8 Ways to Respond to Student ADHD Drug Abuse
Training about misuse of prescriptions and revised policies regarding diagnosis, treatment and drug diversion can help to address this issue.
ADHD Medications Do Not Improve Academic Achievement
ADHD medications are popularly thought of as cognitive enhancers referred to as “study drugs” and “academic steroids.” The drugs do, in fact, enable students to stay awake longer to pull all-nighters. However, not a single study has been able to link ADHD medications with long-term improvements in academic performance – a rigorously established scientific fact that is rarely publicized in the popular media or pharmaceutical marketing materials.
In contrast, hundreds of studies have documented that ADHD drug treatment is associated with short-term improvements in focus and performance on boring, repetitive tasks. However, these gains do not translate into improvements in higher-order learning, scholarship or other achievement.
New and compelling evidence suggests that ADHD medications result in deterioration of academic and social-emotional functioning over time. A Princeton economist recently led the analysis of robust and objective data collected on a national level over a 14-year time period. This study showed that negative effects of ADHD medication were most pronounced in terms of boys’ academic outcomes and girls’ emotional outcomes.
Current State of Affairs
Here are a few things that we now know:
- ADHD is over-diagnosed in the United States, and the vast majority of students are medicated for the condition to improve school performance
- After more than 30 years of research, not a single study has shown that ADHD drug therapy improves long-term academic achievement or learning
- The more a drug is prescribed, the more it will be diverted for abuse and recreational use
- ADHD medications are now so pervasively available on high school and college campuses that students falsely perceive the drugs as relatively safe
- U.S. teenagers and young adults are now using ADHD medications for a host of non-medical reasons that have contributed to substantial increases of adverse events, including emergency room visits, accidental overdoses and suicides.
Because the diagnosis of ADHD is most often made in response to sub-optimal academic performance, what role can and should school campuses play in reversing the trend to overuse the ADHD label and associated drug therapy? As long as ADHD drug abuse remains a significant problem among teenagers and young adults, what actions can and should school campuses take to minimize it?
Recommendations to Promote Student Safety and Success
ADHD drug abuse is a multifaceted problem that schools alone did not create and schools alone cannot solve. Nonetheless, in light of the widespread abuse of ADHD medications on college campuses and a growing number of high school campuses, it may be advisable for every educational institution to take some or all of the following actions to combat the problem of ADHD drug abuse:
- Discontinue distribution of pharmaceutical-funded ADHD educational materials because they have been demonstrated to oversell the benefits of medications and minimize their risks. Limit the use of direct-to-consumer promotion of ADHD diagnosis and treatment through sponsored talks, movies, seminars or other activities by outside professionals or groups that have ties to the pharmaceutical industry (such as CHADD) or other potential conflicts of interest.
- Provide in-service trainings to faculty and other school personnel about the nature and magnitude of the ADHD epidemic and associated ADHD drug abuse crisis. Emphasize effective school-based strategies and community resources that are available to help students with behavioral problems that are commonly associated with ADHD.
- Offer programs for parents of K-12 students to provide them with information about the ADHD epidemic and escalating problem of ADHD drug abuse. Encourage parents to appropriately monitor the use and abuse of such medications, especially among students in their teens.
- Implement student and parent orientation modules or other systematic processes to raise awareness among college students and their parents about the illegal status of diverting ADHD medications (which is a felony) and the health risks associated with non-medical use of such drugs.
- Look for ways to harmonize ADHD drug prevention initiatives with pre-established school and community programs that support student health and learning, including other drug and alcohol prevention programs.
- Examine school policies regarding ADHD diagnosis, treatment and drug diversion to ensure that they promote adequate evaluation, consideration on non-drug interventions and judicious use of stimulant medications.
- Consider adopting the position that non-medical use of ADHD medications represents a form of academic dishonesty akin to using “academic steroids” that can harm student health and the school milieu.
- Communicate to the school campus and surrounding community that the institution is systematically addressing and monitoring the problem of ADHD drug abuse and describe any specific s
trategies or polices that are implemented to prevent it.
Gretchen LeFever Watson, Ph.D. and Andrea Powell Arcona, Ph.D are president and senior consultant for Safety and Learning Solutions. Review article references and helpful links.
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