Exploring Solutions to Illegal Prescription Drug Use in College

This essay addresses the critical issue of illegal prescription drug use among college students, driven by academic pressures, social life, and status. It provides background information on commonly abused drugs like Adderall, Vyvanse, and Xanax, detailing their effects and the reasons students turn to them. The essay highlights the importance of mental health, community support, and awareness programs in reducing drug abuse. Drawing from various sources, including a strategic plan used by the Chiefs of Ontario, the essay suggests solutions such as promoting confidence, increasing awareness of drug misuse, and implementing early identification and aftercare programs. The ultimate goal is to foster a trustworthy and supportive college environment that diminishes the need for prescription drugs by addressing underlying stressors and promoting healthier life choices. Desklib provides similar essays and resources for students.

Macpherson
Danielle Macpherson
Molly Ubbesen
English 102
12 July 2018
Assignment 13: Full Draft
This paper intends to answer the question "What are some solutions to decreasing illegal
prescription drug use among college students?" This question is extremely important to me
because of the amount of people surrounding me that have become addicted to the use of
prescription drugs to further their lives in college. The demanding college academics, social life,
and status cause students to have an increase vulnerability to the potential use of drugs in order
to alleviate some of the pressures they feel. By accomplishing this essay, I hope to have a clear
set of solutions to decrease the prescription drug abuse problem on college campuses. This is
important because the use of prescription drugs now, can lead to a higher use in the future and
potential addiction or reliance on the drug. This essay will serve to provide multiple solutions to
the growing prescription drug abuse problem along with some background information, going
beyond what the researched information provides, with either strictly background information or
strictly one possible solution. The format of this paper is as follows, a paragraph of background
information so the reader understands what these drugs do, and then each paragraph onwards
being a potential core solution to the prescription drug abuse problem on college campuses. This
will be useful because the reader can then fully understand the topic and then move on to
thinking about and possibly pursuing the solutions discussed.
The background of this project is the main prescription drugs that college students have
been using to succeed in their college lives. Prescription drugs are defined as a drug that must be
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distributed from a pharmacy that needs a legal medical prescription to possess. The ones that are
most prevalent are Adderall, Vyvanse, and Xanax. The first two drugs, Adderall and Vyvanse are
drugs that treat ADHD and other diseases, that cause the inability to focus or in medical terms,
and hyperactivity of the central nervous system (“Mental Health Clinician”). These drugs are
stimulants that college students use to better focus themselves on their school work and perform
better on exams. Xanax is a little different because it is a depressant and is used to treat anxiety
and panic disorders (“Xanax”). This drug is used by college students to relax themselves from
the stressors they face in college, and to get away from the anxiety and pressure they feel to be
perfect. This project will be laid out by background information leading the discussion and then
lead into solutions to the abuse problem.
The first source that I researched was the Guide to Abuse and Mental Health in College
and it mainly supports the background information but goes further to collect and highlight
specific reasons that college students turn towards the use of prescription drugs. Unfortunately,
the author of this source is not available on the website, but the source supports diminishing the
amount of drugs college students use due to the negative affects it has on their health. It
highlights the pressures that college students face that result in them using drugs to either
diminish the amount of anxiety or depression they feel or increase their focus in order to perform
better on exams or papers. This source forces me to question whether the real issue even is the
use of the prescription drugs or rather it is the mental health of the students; therefore, by
possibly solving the stressors students face could lead to the ultimate decline of the drug use.
One explanation of prescription drug use is as follows, “One way students are dealing with the
enormous pressure to excel academically is to indulge in what are sometimes known as “study
drugs,” pills and tablets that boost alertness and mental activity for hours at a time” (American
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Addiction Center). To obtain these “study drugs” as they call prescription drugs “is extremely
easy and prices increase during finals week for as much as $10 per pill” (American Addiction
Center). Mental health issues that college students face in their everyday lives results in an
increased intake of these drugs. The article talks about how students turn to drugs when they
want to be relieved from their everyday struggle of anxiety and depression. It also discusses
college student’s addiction to Adderall. “As it’s “America’s favorite amphetamine,” students
may even feel empowered to openly ask for (or buy) Adderall, feeling that it gives them a
competitive advantage in an environment where pressure and stress are taken for granted”
(“American addiction center”). It is stated in the article that “74% of the students that obtained
Adderall were given it by friends who had prescriptions” (“American addiction center”). This
raises the question that, is there a way to limit the number of drugs that a person is given so that
they need the specific amount for the prescription to limit the amount that would be able to be
sold? If the student is able to be selling their prescription then do they really need it? It’s a tough
thought because I am unsure how plausible this would be but I would like to look into it for a
possible solution to the overuse of these prescription drugs by college students. It makes me
think that doctors should be more on top of tracking the amount of pills the student is being
prescribed and using themselves, maybe they could use a log of the day and time they used it in
order to ensure they are using it themselves and when appropriate. This source is very important
to the background information because it addresses why and how these students are taking the
prescription drugs that they should not be.
