To you, it's a “super” drug that helps you finish a week’s worth of projects in five hours. But, for many like me, it's a “make me function normally” drug. I've had ADHD my whole life, and it has made seemingly simple things, extremely complicated and difficult. I've nearly failed out of entire grades of school, sat through countless parent-teacher conferences, spent hours upon hours with tutors, forced myself into hysterics night after night because I just couldn't do the same work as everyone else. I can't even read a menu in a restaurant if other people are talking too loud.
ADHD makes life messy, and having people constantly asking to buy your medication makes it even messier.
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To be fully honest, until high school, it had never occurred to me to take, buy, or sell medication to or from someone under any circumstances. In my naive mind, that was just not a situation; people did not take (let alone, sell) other people’s medicine.
However, when I went away to college, I had to buy a safe to keep my medication in, and I was highly advised to keep its location a secret. For the first time in my life, what had come to be a part of my everyday routine, now included retrieving, unlocking, relocking, and re-hiding my medicine. This process quickly became really inconvenient and annoying, to say the least.
That being said, I don’t sell my Adderall. Because of that, a lot of people have labeled me as stingy or self-righteous because I will flat out say “No.” whenever I’m asked. The way I see it, I pay for my own medication, that’s $30 per month. I wouldn’t give a stranger or low-level acquaintance $30 if they’re not helping me in any way and I certainly wouldn’t risk going to jail for such people.
Most people are so rude when asking about the medicine, as well.
“You seriously need all 30 pills?”
“Will you die if you just give me one?”
“No one is gonna find out, don’t be such a bitch about it.”
I have been asked a variety of these questions countless times by an array of acquaintances and strangers. In addition to these lovely remarks, there are many fan favorites such as,
“How much medicine do you have?”
“How much of it do you really NEED?” and,
“How much are you willing to sell it for?”
Those kinds of questions never fail to make me extremely uncomfortable, and honestly, a little pissed off. This is my medicine, why should I waste it on you? And, as far as the need versus want argument, how much do I need? All of it. I paid for all of it, I was prescribed all of it, so I’m going to take all of it. So to you all I say, do you seriously need one pill? Will you die if I don’t give it to you? If you keep asking me, I’ll make sure someone finds out. And, it’s not for sale.
ADHD is not just exuberant amounts of Adderall; a one and done kind of situation. There is a lot that goes into getting a prescription, which I’m sure many of you are aware of seeing as you came to me to get some. I didn’t waltz into a doctor one day and say,
“Oh hey, doc feeling a little inattentive and forgetful lately. Wanna cough up a few scripts of Addy to help me out? Thanks, you're a gem.”
There are so many bases you need to cover in order to get a prescription. Plus, if I sell you some, you tell your friend, they tell their friend, and so on and so forth. In the end, there won’t be any left for me, and I put myself at a greater risk of being caught. Furthermore, since Adderall is a controlled substance, doctors can only write prescriptions on a monthly basis. So, if I run out before the month is over, I can’t get any more until the next month.
With finals coming up just around the corner, the requests for Adderall will be exceptionally high. But before you ask someone with a prescription to “share” with you, ask yourself three things:
- Do I actually need this, or am I just being lazy?
- If I get caught, will the “rewards” be worth the repercussions?
- Am I taking something I don't need away from someone who does?
Bottom line, don't ask people for their medication. Taking Adderall from someone with ADHD is the same as taking Xanax from someone suffering high anxiety, Prozac from someone with clinical depression, or Zoloft from someone with OCD. Just stop doing it. Stop asking for it. Stop guilt tripping people for it. Stop stealing it. Be respectful of people’s disabilities.
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