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Zachary Ball

English 111

Lindsay Drumm

AMS Final Draft

July 29 2014


Student Zombies:

Prescription Drugs in College


Jeffrey, a freshman in college and a top student in his graduating class,
stares at a pile of homework and begins to wonder how he will finish all of it
by midnight. He remembers a friend of his explaining to him that a blue pill
could help him focus and get it done on autopilot. Jeffrey decides that this is
the best option for him and later consumes the pill that he acquired from his
friend. He slowly evolves into a homework machine and continues to use this
strategy throughout the entire semester, turning into a student zombie. An
uprising epidemic of zombie-like college students has resulted from non-
medical prescription use. Prescription drugs such as Adderall, Xanax, and
Vicodin are being consumed by college students for reasons such as
cramming for tests, finishing homework, or just to get high. Whatever the
reason may be, college students are discovering easy ways to get their
hands on these prescription drugs. What students dont realize when taking
these pills are the health and academic problems that are associated with

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such actions. Selling and buying prescription drugs within a college town
creates an illegal underground and high-demanding market, which fuels the
student interests getting involved in such activity. What solutions can
experts seek to stop the use of prescription drugs on college campuses?
Prescription drugs that arent self-prescribed have a negative effect on
college students regarding academics and health, it is important to prevent
the illegal use of these drugs and the distribution among college students.
College students nationwide are consuming non-medical prescription
drugs for all of the wrong reasons. According to the National Institute on
Drug Abuse, young adults from the age of 18 to 25, are the biggest abusers
of prescription pain relievers, ADHD stimulants, and anti-anxiety drugs.
(NIDA para. 1) With that said, the area of abuse resides within college
students for the most part. The amount of deaths resulting from overdose of
non-medical prescription drugs in that age bracket over the past ten years
has increased by two-hundred and fifty percent. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention has declared prescription drug abuse a national
epidemic that costs 20,000 lives and $72 billion dollars a year (PR Newswire
Association, (PCMA para. 2). Pill abuse has become a main issue, particularly
on college campuses. A very in-depth research was conducted at a large
midwestern university featuring Sean McCabe and Christian Teter comparing
the nonmedical users of prescription drugs to other types of drug users
regarding related problems. Results showed: Over 90% of students who

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reported past-year nonmedical prescription prescriptions also reported using
other drugs (not including alcohol) in the past year (McCabe & Teter, 3.1).
The study surveyed 3,639 undergraduate students, and almost all of them
reported being polydrug users. College kids that are under the influence of
multiple non-prescribed drugs causes a dependency or addiction that can
become difficult to break. This is an issue because people will build a
tolerance and begin dosing at an unhealthy amount. With that said,
students may feel the need to use prescription drugs because of the
pressure and workload that they encounter throughout the school year.
Motivation of use is different for everyone yet it has a distinct pattern
for most abusers. A very common scenario that can be the start of an
addiction is simply using leftover opiates from a past surgery for the
intended use to get rid of pain. Once the prescription runs low, the patient
seeks to find more and learns that a refill isnt possible at the strength of pill
given previously. A web survey conducted, introduced by James Zacny and
Stephanie Lichtor, showed the following responses from college students
from four different universities: Please provide the reason(s) why you used
pain medications not prescribed to you, and were shown a list of motives
that included, because it relieves pain, because it gives me a high, because
of experimentation, because it helps me sleep, because it helps decrease
anxiety, because it's safer than street drugs, because it counteracts the
effects of other drugs, and because I'm addicted (Zacny & Lichtor para.

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13). This causes an issue especially when students become dependant on
such pills and continue to overuse a certain pill because of its effects.The
education of the student is at risk due to the constant need of being high
when coming down which results in less time spent on homework or even
going to class. Although these pain prescriptions may help with eliminating
pain, they have serious side effects that can be harmful to ones health.
The use of non-medical prescription drugs may result in negative
health risks and are solely intended for those prescribed due to a prior
condition. Amelia M. Arria, a Ph.D from the University of Maryland, and
Robert L. Dupont with an M.D, both authors of Nonmedical Prescription
Stimulant Use among College Students: Why we Need To Do Something And
What We Need To Do, both share their knowledge on the matter. They said,
research has demonstrated that nonmedical users of prescription drugs are
more likely to meet DSM-IV criteria for dependence on alcohol and
marijuana, skip class more frequently, and spend less time studying (Arria
& Dupont para. 7). They believe that the long-term effect of prescription
drugs can result in bad habits and addiction taking away from students
academic performance, not to mention, due to the atmosphere of college,
drinking is very common among students, and taking medications while
consuming alcohol can intensify the reaction. There is a deeper issue that
lies within getting addicted to prescription drugs, and that is the high-
demanding market of buying and selling.

