Walking into the 1902 Room in Baker Library is always intimidating. The steady sound of consistent typing, slightly audible whispers and faces painted with looks of concentration surround you as studiers shoot irritated looks at students who rustle papers or get up to use the bathroom.
I normally can be found around midterm week in the 1902 room with its intensely bright lights, spitting out a paper due in several hours. Looking around, I've always wondered, What are these people on? And why after eight hours do I already feel faint while my fellow studiers seem so alert and focused?
In the wee hours of the morning when drowsiness sets in and willpower begins to submit to sleep, many students turn to their secret weapon of choice: coffee, tea, Red Bull, protein bars from Novack, sugary treats or, for some, prescription medicines.
"The first time I used Adderall was a little over a year ago. One of my good friends had it while I was sitting in Novack studying," one '08 male said. "I had made an effort to avoid it before then, but he made a guarantee that it would increase my productivity more than any Red Bull."
Adderall is an amphetamine that is prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. "In what seems an unexpected reaction, individuals with ADD tend to calm down under the influence of these drugs while individuals without ADD become hyperactive," the Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisor website explains.
One '09 male said via BlitzMail that he feels he needs the drug, perhaps because of an undiagnosed disorder. "I have terrible focus and motivational problems. I procrastinate a lot and get behind," he said. "Come crunch time, I have to fight what I have self-diagnosed as some sort of attention problem and sometimes the only way is to try a little something extra."
Dick's House Counseling and Human Development Director Mark Reed said that sometimes such "self-diagnosed" students come to Dick's House to try and get a prescription for an attention disorder.
"I would say a couple of students a week are evaluated for ADD. It's a fairly complicated diagnosis to make because almost everyone has some form of attentional problems," Reed, also a Dick's House psychiatrist, said. "We certainly have students that come in and say they have ADD and we say, 'Why?' They say, 'I tried my friend or roommate's Adderall and it helped.' That doesn't equal a diagnosis, just because a stimulant added to your performance."
Many students are correct in their assumption that the drug enhances focus, Reed said.
"If used in huge amounts they can impair performance but if used in small amounts they can slightly increase performance," he said.
Still, some students feel Adderall helps them focus, which is crucial when very little time is available.
"People think it's a miracle drug that puts you at an advantage. It just makes me happy to do work," one '08 female said.
One '09 male said it unquestionably boosts his performance. "I think it's great, and I know my GPA wouldn't be as good without it. This term, unless I do my work earlier, I'll use it because it's key for all-nighters," he said. "Unless I have that chemical it won't happen."
Adderall, although available, is less readily obtainable than other illegal substances such as marijuana. Dealers of other substances very rarely carry it, and students report that they normally receive it from friends who are prescribed the drug for ADD.
"My old roommate had a prescription and he would give it up," an '08 male said. "I don't think selling it is that common because the availability is really scarce and people need only one."
The female junior said students with separate heath insurance outside Dartmouth are able to obtain greater quantities than they would need for just themselves. "I think I know people who went to Dick's House and had it prescribed, and [also] get it from home and then have it re-supplied," she said.
Students report that an average pill costs $5, and the female junior described five pills for $20 as a good deal.
Some students blame their use of Adderall on an inability to positively deal with a campus culture that is at times competitive, stressful and time-consuming.
"My house seems to use of a lot of stuff like Adderall because of the same problems. Laziness, procrastination, and then you're f*cked. I guess it basically just comes down to how serious you are about schoolwork; if you are serious and do it on time, no need for extra stimulation. If you don't care that much and put it off, you need some help to get it done," the second '09 male interviewed said via BlitzMail.
Drug Abuse Peer Advisor Annie Son '08, who aids students with drug and alcohol abuse problems, said commonly used substances such as Adderall and Ritalin were only quickly skimmed over during her training program two years ago.
"We focused on the hard drugs. Back then we didn't focus on the important stuff that is actively used on campus a lot," Son said. She views Adderall as a growing problem that needs attention.
"There's all this pressure here, but I think it should be addressed because it's become a social way of cheating and a cop out," Son said. "There's always coffee and Red Bull, legal ways around it. I don't see a need to do anything illegally -- [just] don't hang out too much."
Although the use of Adderall without a prescription violates the College's drug and alcohol policy, no students have faced disciplinary action for its use.
"I haven't had any complaints or any reports filed on it as a judicial matter," Director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs April Thompson said. If such a case arose, "we would handle it as any student that is abusing a drug," she said.
Adderall use, though perceived by some as granting an unfair academic advantage, does not violate Dartmouth's academic honor principle. "The way our honor principle is written now, I don't think Adderall is a violation of our honor principle. We are more concerned about the mental health issue of it," Thompson said.
No statistics on Adderall use at the College exist, making it difficult to gauge whether the drug is becoming more or less popular.
"I think I've heard of students using it at Dartmouth, but I've had only one student admit to doing it," Lisa Thum, dean of the Class of 2007, said. "I'm sure there are more students out there than I know."
Despite its vaunted status as a miracle stimulant, the female junior admits that once she started taking it, she found it hard to stop.
"It's been harder not to take it and harder now when I don't have it, because I don't know that I could concentrate [without it]," she said. "Coming down from it can be really hard. It can be really rough, especially if you've been on it for a few days."
She relayed an experience when after taking Adderall before an exam she "couldn't think" or "write anything" and had to tell the professor it was due to lack of sleep.
"If I take too many I will cramp up and my calves and muscles and joints feel like they hurt. It also affects your appetite. Your mind freezes and you absorb less of what you're doing," she said.
The '08 male who first tried Adderall in Novack said that while he's had a positive experience with the drug, it's not suited for all students.
"I don't think it should be easily available to everyone, because it's very easy to fall into the trap to think you can't be productive without it. There's potential for dependence and addiction," he said. "[But] what really keeps me from doing it is how difficult it is to get it."
Positive results may lead to higher expectations that increase use.
"A lot of the time I spend trying to find it, I could spend studying," the junior added. "I know people that are like, 'I need to find an Adderall and then I'll study.'"
He feels Adderall is most useful for writing papers. If he were really struggling to write a long paper, he said he would take an Adderall pill after having finished all the reading and researching, then write the paper in six hours, nap, and head to class.
At Dartmouth, an Adderall user does not fit a specific image, making it difficult to detect those who use it and those who don't.
"It's very socially frowned-upon, unless you're with people you know who also use it," he said. "I feel like I'll be judged, not because it's illegal to use but because of what I think people will think about my habits."
Some feel that there's less of a stigma attached to those who use the drug infrequently.
"I only used it a couple of times and I'm definitely not a druggie, it's definitely not a big deal," one '07 female said.
