This letter to the editor was submitted by Addie Fairley, a junior studying business law in response to a State Press article titled "Arizona college students reveal their stories about using learning stimulants."
If you have made it into college without the use of study drugs, you are more than capable of sitting down and studying on your own. Doing well in school requires a proper mindset, and turning to amphetamines is a cop out way of getting the job done.
Those who take drugs like Adderall without being prescribed them not only take away from those who put in the effort to study without the use of a crutch, but they also create a stigma about the drug for those who truly do have attention deficit disorders.
According to a study by The Medicine Abuse Project, 5.3 percent of college students are currently prescribed ADHD medication. However, between 4.1 percent and 10.8 percent of college students reported using prescription stimulants for non-medical reasons.
If this generation allows itself to become dependent on drugs to accomplish something as simple as studying, how will people ever get anything done without the use of drugs? What will the future work force look like?
The improper use of amphetamines has the potential of becoming a gateway drug; this could add to the thousands of opioid overdoses that a have happened in the valley in the recent years. By allowing oneself to become hooked on any sort of substance, it creates a vulnerable opening in which one can become addicted to additional substances, which leads down a spiraling staircase of doom in which one becomes a helpless, non-contributing member of society.
We do not want this to be our future.
ASU health services should recognize that study drug prescriptions are causing a real problem, and it should offer alternatives on campus for students to find a solution to the students' mental health issues without the use of these life-sucking substances.
It is essential that students learn that taking shortcuts by using study drugs is not an option.
They need to use their brains, sit down and do their homework. Otherwise, their dependency on drugs will destroy their personal freedom, motivation and any chance of a successful future.
Reach the columnist at addie.fairley@asu.edu or follow @Addieannfairley on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this letter to the editor are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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