Students Uninformed on Ritalin, Adderall Abuse

The solution: Make them watch that Saved By The Bell episode where Jesse Spano nearly overdoses on pills.

School's back in session, which has made the sidewalks pleasingly teenager-free in the afternoons. It also means that prescription-drug abuse season is about to kick into high gear, just as the Canadian Medical Association Journal's editors pen an editorial suggesting high school and post-secondary students don't understand the risks involved with taking Adderall or Ritalin, and that using those stimulants is just like using performance-enhancing drugs in sports. The doctors warn that the side effects of attention-focusing drugs are rarely if ever discussed in school classrooms, which can lead to use of the drugs becoming normalized among students. Abuse of Ritalin-type drugs can lead to overdoses, death, long-term health problems like heart arrythmia, and depression, and taking a pill mimics the effect of using cocaine or speed. But all that's often overlooked by students who want an extra boost to get them through an all-nighter or mid-terms, kind of like academic Ben Johnsons, leading the CMAJ to say universities ought to launch measures along the lines of anti-smoking campaigns to inform students of the risks involved with popping pills.