Tori, an Ithaca College senior, sat at her cluttered desk. The sheets and comforter on her bed were twisted in chaos. A bag full of clothes and a backpack full of books and notebooks lay in the middle of her floor.

She forced down the end of a key to crush a 10-milligram pill of Ritalin inside a small plastic bag. The pill broke into smaller pieces. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the drug being crushed against the hard desk. She ran her finger across the plastic to make sure the pill was fully ground up.

Some of the powder seeped out of the bag, and Tori cleaned the area by collecting the powder on her finger and licking the contents. She poured the rest onto a textbook next to her computer.

Tori’s first experience with stimulants, like Ritalin, was in high school when she was 16. She had access to Adderall from a friend who took the drug on a regular basis and had heard from others that it would help her concentrate in class.

Ritalin and Adderall are stimulants prescribed to patients diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. These drugs stimulate the central nervous system by changing chemical levels in the body, said Louis Munch, associate professor of health promotion and physical education. When caffeine doesn’t help concentration, Adderall and Ritalin allow people to focus on their work, especially when they are on a tight schedule, said Munch, who teaches a course in psychoactive drugs.

“Curiosity got the better of me,” Tori said.

A large population of students across college campuses in the United States has been misusing Ritalin and Adderall for educational and recreational purposes.

The 2003 Monitoring the Future study conducted by the University of Michigan reported 12.5 percent of people between the ages of 19 and 24 admitted to using Ritalin for non-prescription purposes in the past year. Students find that these drugs allow them to concentrate solely on their work, and students say they are able to perform better.

In 2004, the Health Promotion and Substance Abuse Prevention Program conducted a Core Alcohol and Drug Survey for the Ithaca College campus. According to the survey, 12 percent of Ithaca College students admit to using amphetamines in their lifetime. In addition to Adderall, amphetamines include drugs such as diet pills and speed. Ritalin does not fall into this category.

The Core Survey also reported 6.8 percent of students admitted to using amphetamines at least once in the past year. However, when students were asked how often amphetamines where used on campus, 68.6 percent believed the average student had used these drugs at least once in their lifetime.

When on Adderall, Tori paid more attention in class, took more notes and felt smarter. She said the drug gave her extra energy she needed to burn. She would spend time drawing pictures and allowing her creative mind to come to life.

Tori tried Adderall a few more times in high school because she wanted to improve her academic performance. For as long as she can remember, Tori said her parents have always put pressure on her to get good grades. She said she always felt she needed to perform better than other people. Her parents expected only As, and any grade lower than an A-minus would disappoint them, she said.

Tori continued to use Adderall or Ritalin when she started her freshman year at the college in 2001 to help her meet her parents’ expectations. She continues to feel pressure to succeed not only from her parents, but also from the college environment. She said there is a constant competition in college to perform at her best and produce the best work.

“You feel like if you are getting As, then you will be a successful person,” she said.

However, Tori said she does not actively seek out Ritalin or Adderall. Only when she knows she can get the drugs easily will she contemplate using them. Tori said when she couldn’t find people who had Adderall or Ritalin prescriptions, she would drink coffee to stay awake longer and finish her work.

“I will not go to great lengths to find it,” she said.

Students who misuse Ritalin and Adderall often have easy access to these drugs because they know others who have prescriptions. Tori said she knows a lot of people who have Ritalin or Adderall. Her friends give her pills for free when she wants them. Some students sell their prescriptions to others on campus.

“If your dealer is someone you’re not close with, then he or she will probably charge,” Tori said. Dealers who Tori did not know personally charge an average of $5 per Adderall pill or give her deals — $10 for three. She said she usually gets Ritalin for free or $1 each. Tori prefers using Ritalin because she finds it cheaper on campus, and she has easier access to the drug than Adderall.

Three months ago, Tori used Adderall before her Graduate Management Admission Test. She said she was very nervous. But the Adderall made her feel even more anxious.

Munch said Adderall and Ritalin have become popular among college-age students because the drugs give them the perception that they are working better. He said some students use the stimulants before graduate exams and college boards.

A negative side effect from taking these stimulants is after the drug has worn out, people will go through a period of crashing where they have no energy left, Munch said. Also, Adderall and Ritalin function as psychological reinforcers which can lead to addiction.

“When you’re sitting there, you’re thinking, ‘This is a really, really important test; this is going to mean a lot, especially for grad schools,’” she said.

Tori said she believed she did better on the GMAT while on Adderall than she would have otherwise. Though she was not happy with her average score, Tori said the Adderall helped her concentrate on the exam and stop her mind from wandering so much.

Tori sometimes feels overloaded with work and finds she does not have enough time or stamina to finish her assignments. In these cases, she uses Ritalin to jolt her brain to function faster than normally. She also explained sometimes she is so bored with her work that Ritalin makes her more interested in what she is doing.

Several other students, who would not talk on the record, said they used stimulants when they are uninspired by their work and do not have enough time to finish assignments.

An Ithaca College sophomore, who asked to remain anonymous, said last year he resold his Adderall prescription to students for $2 to $4 per pill. He found that during midterms and finals week he would sell more pills because students were trying to cram. During those two weeks, the price per pill increased to $5 each.

“Adderall is huge,” the dealer said. “It’s like another form of currency.”

He explained Adderall simply was a cure for laziness and people who take it feel “good, productive and more confident in their ability to do work.”

However, the dealer also said many students were using the Ritalin and Adderall for recreational purposes.

“Some use it as ‘poor man’s coke,’” he said. “I don’t support that.”

He stopped actively dealing prescription Adderall in January. Now, he said he only helps out close friends who need to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time.

After pouring the powder onto a textbook, Tori proceeded to use a credit card to cut the crushed Ritalin into perfect lines.

She had driven home for a graduate school interview and back to Ithaca within 24 hours, and now Tori had less than 12 hours to put together a major presentation for a class.

Two short, thin lines of white dust lay in front of her. She glided one line closer to her, pressed her finger against her right nostril, bent down closer to the white line and inhaled the drug.

Tori said snorting the Ritalin has a faster effect on her brain. Simply ingesting the pill means she would have to wait for its time- release effect. She moved the second line towards her. With a quick snort, there was nothing left.

Tori said the drugs give her the feeling that she is working at her highest potential.

“I don’t know what it is, but [Adderall and Ritalin] tap into that part of your brain that makes you more creative,” she said. “It makes you more theoretical. It helps you look at different aspects, makes you more perceptive.”

As Tori’s college career approaches its end, she finds she has benefited from using Ritalin and Adderall. She said she thinks the stimulants have helped her produce her best work.