While I am currently on my fourth semester of college, there is an issue that I have seen growing with each passing round of final exams. This issue? The Illegal use of stimulant drugs. By definition, stimulant drugs are a means of medication that helps you stay focused, medicine that helps people with ADHD and ADD, most commonly used Adderall. Adderall, Vyvanse, or other stimulants have now become a means to help stay awake and focused to many people who aren’t prescribed. This is where the illegality comes into play. Found on a college campus, 80 percent of people who are prescribed Adderall have been asked by their peers to use it. I, personally, am a struggling Chemical Engineering student, I have failed more exams than passed because well it’s hard, and sometimes it’s hard to stay focused and motivated. Even though I have been more stressed than thought imaginable, the thought never crossed my mind to take a friends ADD medication to help me stay focused because of one reason, cheating.

Taking any medication that is not prescribed to someone to help them study is illegal and would be deemed cheating by the university, not to mention a felony. And to anyone who has ever taken them, you are only hurting yourself. Giving yourself a crutch that isn’t always going to be there is the easy way out. People say that it helps them because they have trouble staying motivated and focused, but that’s just the point. Adderall’s not always going to be there to use when motivation is low, the point is to learn to be disciplined. Work ethic must be learned, and if it never becomes a habit then the real world is just going to be a struggle. And to the people who take them, is it really because there actually isn’t enough time in each day to get everything done? Or is it because maybe there were a few too many parties last month and skipped classes and now the entire semester of material has to be learned in one day?

Many students also don’t realize the long lasting effects of taking this drug. It has been shown that Adderall is just as additive as cocaine. It can cause a physical and physiological dependence. So in your mind you may just be trying to pass that one hard class but really you’re starting an addiction that can follow you past college.

To current and future college students, I urge you to not take the short cuts in life, because that path doesn’t end well.