Erin Rafalowski

Procrastination doesn’t pay off.

But even though Katie, a junior, knows she needs to prioritize her class work, there are inevitably last-minute papers to write and exams to cram for. So, after a full day of classes and studying, Katie pops a pill to stay awake for an additional eight hours.

Since Katie’s senior year of high school, she has used Ritalin or Adderall without a prescription as a study aid.

On college campuses, “popular” drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall, Vicadin and OxyContin are used as study aids or party drugs. When snorted, injected or otherwise used in a non-medical capacity, the drugs have strong stimulant effects that can keep a user awake for hours and induce a euphoric effect.

“I know it’s not good for you,” said Katie, who used the drugs 10 times last semester. “But in a pinch, it helped me get through finals.”

According to a 2000 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an estimated 3.9 million people in the United States currently use prescription drugs for non-medical reasons — i.e., where the drug was not prescribed for the user or was used only for the experience or feeling it caused.

College students are the second largest group that abuses prescription drugs, outnumbered only by the elderly. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse estimated that in 2001, seven million people ages 18 to 25 used drugs non-medically for the first time.

At Ithaca College, three to five cases of prescription drug abuse are handled each semester, said Master Patrol Officer Dirk Hightchew. However, he and other staff members know the statistics don’t accurately reflect the problem.

“We have to be in contact with them, to be inside their personal areas or be doing a search on them, on their person, to actually come across this,” Hightchew said.

Ritalin and Adderall are the drugs most frequently found, he said. Vicodin and other painkillers are other, lesser-used prescription drugs on campus. Medical Effects

Arpi Hovaguimian, executive director of Tompkins County’s Alcohol and Drug Council, and Priscilla Quirk, coordinator of the college’s Health Promotion and Substance Abuse prevention program, said students are under the misconception that because a doctor prescribes medications like Ritalin or Adderall, that misuse of the drugs is not dangerous.

“Unfortunately, sometimes people think of prescription drugs as being safe because you know the quantity, you know the quality, you know the intended purpose,” Quirk said.

Misusing prescriptions can have adverse effects for both the students taking pills and the prescribed users giving them away, said David Newman, director of the Hammond Health Center.

“At therapeutic doses, [Ritalin and Adderrall] appear to be remarkably safe,” he said. “If you give Ritalin to someone who is normal, [he or she] may notice a boost in [his] ability to concentrate, or sustain concentration. But high recreational doses could cause students problems.”

Potential side effects of Ritalin or Adderall abuse include insomnia, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, palpitations, headaches, changes in heart rate and blood pressure, tremors and muscle twitching, anxiety, abdominal pain, weight loss, digestive problems, psychotic episodes and severe depression when use is stopped. Overdosing can cause flushing, tremors, hallucinations and seizures.

For Katie, the negative effects of taking Ritalin manifest themselves when she finally wants to get some sleep. But after more than 24 hours of being awake, it’s impossible to catch just a two-hour nap because your body needs even more sleep, she said.

“It’s hard to catch up when you’re awake that long,” said Katie, who knows another student who once inadvertently took enough Ritalin to stay awake for two days straight.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the risk of addiction to prescription drugs is much greater than that for prescription drugs used properly.

Mike, a senior, got a taste of how easy it is to become addicted to prescription drugs when he was given Vicodin after his wisdom teeth were removed. He was advised to use the medication on the first day and then as needed.

“It felt so cool laying there that first day in a state half awake and half asleep,” he said.

Mike said he continued to take the medication, even though he was not experiencing any pain.

“Looking back, I finished taking them just for that feeling,” he said.

Campus Safety Investigator Thomas Dunn said he is particularly concerned about students who mix prescription drugs with alcohol to get high. He said people underestimate the effect of prescription drugs on the body.