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Like any illegal activity, non-medical prescription drugs created a black
market among college campuses which gives students incentives to get
involved with pills. This results in violence and criminal acts when a
underground drug market is created within a university. A student may not
only find a way to get prescribed prescriptions, but also have the ability to
earn some side money as well. Arria and Dupont comment, In a recent
study of 81 college students with ADHD, 62% diverted the medication to
someone without a prescription (Arria & Dupont para. 9). This particular
study suggests that this so called prescription drug market is fueled by a
high percentage of prescribed medicated students or other known as
suppliers. This creates a dangerous drug filled campus that reflect on the
university as an ongoing issue. The root of the problem may not lie in the
hands of the students who are prescribed nor unprescribed but rather the
regulations and laws in place for the disbursement and of these medications
along with the roles of medical professionals. Finding a solution to limit this
activity is detrimental in creating a safer campus.
Finding solutions to help prevent or greatly reduce the use of non-
medication prescription drugs on college campuses may save us from an
uprising epidemic. McCabe and Teter made an excellent suggestion from the
survey results; Given that very few college students with substance abuse
problems receive treatment services, a broad-based screening (with
appropriate referral) could benefit college communities (McCabe & Teter 4).

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Screening would allow for Universities to lower the amount of nonmedical
prescription drug abusers, keeping students safe and more importantly
sober. Arria and Dupont have a similar attitudes when finding solutions for
this epidemic, Few college students might know that it is illegal to give or
sell their controlled substances, including prescription stimulants, to other
people AND that it is illegal to obtain drugs outside of the users own medical
prescription (Arria & Dupont para. 9). Most critics overlook this aspect of
nonmedical prescription drugs. By educating and cracking down on students
about the dangers and precautions of selling prescription drugs to friends,
we could reduce to abuse rates nationwide.
College students across the nation are abusing nonmedical prescription
drugs, creating an epidemic of the century. Pills have become the new trend
on college campuses and are being bartered, sold, and bought illegally on a
daily basis. Students are putting their health at risk and more importantly
their expensive education. What motivates these young adults when
consuming nonmedical prescription drugs? We hope to find solutions to
minimize the amount of illegal activity going on between the students and to
stop the abusers of prescription pills before college kids become yet another
statistic. Prescription drugs are not intended for those who arent prescribed
and can have negative results regarding ones health and education. The
efforts to stop this uprising epidemic will take years to come with plenty of
experimentation and careful evaluation. This unhealthy habit is leaving

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students hospitalized, creating future health issues and is causing students
to do poorly academically. Before this issue can be fixed, action in the hands
of students, professionals and even parents needs to take place for zombies
to diminish. We are on a long road to recovery during this student zombie
apocalypse of prescription drugs.















Works Cited



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Arria, Amelia and Dupont, Robert Nonmedical Prescription Stimulant Use
among College Students: Why We Need To Do Something and What We
Need To Do (2011) Web. July 14,2014

Lichtor, Stephanie and Zacny, James. Nonmedical Use of Prescription
Opioids: Motive and Ubiquity Issues National Library of Medicine 2008.
Web. July 24, 2014

McCabe, Sean Esteban and Christian J. Teter. "Drug use Related Problems
among Nonmedical Users of Prescription Stimulants: A Web-Based Survey of
College Students from a Midwestern University." Drug and alcohol
dependence 91.1 (2007): 69-76. ProQuest. Web. July 14, 2014

National Institute on Drug Abuse, The Science of Drug Abuse And Addiction,
(2013) Web. July 14, 2014

"PCMA: 'Safe Rx Initiative' Offers Policy Solutions to Curb Prescription Drug
Abuse and Fraud. PR Newswire July 24 2013.ProQuest. Web. July 14, 2014