The next resource I use in my paper is also for the background information mainly, it is
an article from a news website, CNN. It was published in 2014 and was written by Arianna
Yanes. The article reveals that Arianna Yanes is a respected author for the website by placing a
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“special to CNN” mark right after her name. Yanes argues that college students turn to the use
of prescription drugs in order to diminish the stressors of high achievement in their courses. She
goes on to talk about how the stressors of the need for high grades and the work load add to the
students believing they need to take these drugs. She talks about how students that were
interviewed did not believe that these drugs could affect them in a negative way. This source
adds on to the past source through talking about how students are turning to these drugs.
However, unlike the previous source that gave facts and statistics of the use of prescription drugs
this article goes a step farther to say that students don’t understand the negative impacts that
come from the use of these drugs. The article states that “81% of students interviewed (DeSantis
2008) thought illicit use of ADHD medication was "not dangerous at all" or "slightly
dangerous."” (“CNN”). This proves college students do not understand that these drugs could
lead to potential addictions and affect the body in a negative way that could lead to disease in
their body. The article states that “full-time college students were twice as likely to have used
Adderall non-medically as their counterparts” (“CNN”). This shows how the extra stress
surrounding full time college students could be the result to have a greater potential to use the
study drug. Many “students say they take these stimulants for the "right reasons," to be more
productive in classes and to stay afloat in the sea of intense competition” (“CNN”). Students
truly believe they are doing the right thing and improving themselves by taking these drugs. The
students’ use of these drugs seem right at the time, but with the potential that they could have
unmotivated feelings lingering in the background which could cause them to use them for other
reasons leads to why this use is wrong. The students also miss the fact with this mindset that the
use of these drugs is in fact illegal. Making signs and having students do internet modules like
they do for alcohol could potentially lower the abuse of these prescription drugs. Being aware of
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the negative effects and the understanding that it is in fact illegal and there can be major
consequences if one were to be caught using drugs that were not prescribed to them.
The background information at this point is provided with a few small solutions along
with it that could lead to a small decrease of use by college students. However, this next source
reveals a much bigger plan that was adapted by the Chiefs of Ontario to decrease their problem
of prescription drug abuse. This source is a book that was written by members of the Chiefs of
Ontario which is a political forum for the First Nations communities, it was published in 2010.
The book covers many ideas on how to eliminate the amount of prescription drug use that is used
within their community that could carry over into the lives of college students. The book lies out
a strategy on how to diminish the use of the illegal drugs and minimize the want to use them.
The author clearly put a lot of thought into the strategy due to the in-depth solutions they gave.
The book gives four broad factors that assist in diminishing the abuse of prescription drugs, they
are health promotion, healthy relationships, reducing the supply, and the continuum of care. This
book is similar to the other sources I have looked into in the sense that all sources agree that the
amount of prescription drug abuse needs to be addressed. Unlike the past sources I found, this
source focuses more on a strategic plan that could be used by colleges instead of just stating the
issues that come with prescription drug abuse. College students should be provided with and
attend “community health programming that promotes confidence and positive self-identity to
increase opportunities to make healthier life decisions” (Chiefs of Ontario, 8). This quote and
idea that is presented in the book provides a core solution to the prescription drug issue within
college students. Students use these drugs to feel more confident in their school work and social
lives but if they had more confidence and positive self-identity with a relief of some pressure
then there would not be such an issue. The first necessary action that colleges need to take would
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be to “increase awareness regarding the potential misuse of prescription drugs either intentional
or unintentional” (Chiefs of Ontario, 10). The paragraph that contains this source will focus on a
plan that was used by the Chiefs of Ontario but that can be adapted by college campuses to
ensure healthier community to decrease the amount of prescription drug use. Another portion of
the process to ending this abuse is ensuring the potential to do it is at a minimum. That is “early
identification of users who are abusing prescription drugs and after care programming” (Chiefs
of Ontario, 6). Thus, if a person is found to be using or giving away prescription drugs they will
be noted as someone to watch for future potential problem and they should be offered or given
an ultimatum to go to an aftercare program in order to stop their abuse of the prescription drug.
