Adderall, the prescription drug often prescribed to kids with ADHD, has been under scrutiny for being overly prescribed.
But, as The Huffington Post reports, the drugs aren’t always being popped by the kids they’re intended for:
“Will Wooton, a drug counselor who deals with teens at Pacific Treatment Services in California, estimates that 15 percent of parents who bring their kids into his office are addicts as well.”
Fox5 San Diego reports that parent addicts may be partly responsible for the shortage of the drug: “More adults are reportedly abusing Adderall by taking it when they’re not supposed to, which is leading to the shortage, doctors said.”
The drugs appear to be popular with both Super Mom wannabes and overscheduled college students.
“In addition to weight loss, the drug is fabled to give you laser focus and the ability to quickly accomplish your entire to-do list,” reports Shape.
A study at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis found that one in four adult ADHD patients fakes or exaggerates symptoms to get prescription drugs, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Pills were going for as much as $20 apiece on the University of Minnesota campus, the article reported.
“I have so many gorgeous, smart friends who are only skinny and smart because they pop Adderall like Tic Tacs. Sometimes it just sucks because instead of ‘cheating’ and taking a magic pill, I wake up at 5 a.m. every day to go run and then stay up late to finish my work like a normal person. It makes me really jealous of them,” one college student told Shape.
The abuse is unlikely to end soon, some experts say. Most doctors rely on self-reporting to diagnosis adult ADHD. And because you can get the pills at your local drugstore, as opposed to a dealer on a street corner, people underestimate the danger. In fact, Wooton told Fox5, they are often “extremely dangerous.”
