Xanax, Oxycontin, Lortab, Percocet, Valium ... Sound familiar? For many college students, these prescription drugs are becoming increasingly popular and slowly edging out illicit drugs as the recreational drugs of choice.

"Prescription drug abuse is the second largest drug problem in the nation, after marijuana, as far as the number of users," said Mark Woodward, public information officer for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

"It doesn't get as much attention because cocaine and methamphetamines are ugly and violent and tend to get on the 6 o'clock news," Woodward said.

And in Oklahoma, it's no different.

"It's a tremendous problem in Oklahoma," Woodward said. "Sadly there is a mentality that if it is prescribed by a doctor, it must not be as dangerous as street drugs."

An estimated 9 million people over the age of 12 used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons in 1999, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse Web site.

Scott Faubert, chemistry junior, was first prescribed Adderall by a doctor 11 years ago. He went through eight months of screening and brain-wave tests before he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder.

Today he says he wants to stop taking the drug, but admits that it's hard.

"With Adderall, it makes you more focused, and it makes it easier to zone out distractions," he said. "I can get all my stuff ready and sit down and study for nine hours."

But, Faubert said, if he happens to pick up his guitar or turn on the television during that time, his focus changes, and he forgets about studying.

"I'm sure it's benefited me, but since I've been on it so long, I sort of wish I never started," he said. "It sucks. I don't really like it, I've been trying to break the habit this entire semester. I don't like having to depend on it."

The Latest Trend

In 2001, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that 12.8 percent of students in the study reported using prescription drugs recreationally in the past year. In that same year, 9.6 percent had used hallucinogens, 43.3 percent had used marijuana and 4.3 percent had used cocaine or crack. The study was later written into an article by research assistant Ethan Kolek.

"The main point of the article is that recreational prescription drug users were typified by greater drug use overall," Kolek said.

Compared to students who reported using at least one illegal drug but not recreational prescription drugs, Kolek said recreational prescription drug users were more likely to have used hallucinogens, cocaine or crack, inhalants and ecstasy, GHB and Ketamine.

"Recreational prescription drug users were also more likely than other drug users to report experiencing several negative consequences," Kolek said.

Of the students involved in the study, 60.9 percent of recreational prescription drug users said drug use interfered with academic work while 30.7 percent felt depressed due to drug use.

Woodward said the trend toward prescription drug abuse is popular for two reasons.

"One, because so many people are already taking prescription drugs. The odds are better that people will get hooked on it," he said. "Two is availability. For the most part, it is relatively easy to 'doctor shop.' Plus you've got the Internet. It's hard to order cocaine online and have it delivered to your door."

Woodward said addicts "doctor shop," going to multiple doctors for prescriptions and then going to multiple pharmacies to have them filled.

Prescription fraud goes under the radar, and most go undetected, he said.

"Its just as dangerous for young people because they steal it right from their home, as young as 12 or 13, all the way up to adults," he said.

But not everyone who uses prescribed drugs has a bad experience. B.G. Frankenberg, entrepeneurship and venture management and economics sophomore, said his doctor prescribed him the anti-depressant Lexapro for a few months before he switched to Zoloft. He took Zoloft for 2 years and has been off it for 6 months.

"I felt that I no longer needed it and that my situation had improved as well as my mental situation," Frankenberg said. "I noticed a good change with Zoloft, and it helped balance me out."

Frankenberg said he doesn't think his doctor was too quick to write him a prescription.

"I knew what was wrong, and I didn't want any red tape blocking my path to a normal life," he said.

No Sleep for Three Days

Faubert said he knows people who are not prescribed Adderall who have taken 180 milligrams in one day. He said some of them stayed up for three days without sleep.

Only in rare cases is it necessary to take more than 40 milligrams of Adderall in one day, according to FDA.gov.

"If they choose to use it, it's really their own problem because it will hurt them in the long run," Faubert said. "They could easily become addicted to it later."

Other side effects of Adderall often include loss of appetite and suppression of growth.

Faubert said that he has also gone three days, and sometimes longer, without eating after taking Adderall.

"You won't eat when you're on it, plain and simple," he said.

But Faubert's loss of appetite became even more of a problem after he was hospitalized for acute pancreatitis and lost 35 pounds as a result.

"Taking Adderall, it's almost impossible to gain the weight back," he said. "It definitely prolonged my recovery."

Unlawful Possession?

Besides physical consequences of prescription drug abuse, there are also legal consequences.

Kolek said the results of the study might not accurately report the entire scope of students involved in the study who were asked if they had used prescription drugs recreationally.

"In other words, if a student took his friend's Ritalin as a study aid, we don't know if he or she would have necessarily answered, 'Yes' to this question," he said.

According to the study, 11.4 percent were in trouble with police due to drug use.

Faubert said people approach him all the time to use his Adderall, but said he doesn't give it to anyone because he could get in trouble.

Lt. Leonard Judy, public information officer for the Norman Police Department, said that it someone is in possession of pharmaceuticals without a prescription, or is giving prescribed medication to someone else, this falls under unlawful possession or distribution of a controlled and dangerous substance.

Woodward said most people who are in trouble for unlawful possession or distribution of a controlled and dangerous substance argue for deferred or suspended sentences, and usually "argue down" to plead a misdemeanor. He said it is rare but possible to go to jail for the crime.

Treatment

At the Norman Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center, Director of Admissions Dave Mehta said the center treats prescription drug addiction with an individualized approach.

"If it's a real pain issue that started them on prescription drugs and then jumped into the pattern of abusing them, then I think it should be replaced by something," Mehta said. "But if it's not started because of that, just for the euphoria, than it can be dealt with like any other drugs, cocaine, heroine or anything else."

Mehta said the most popular prescription drugs that are abused are Oxycontin, Percocet, Xanax and Valium.

"Lately the trend is using muscle relaxers. But if you consider prescription drugs in general, Lortab is one of the big ones," he said. "The younger population is definitely the biggest users (of prescription drugs)."

Kolek said in the study, there was no difference in who reported recreational use of prescription drugs by sex, class year, on- or off-campus status or age.

"In other words, men and women were equally likely to report recreationally using prescription drugs, as were students who lived on campus and students who lived off campus, older and younger students and so on," Kolek said.

The Future

Faubert said that now it's too easy for anyone to obtain a prescription for medication.

"It's a joke," he said. "All you have to do is go up to a doctor and say, 'I have trouble studying, I have trouble doing one thing at a time.' "

Woodward, however, said over-prescription by doctors is not the problem.

"Doctors are very careful," he said. "I think in most cases, doctors are doing what they can to make sure they don't over-prescribe, which is why addicts go to so many different doctors."

OBN is working on a new online database that will tie all the pharmacies in Oklahoma together. It will show how many prescriptions have been filled for a patient.
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