This source is similar to the past source from CNN because it highlights that similar to college
students, the people within this community are struggling to understand the negative impacts the
drugs could have on them as well. Therefore, in order to ensure a decrease in the amount of
prescription drug abuse in college, there must be a strong, trustworthy community that holds the
students up and provides them with security and awareness.
The next major solution to this problem is geared from a book source that sets out main
plans for colleges to grasp ahold of to decrease the amount of abuse of prescription drugs along
with other substance abuse within the college lifestyle. The book is from the Office of
Educational Research and Improvement in Washington D.C. and was written by John Welty. It
was published in 1990. Welty clearly forms a stance that the administrations within colleges
need to take action to diminish the amount of illegal substance abuse within colleges by taking
specific actions that he lays out within the book. Again, this source follows the same beliefs that
my previous sources also had, Welty believes that there is all in all a substance abuse problem
within college campuses and lays out a platform for diminishing the use of prescription drugs.
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Instead of discussing the more personal ways to start to end the problem, this book focuses on
the role of the university in ending prescription drug abuse. It provides a broad blanket over the
end of prescription drug abuse by creating barriers for students whereas the other sources provide
more specifics to individuals etc. College campuses must be “consistent with state and local
laws, campuses should not be sanctuaries where alcohol and other drug laws are unenforced”
(Welty, 15). This is a good quote because a lot of times college’s turn their heads and do not
acknowledge the behavior students are presenting but in reality, it will diminish the number of
students that are willing to try the drugs. Another policy that is in the book is that colleges should
ensure that they “specify clear and unequivocal consequences for not complying with policies”
(Welty, 17). This highlights a standard that colleges should stand up with in order to ensure a
decrease in the amount of drug use. Many colleges, specifically state colleges, tend to be lenient
on matter that are specific to drugs and alcohol when it does not directly affect them and they
allow students to justify their behavior; however, it is necessary that colleges are harder on
students who use these drugs illegally because it is only hurting their students in the long run to
be using them. Similar to the Chiefs of Ontario novel, Welty’s book also states the importance
of once being found to be an abuse problem then intervention and treatment should be provided.
Welty emphasizes that “Colleges and universities should have a system of intervention and
referral for treatment of students, faculty and staff” (Welty, 35). Therefore, Colleges’ must have
clear consequences and expectations, clear communication with the expectations of their
students, and a set up plan for student’s in case they fall short.
This next solution that I have found will be hard to come by due to the availability it creates
and how many shows, games, or movies present the so-called fun of doing drugs within
themselves is. The article I found serves as a good source because it emphasizes the issue with
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kids taking prescription drugs while also delivering statistics as to the likelihood of the students
becoming addicted. The author is Sean McCabe who has a PhD and as evidence from the article
clearly is informed on the topic of prescription drug abuse in college students. This article was
published as a research report in 2007. The article serves to show how students who have
specific backgrounds have a higher chance of becoming addicted to specific substances. Unlike
the other sources that are listed above, this source does not place blame on the stress of college
or lives of the students, but instead what they are being exposed to on the internet. I would like
to ask the source if by taking away these harmful actions in shows would that cause a decrease in
the overall tv consumption of students? This solution to me sounds like a great plan; however,
there are many ways that it could go south in the sense that people would be offended by the
comedy of their favorite shows being partially taken away. One quote that stood out to me was
“the increase of prescription rates abused are likely the result of many factors, including
improved awareness regarding the signs and symptoms of several disorders, increased duration
of treatment, and availability of new medications and increased marketing” (JAMA). Therefore,
like the other sources, it highlights how diseases can lead to the abuse of prescription drug abuse
and how the use of prescription drugs can lead to potentially more harmful diseases to come.
“There is growing evidence college students who report nonmedical use of prescription drugs are
heavily involved with alcohol and other drug use behaviors” (JAMA). This is an important
quote because it emphasizes the reason that this should be addressed because the more students
use these prescription drugs the greater their risk of becoming addicted to more, potentially more
harmful substances is. Thus, by partially ending the positive, funny outlook on drugs that come
from tv shoes and the media, there is a solution to ending the prescription drug abuse because
students will have a smaller desire to participate.
