Exams students 'fuel up on Ritalin'
May 26, 2004
Students at St Andrews University are risking their lives by taking a powerful brain "steroid" to get through exams, it was claimed yesterday.
Insiders at the university attended by Prince William, claim Ritalin - used
to calm hyperactive children - is being taken in high doses to fuel all-night
cramming sessions.
According to the student newspaper The Saint, students are crushing tablets,
which cost £2 each, and inhaling, snorting or injecting them.
Medically supervised, Ritalin, a brand name for methyl-phenidate, can calm down boisterous youngsters and help adolescent sufferers of Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorder.
But according to journalism student Lauren Stewart, writing in The Saint, the illegal use of the addictive class-B drug has replaced traditional student stimulants such as cannabis and caffeine pills.
She said: "Students take the drug prior to long study sessions and
exams. Readily available outside the library from the ‘right people’, it
helps the user to concentrate."
Student leaders and doctors yesterday warned its use could affect the long-term
health of the brain and can put lives at risk.
And coming down from a Ritalin "buzz" can be as physically severe as a Class-A drug, inducing melancholy, nervousness and lethargy.
In some cases, it precipitates convulsions, paranoia, and formication, the sensation of "bugs" crawling under the skin.
Dr Rowdy Yates, of the Scottish Addiction Studies centre at Stirling University, said: "Ritalin keeps you focused and awake longer, but at a cost. There is, sooner or later, a ‘crash’.
"It carries addictive potential and the serious risk of paranoid
psychosis, indistinguishable from schizophrenic paranoid psychosis. It is a very
serious danger."
The use of Ritalin has spread from campuses in North America and Australia,
where it has been prevalent within student communities for several years.
Users report that it induces a "surreal" state of high concentration.
Ms Stewart reported that Ritalin was being obtained through the internet.
She said: "Recent findings branded this drug more potent than cocaine if taken as a liquid."
She said it was a "quick fix" in the students’ "rapid-fire culture" and, in some quarters, had overtaken traditional ‘midnight-oil burners’ such as strong coffee, stimulating "sports" drinks and caffeine pills.
University officials claimed yesterday there was no evidence that the drug was being used as described.
But one student, who did not want to be named, said: "I would say use of Ritalin is as widespread as caffeine tablets.
"A lot of my friends take it the night before an exam. They take one or two tablets and work until 5am on the morning before the exam."
It is a worrying trend, according to Alistair Ramsay, the director of
Scotland Against Drugs, who said: "There is no shortcut to study. There are
grave risks in using drugs, and students who think it will improve performance
need to be aware of the dangers."
Mandy Telford, the president of the National Union of Students, said: "The
pressure on students is immense, but instead of turning to substances they
should seek advice from welfare officers. Using drugs is not a long-term
solution."
A spokesman for St Andrews said the university had no evidence for the use of this drug, but if anyone did have knowledge, they should tell the police.
Under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Scotland) 1971, possession of Ritalin is punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years and/or an unlimited fine.
The drug has always been controversial. Some medical experts describe it as a "chemical cosh" that turns children into zombies.
Last year in Scotland, 33,604 Ritalin prescriptions were issued, an increase of 12,000 over four years. In UK terms, the number of children prescribed it is at a record level of 254,000 prescriptions annually.
One of the dangers, according to doctors, is that not enough is known about how the drug will affect its users in the future.
"There have been no studies that establish the long-term effects on
brain function," said Professor Martha Farah, a psychologist and expert in
the field. "It could be that such a drug alters the way the brain works,
fundamentally changing personality. It may even have unanticipated consequences,
such as speeding the brain’s decline with old age."
However, Ritalin’s reputation was recently enhanced when scientists discovered
that it was beneficial to sufferers of Parkinson’s disease when it was
combined with a mainstream Parkinson’s treatment, such as Levodopa.
The number of patients showing an improvement after taking both drugs rose from 36 per cent to 86 per cent.
Source: The Scotsman: http://www.scotsman.com/