This could result in legal problems. Buying these drugs could be expensive, which could also create financial problems.
That’s not even taking into account all the other negative consequences of drug addiction, which could include alienation from friends and family, school- and job-related problems, and other substantial problems. Abusing Adderall and Concerta could end up costing students dearly.