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This is a spreading and demanding situation that we must address and diffuse because of the
potential negative impacts that college students can be left with from the abuse of prescription
drugs. The outline of solutions that could potentially achieve this showed throughout the paper
in which students should be made aware of the dangers of the drugs, the consequences, and then
taken care of if they make the mistake and do become addicted. Although, the use of
prescription drugs is horrible we must also take a wider view of this and look at the reasons why
students are turning to prescription drugs and feel the need to rely on them. If we don’t address
the underlying issue of not feeling good enough, feeling to much pressure, anxiety and
depression and simply just take the drug away then the solutions are not even necessarily helping
these students. In order to decrease the amount of anxiety and depression, students should have
mandatory counseling periods to talk through their anxiety and stressors in life that would
potentially lead them to healthier lives that could end up leaving them without feeling they need
drugs. Another clear solution is to develop ways to get the word out about the harms of using
prescription drugs when not medically prescribed, so students will understand the harm they
could go through from these drugs. Finally, by creating plan such as the Chiefs of Ontario did
and the other book source there is a strong potential to develop processes to work through the
large drug problem that we find ourselves in among college students right now. The solutions to
the problem at hand is as follows, there needs to be a strong community base among college
students so they do not feel alone, having colleges follow the laws strictly enough so college
students understand there is no tolerance for illegal behavior, having mandatory counseling
sessions, and deteriorating the amount of drug and alcohol use that is broadcasted on tv. With
these solutions at hand it will be a difficult process but there is hope for a healthy outcome of
decreasing the prescription drug abuse among college students and in their future lives.
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Bibliography
Yanes, Arianna. “Just Say Yes? The Rise of ‘Study Drugs’ in College.” CNN, Cable
News Network, 18 Apr. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/heatlh/adderall-college-students/.
Joshua Fogel & Alexander Shlivko (2015) Reality Television Programs Are Associated
With Illegal Drug Use and Prescription Drug Misuse Among College Students, Substance Use &
Misuse, 51:1, 62-72, DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2015.1082593
“Guide to Abuse and Mental Health in College.” American Addiction Centers,
americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide
Final Report: Prescription Drug Abuse Strategy: Take a Stand. (2010). Chiefs of Ontario.
Upcraft, M., Welty, John D, & United States. (1990). A guide for college presidents and
governing boards: Strategies for eliminating alcohol and other drug abuse on campuses. U.S.
Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
McCabe, S., West, B., Morales, M., Cranford, J., & Boyd, C. (2007). Does early onset of
non‐medical use of prescription drugs predict subsequent prescription drug abuse and
dependence? Results from a national study. Addiction, 102(12), 1920-1930.
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Shari N. Allen (2014) Adderall XR® and Vyvanse™. Mental Health Clinician: January
2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 8-10.
“Xanax.” Dual Diagnosis, www.dualdiagnosis.org/xanax/.
COMMENTS ON ESSAY
Your work is okay in terms of content. You have researched on the sites you use to
address the issue of illegal use of prescription drugs and how the use of drugs can be reduced.
However, there a few issues that if improved on can make the essay an A grade paper. They
include:
 Your sentence construction is quite poor. Looking at some of the highlighted
comments, you find use of sentences like “. It makes me think that doctors should
be more on top of tracking the amount of pills the student is being…”. SUV
sentences draw attention away from the content the writer meant to address into
the essay and also place a lot of misunderstandings into the message that the
writer wanted to deliver while writing such statements. It necessary for the writer
to consult more with the lecturer on report writing as well as argumentative essay
writing in terms of format and how content is structured to serve the purpose of
the essay.
 More to that, there is poor use of punctuation is most of the sentences and also the
lack of use where needed. An example includes: “… to justify their behavior;
however,...” instead of “behavior. However,…”.
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 There is also a lot of grammatical errors in the essay like, “ another portion”
instead of “another option”. This makes the essay quite hard to understand as
some of these grammatical errors deter the message of the essay.
 Its important for the writer to use correct format of writing MLA intext citation.
He or she needs to research more and consult more from the library and other
sources on referencing styles and formats. It’s incorrect to quote in text citation.
 There is also inclusion of unnecessary information. This prolongs the essay and
makes it more distracting and rather a bit upsetting for the reader. The reader is
unable to concentrate on the message of the essay but rather concentrates on the
many errors made in the essay. There isn’t need for the writer to include
information about the writer of the sources and the publication years of the books
and other sources in the literature review. Such sentences are unnecessary as that
information will appear in the references. More to that, such unnecessary
information prolongs the essay and makes it tiring for the reader. A short, clear
and concise essay is always an interesting read. It serves the main message for the
essay or report and addresses the key issues of the paper. This makes it easier for
the reader to understand what the writer needed to address in the paper.
 The writer does make effort to point out on the reasons why students use
prescription drugs and what amounts of that drug they take. He also makes note
on what prescription drugs are preferred and by which category of students. He
also addresses the various solutions provided for by different sources in terms of
reducing the use of the drugs and ultimately ridding society of the problem.
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