Last February, the University’s Institutional Research Office conducted a survey on the use of prescription drugs on campus. The finding? Students think they are taking a lot more study drugs than they actually are.

According to the study, in which 430 students participated, those surveyed believe that 92 percent of the student body has taken non-prescribed prescription drugs. In reality, the survey found that 24 percent admitted to illegally using prescription drugs.

More specifically, the study concluded that 20 percent of the student respondents reported taking them between once a month to once a year, and four percent said they took them between once a week and once every two weeks.

According to P. Davis Smith, the medical director of the Davison Health Center, these numbers are not entirely surprising. To Smith, they suggest that Wesleyan has normal rates of prescription drug abuse as compared to other elite liberal arts colleges in the Northeast. These schools often have the highest rates in the country, he said, yet the rates are often not nearly as high as people believe them to be.

The Users’ Perspective

To those immersed in the world of prescription drugs, however, such findings are suspect.

Steve ’11, who wished to remain anonymous, does not believe that every student on campus abuses prescription drugs. At the same time, he questions the survey, claiming that the type of student who would complete it is the type who would abstain from drugs.

“I think [drug use] is higher than [the survey’s results],” said Steve, who regularly abuses prescription drugs. “Maybe it’s 50 percent that do it once a week, and 10 percent do it three times a week.”

Steve himself uses non-prescribed study drugs both to complete his schoolwork and to relax on the weekends. His levels of self-medication changs on a week-to-week basis in relation to how much work he has and the availability of the drugs.

“If I take Adderall or a Provigil or a Concerta it helps me concentrate and do work if I have a lot due the next day,” Steve said. “I hate asking for extensions, so I just end up taking an Adderall and doing the work.”

When drinking alcohol, Steve often snorts a Valium or some other muscle relaxant. He says it keeps him in a euphoric state.

Will ’10 believes the issue of prescription drug abuse not only concerns a larger part of the student body than the survey suggested, but is part of a broader generational trend.

“We’ve been called ’Generation XR’ [extended release],” he said, referring to the effects of the long-lasting “extended release” version of the study drug Adderall. “We’ve been born in the wake of medicine fixing every problem.”

Will very much considers himself a member of Generation “XR,” as he began taking prescription drugs at an early age for medical reasons. For most of his childhood, he said, he was “constantly high.”

When he reached college, however, he tried to go off the stimulants in an attempt to discover who he was without the drugs.

“My first year of college I smoked a bunch of weed,” he said. “Sophomore year I started taking uppers. Second semester I had to write a 17-page paper. I was stressed as hell, took all these pills, and I liked it. “

Of course, not everyone popping prescription drugs is abusing them. Plenty of undergraduates are legally prescribed stimulants to counteract a learning disorder, or are given painkillers after going through surgery. Although these students are not abusing prescription drugs, they still play a major part in the campus culture of pharmaceuticals, as they are often the main suppliers of prescription drugs.

As a child, Nate ’11 had trouble concentrating in school and practicing music at home. He tried a series of prescription drugs including Adderall, Medadate and Strattera, before settling on Provigil, which he still takes every morning for his diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder.

For Nate, the drugs are a necessary part of his day, but he finds himself often handing them out to friends who need a boost while studying for an assignment due the next day.

“If a friend wanted one either to try or as a study aid it’s up to them,” he said. “I’m not going to sell to strangers though. I don’t have enough.”

A Cultural Issue?

Although Smith agrees that prescription drug abuse has become increasingly prevalent on college campuses, he believes that the assumption that study drugs have become the norm is a result of “patchiness”—isolated bubbles of society in which prescription drugs are particularly popular.

“In America, geographically in the Northeast, prescription drug abuse at colleges is very high,” he said.

In particular, Smith noted that study drug abuse is particularly high among male fraternity members with lower GPAs who attend selective universities. Black college students in the Southeast, he said, are far less likely to abuse the drugs.

Although Smith does not condone the abuse of prescription drugs, he admits that users generally do not experience any medical harm. However, he strongly advises against mixing prescription drugs with any other substances, such as alcohol.

“The most common medical harm is extreme intoxication,” he said. “[Prescription] drugs make alcohol much more intense. You black out sooner. It increases the risk of date rape and any other regrettable activity.”

Smith also noted that addiction to prescription drugs is uncommon, but not impossible. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has recommended adding warnings to drug labels that would cite side effects such as insomnia, irritability and loss of appetite, as well as—in extreme cases—paranoia, hallucinations and heart attacks.

Overall, Smith says, prescription drug abuse does appear to be on the rise, especially at schools like Wesleyan.

“It’s commonplace for [students] to abuse prescription drugs,” he said. “The issue is they’re trying to treat something else that’s going untreated. Maybe they have bad study habits, a learning disorder, or unreasonable goals for themselves.”

Although the students interviewed readily admitted to being part of the prescription drug trend, they were often critical of it, describing the issue as a broader symptom of American societal problems.

“[Americans] just want a quick fix,” said Steve, who is an international student. “That’s the American mentality.”

According to a report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, between 1992 and 2002, the number of prescriptions for ADHD medications increased in the U.S. by 369 percent, reaching a level of 23.4 million per year. By 2005, according to a report by the pharmaceutical information and consulting company IMS, 31.8 million ADHD prescriptions were handed out. The vast majority of prescriptions, the report concluded, were for Adderall.

Will believes that the trend began with overworked professional mothers who used prescription drugs to counter their overworked schedules. Americans—including college students—now increasingly subscribe to a culture of efficiency that logically ends in the increased use (and abuse) of prescription drugs, he said.

“America is the most drugged country in the world,” Will said.

The Ethical Debate

Despite the presence of a campus prescription drug culture, some students choose to abstain altogether from using study drugs.

“I’m a busy person, and I don’t even drink caffeine,” said Rose Agger ’10, who is a Peer Health Advocate.

In general, Agger believes that prescription drugs are never worth abusing.

“I would absolutely never do it,” she said. “I do not think it’s ethical.”

Such moral judgments, Will said, are unnecessary.

“There’s unfair resentment from people who don’t take it,” he said.

If a student decides to abstain from study drugs it is their own choice to make, Steve says. For this reason, Steve feels that taking an Adderall to write an essay is not cheating, but is merely a way of utilizing the available resources.

“It’s so widely prescribed that it’s kind of impossible for someone not to know someone who has it,” he said.

Ultimately, Smith questions the ethics of taking a stimulant to cram for an exam, but believes that the decision is not his to make for the campus.

“My gut sense is that it’s cheating,” he said. “But I think that’s a community decision to be made.”