Youngstown Daily Legal News

OSU study sheds light on prescription drug use at colleges

ALLISON SLONAKER
Special to the Legal News
Published: November 11, 2015

College students say it’s easy for them to obtain prescription medications for misuse.

That’s according to the 2015 College Prescription Drug Study, conducted by The Ohio State’s Center for the Study of Student Life in cooperation with the universities Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery.

The study was conducted in five states, at eight universities and included 3,918 students.

Stimulants, such as Adderall, were found to be the most common, but there are others being used.

“Overall, one in four undergrads reported that they used prescription pain medications, sedatives or stimulants for non-medical reasons in their lifetime,” said Anne McDaniel, author of the study and associate director of research and data management at OSU’s Center for the Study of Student Life.

Eighteen percent of undergraduate students reported misusing prescription stimulants. Eighty-three percent of them received the drugs from friends.

Seven out of 10 students say it was somewhat or very easy to obtain a controlled stimulant without a prescription.

Students most commonly use them to study and help improve grades.

Two-thirds of students surveyed said stimulants had a positive effect on their school.

Kenneth Hale, a clinical professor of pharmacy at OSU and associate director of HECAOD, disagrees with the students.

“Studies have shown students who misuse stimulants tend to have lower GPAs,” Hale said. “Some students think of them as cognitive enhancers, but they are really cognitive compensators for students who didn’t go to class, didn’t study and have to stay up all night to cram for a exam.”

Pain medication is the second most misused prescription drug, used by 10 percent of undergrads. About one-third of these students said the meds were very easy to obtain.

Nine percent of students said they have used sedatives, with 44 percent saying it was easy to obtain the meds.

Hale said the driving force for why students misuse has changed over the years.

“At one time, college students most commonly misused to get high,” Hale said. “But today students also use medications to self-medicate, to manage their lives. They are using drugs to control pain, to go to sleep, to relieve anxiety and to study.”

Fifty-five percent of the misused pain meds were used to relieve pain, 46 percent said they used to get high.

More than half who misused sedatives said their main aim was to be able to fall asleep, while 85 percent of stimulant misuse was used to study and improve grades.

One concern with the misuse of these prescription drugs is the danger of it leading to more drugs, such as “street drugs.”

The survey found more than half of undergrads had used illicit drugs in place of prescription meds with the main reason being they were so easy to get.

Marijuana is the most common illicit drug replacing prescription meds, used by half of undergrads who misused controlled drugs, followed by cocaine and hallucinogens at 19 percent.

Nearly 2 percent have used heroin, which Hale finds very concerning.

“There is a lot of media attention given to recent rise in heroin and for a good reason,” Hale said.

The move to illicit drugs isn’t the only concern of misusing prescription medications. Depression is one side effect, noted by 20 percent of students who used pain meds, 14 percent of sedatives user and 9 percent of stimulant users.

Nearly one-third of sedative users experienced memory loss, along with 17 percent of pain med users.

McDaniel notes these drugs are prescriptions for a reason and should be used correctly.

“Students need to be under the care and supervision of a physician when they are using these powerful medications,” McDaniel said.

Both McDaniel and Hale believe the results from the survey shows there needs to be more education and interventions with college students regarding these drugs and misusing them.

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