Studies show that students feeling the pressure of combining studying and working part-time jobs are turning to prescription stimulants to stave off exhaustion.
July 6, 2005 08:42

Recent research by the University of Wisconsin found that up to 20 percent of students had used these drugs without a prescription. Half of the students surveyed said they knew of someone who either sold or gave away the medication, which is prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit disorders.

Members of the medical profession hope that a new movie will thrust the problem of prescription drug abuse into the spotlight. Members of Congress and Hollywood stars in Washington attended a private screening of the film on Friday.

"These are serious stimulant drugs," Linda Chamberlin, coordinator for the Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse at USF, said. "Things like elevated blood pressure and, on some occasions, increased aggression, cardiac arrhythmia, all the things you get with major stimulants are certainly potential side-effects ... as far as abuse of them, that's certainly been increasing over the last five years and somewhat over the last 10 years as more of them have been prescribed."