Amphetamines started as diet drugs in the 1970's. But lots of students since then have turned them into a drug to keep them awake and help them concentrate. Here, the drug of choice is a recent brand-name blend; students look high and low for this brain stimulant and even pay other students for it. Students who have ADD and ADHD are prescribed it and then sell it to other students to make a profit.
The bad part is the fact that many students do not realize what they are getting into. These are the types of drug that should only be used in a controlled way for pharmaceutical purposes and for the person they're prescribed for. Google the commonly-prescribed ones and you see a whole list of side-effects, including headaches, restlessness, sleeplessness, mood changes, and uncontrolled muscle movement. I've seen all these, but there are worse ones as well, all the way to heart attack and death. These, thankfully, I haven't seen. And of course, dependency.
What's worse, some students take them in a very different way from what they were intended for; for example they take an 8 hr extended-release version, do homework until 10pm, then go out and drink. Needless to say, the combination of these drugs and alcohol is even more unpredictable – I've seen that too. The same person who's relatively normal after lots to drink and just a bit restless after the tablets became pretty scary after the tablets first and then the alcohol. Seems to me that after a few more times like this, the only people who'll want to do things with him are other druggies.
I see amphetamines as a quick fix. In the longer term, apart from the health risks, my fear is that these people will wake up some day and realize that they`ve spent so much time maxing their efficiency and productivity that they have forgotten to truly live their lives.
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