Adderall: Why It's Becoming a BIG Problem

Over the past few years, I have become more and more aware of a particular situation in the pharmaceutical industry. The abuse of amphetamine drugs, which are meant to help people with ADD/ADHD, is making it harder and harder to get for the people who actually need it. Drugs like Adderrall and is seeing frequent overuse especially with college students. The high stress and heavy workloads associated with college life makes students think, "Hey, how about I use the focusing medicine that ADD kids use so i can focus better?" The drug is sold illegally to these students without prescription, which is why authorities are making it difficult to get these drugs for those who don't "need" it. Another issue is paranoid parents seeing their young child do one thing like show a little bit of hyperness (which is technically normal for younger kids) or have a little trouble in school and suddenly it's "HOLY SHIT MY KID HAS MENTAL ISSUES GIVE HIM/HER MORE MEDICINE!!!." OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but it still happens.

As someone who actually needs this medicine, this pisses me off. Obviously, I am not on the severe side of the ADD/ADHD spectrum, because their are kids much worse off than me. But since those kids get priority, kids like me will eventually be unable to obtain medication if this trend continues. It will be all downhill from there. Also, kids who aren't prescribed for medication will face serious side effects, since they think "more is better" and will take WAY more than a single human should take. Their bodies are not used to it, and will react violently. Sometimes, it ends up being fatal.

Part of the solution is that people need to be educated. Educated about why Adderall is reserved for certain people and NOT for everyone else's needs. Just like any other drug, too much can seriously do harm to you, especially in large doses. Also, they need to be taught that what they are doing is going to make things harder for the rest of us AD/ADHD kids to function properly. The list goes on and on about what to tell them, but something needs to be changed. I don't exactly know what or how, but SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO SOMETHING.