“Well, I promised myself I would never have to do that,” said the demure, straight-backed young blonde across from me in a tone as fresh and pure as a newborn baby’s. It was final exams week last December and six of us sat in the lower level of the university library, huddled on various couches around a coffee table stacked high with notes from our classes; the young blonde was giving her opinion on, and effectively silencing, a brief conversation that arose in which Adderall was the chief subject.
The dynamics of the study clan, all of whose GPAs are above 3.5, was constructed of two students that refused to take the substance, two others who took the medication during exam week and one that stood indifferent to the usage of the popular medication Adderall that has seen a booming market across American university campuses.
 CNN recently interviewed an Auburn University senior that seeks out the “study drug” before any big exam; the student, Jared Gabay, details the ease and relaxed atmosphere that comes with the buying and selling of Adderall studying purposes: “It’s easy – not sketchy or perceived in a bad way.” The article continues and presents a two-sided response from the medical community on the substance’s illegal use; a psychiatric professor details the possible side effects and long-term damage that can arise from abusing the medication, while a group of scientists from the journal Nature encouraged the careful legalization of the medicine and others of its kind for general use.
These champion the benefits of increased cognitive awareness: “Safe and effective cognitive enhancers will benefit both the individual and society.”
The article also states that 30 percent of students have tried Adderall, but omits the demographic that exists for the students I personally know who use the study enhancer: a vast majority of students who take the substance are not the average C student. Rather, these are those wholly devoted to their studies and feel the pressure to succeed; notwithstanding the dire circumstance of being passionately intelligent matched with the necessity of maintaining off-campus employment during the academic year.
With the American economy continuing to decline and tuition at our school creeping upwards year-by-year, more students are being asked to be both successful in academia and chief provider of their own finances.
With all of these responsibilities, how can the popularity of Adderall be viewed as an “anomaly?” Some will read this article and say, “But you know exams are coming. You are just not well prepared. It really is your own fault.” However, the following is a real exam schedule of a classmate: Three comprehensive exams spanning 15 novels, three 10 to 12-page research papers in the aforementioned classes, an oral exam and presentation in a foreign language, and one last eight-page research paper and presentation in another class. I kindly ask you, the reader, how could anyone complete such an academic course load and not be compelled to take drugs? Yes, there are those among our student body capable of executing the above curriculum with ease, but the vast majority of students will feel the drain of off-campus responsibilities and meet three options: cram all night and hope to make the desired A accept lower grades and hope for better next time, or turn to medication to for the desired lift.
If there is to be open dialogue between students and the university, the notion that users of Adderall are “lazy” or “poor planners” must be undone; legality aside, there is no more moral corruption present in taking Adderall than in swilling back half a bottle of liquor in the Cotton District. If my assumptions are correct that these purchasers are the top-tier in terms of GPA, how can we remedy Adderall’s continued popularity?
Perhaps MSU will go the way of poorly designed pamphlets warning of possible addiction and seizure-induced flailing on the ground, or overhaul study workload to align with the lifestyle of the modern student. While a great many students will be successful without Adderall, this writer can only forecast a rise in its usage– and perhaps our university’s GPA.
Joshua Bryant is a senior majoring in English. He can be contacted at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.