Knocking back a double espresso
on the sly at his dad's cafe used to be enough to give
Joey Monsanto that extra little buzz before a final exam.
But now he's in grade 12, and his grades aren't quite
what the Montreal teen needs to get into university. This
month's finals could make or break him. Before heading
out the door, he stops at the medicine cabinet and 'borrows'
a couple of his little brother's Ritalin pills to pump
him up for this morning's calculus and chemistry exams.
It won't be the first time.
STUDY
AID
Joey's not alone. Anecdotal evidence that suggests more
and more students are relying on stimulant meds like
methylphenidate (Ritalin) to boost their academic performance.
These drugs have become the study aid of choice for
many students desperate for high marks — most of
them kids with no signs of the attention deficit-hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) they are meant to treat.
Results from the 2003 Ontario Student
Drug Use Survey showed that 2.9% of respondents from
grades 7 to 12 reported using Ritalin for non-medical
reasons. "Although this is a small percentage," says
Dr Edward Adlaf, PhD, of the University of Toronto's
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, "it does represent
a fairly large number of students in this age bracket."
UNPREDICTABLE
SIDE EFFECTS
Dr Karen Leslie, staff pediatrician at Toronto's Hospital
for Sick Children, and associate professor of pediatrics
at the University of Toronto, cautions that while Ritalin
and Adderall may improve concentration and possibly
aid performance, this sort of self-prescribing (or sibling
'borrowing') is simply not worth the risk. "When taken
either in large doses than usually prescribed or when
taken in ways other than by mouth," she says, "they
can be released into the system in unpredictable ways.
Also, particularly when snorting them, as the pills
are made up of 'filler' ingredients such as talc, the
teens run the risk of aspirating substances into their
lungs which could be harmful."
The Ritalin black market has been
going strong for years in the US, says Dr Lawrence Diller,
a San Francisco pediatrician who specializes in behavioural
and developmental problems. Dr Diller says this pill-popping
practice is par for the course in schools and campuses
south of the border. "There are published reports from
various US campuses that report on the use of stimulants
and publicize the benefits of taking them," he says.
Parents have even been accused of being 'pushers,' urging
their kids to take the pills to get into Ivy League
schools.
Dr Diller, who's highly critical
of what he sees as an epidemic of ADHD overdiagnosis
in North America, sees a link between the culture of
academic performance enhancers and doped-up athletes.
"Using stimulants cheapens the effort and puts pressure
on others to use similar methods to keep up," he says.
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