“Prescription drugs should never be taken with alcohol,” he said. “It’s a very dangerous combination. Two plus two can equal five because we don’t know what the reaction will be … and when people take a narcotic or controlled substance, their body doesn’t necessarily have a way to expel that.” The Drug Trade

Katie doesn’t worry about where she’ll find Ritalin or Adderall when she needs it for finals or some last-minute studying before a big test. She simply turns to the people she knows who have legal prescriptions for the drug.

“During finals week, people are very generous,” Katie said.

Ritalin and Adderall are common prescription drugs among college students, said Newman. He makes the majority of psychiatric prescriptions for the Health Center, and estimated that he writes 20 to 50 each year for those drugs.

Because there is a large number of students who are legally prescribed the drugs, it is easy for others to obtain them, Hightchew said. He said one pill of Ritalin can go for anywhere from $1 to $3, but a lot of people just give them away.

Hovaguimian said that she has heard of people in the county selling other prescription medications for up to $15 per pill.

Matt, a senior, tried Ritalin this summer after hearing stories about the drug’s effects. He also got the pill from a close source. “I got it from my brother,” Matt said. “He just gave me one of his. He has a prescription for it.” Matt said the experience was a one-time thing.

“It just kept me awake,” he said. “It’s not something I would do again.”

Less frequently, students get the pills through falsifying prescriptions.

Because there is no objective test or measurement to diagnose diseases like depression or ADD, it is difficult to be certain the diagnosis is accurate, Newman said. Rather than relying on a measurement, the diagnosis relies on a skilled interview and some judgment.

“There is a fair amount of subjectivity in it,” he said.

Newman said even though he doesn’t often see cases where students intentionally try to mislead him and obtain a prescription, the Health Center has several precautions to prevent students from falsely obtaining prescriptions.

The Health Center follows New York state prescription laws mandating that a physician in New York must refill prescriptions for out-of-state students, or arrangements must be made for the prescriptions to be mailed from the student’s home. Either a physician’s record or documentation on the school’s health information form is required to fill an out-of-state prescription at the Health Center.

The Health Center also closely monitors the frequency of refills. Students must show valid photo identification before they can pick up prescriptions, and are sometimes asked to make an appointment with a physician before refilling a prescription.

“If I get a request for a stimulant medication or any other medication and I really can’t convince myself that I know why this student is on it, I would ask them to come in for an appointment,” Newman said. “We try to stay aware of our role as helpers, not as policemen. So our mind-set of refilling prescriptions is that we trust that people are being straightforward with us, and I think that almost always is the case.”

But Hovaguimian said students who can’t buy black-market pills wouldn’t have a tough time faking symptoms to get a prescription.

“If a person wants it, they’ll get it,” she said. Search and Seizure

In all reported incidents of non-medical prescription drug use at the college, the drugs were located after Public Safety officers responded to an unrelated complaint, Hightchew said. He said finding the medication is “hit or miss” because it is small, odorless, easily hidden and often used in conjunction with other drugs like alcohol.

When searching a room, officers check all prescription bottles as well as any pills in plain view, said Public Safety Investigator Laura Durling.

If officers find another person’s medication or any medication not in a prescription bottle, the officers confiscate it as drug paraphernalia until the student provides proof of prescription, Durling said. Officers enlist the help of online resources, local pharmacists or the State Police crime lab to identify single pills.

“Sometimes it’s been a legitimate ’script, but without the documentation there, we’ll confiscate it,” she said.

Students are charged through the college judicial system, Durling said, and in select circumstances can also be charged with a criminal misdemeanor.

Federal and state laws classify Ritalin and Adderall as Schedule II Controlled Substances for their high potential for abuse. Other drugs in the category include opium, morphine and cocaine.

The minimum judicial sanction for possessing prescription medication would be a semester of disciplinary probation and some kind of drug use education, saidMichael Leary, assistant director of the Office of Judicial Affairs.

“We want to balance the probation piece with the education,” he said. “I get the feeling that the students who are doing this get the feeling it’s not dangerous to take someone else’s prescription.” Staff writer Michelle Theis contributed to this article.