Gateway to Media Class at the University of Oregon.
I know some people who abhor the national drug epidemic lump all abusers into the categories of “junkies” or “stoners” with all of the powerful, negative perceptions commonly associated with addiction. They believe a person with a substance problem is weak-willed and immoral, and they consider these people as dangerous and threatening members of society. The stigma is real.
Of course, this one-size-fits-all image of a person who uses drugs is wrong and overly judgmental. Psychological explanations join biological explanations in focusing on why certain individuals are more likely than others to use drugs and to be addicted to drugs
Some popular psychological explanations center on personality differences between drug users and nonusers. These explanations assume that users have personality traits that predispose them to drug use.
Other psychological explanations are based on the classic concept from behavioral psychology of operant conditioning – the idea that people and animals are more likely to engage in a behavior when they are rewarded, or reinforced, for it.
(“7.4 Explaining Drug Use.” https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/7-4-explaining-drug-use/. Social Problems by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)
Drug use, predisposition, and reinforcement? Don't we all at times seek a stimulant, a depressant, or a pain reliever to deal with pressures in our lives? Seeking relief from pain or finding chemical help through our pressure-filled lives, we turn to prescriptions with regularity. There may be serious risks as our good intentions can turn into nightmares. And, I'm not talking exclusively about opioids. And, I'm not talking about drug addicts.
Today, allow me to relate a recent tragedy about two Ohio State students who were evidently caught up in a recent trend of using a so-called “study drug.” The result of their practice cost them their lives. I am in hopes that relating this information may save other innocent victims from the same heartrending fate.
Two Ohio State students who died from reported overdoses last week were recognized during spring commencement on Sunday.
Students celebrated their achievements through college and prepared themselves to step into the next phase in life.
During the ceremony, the Buckeye community took time to remember those whose lives were cut short and not able to walk across the stage.
(Brandon Bounds. “Ohio State students who died from apparent overdoses remembered at spring commencement.” 10 WBNS. May 8, 2022.)
Three students were taken to the hospital May 4 after an apparent drug overdose. One student died Thursday, and this second student was in critical condition. A third student was released from the hospital. The university has not named any of the students.
According to preliminary information from Columbus Fire obtained by The Dispatch, the two patients who were taken in critical condition were a 27-year-old female and a 20-year-old of unspecified gender.
Police and medics were called Wednesday night to a home on East Lane Avenue after a 911 caller said their roommates were overdosing. Three people were taken to the hospital that night. University officials announced Thursday evening that one of the students died. The announcement of the second student’s passing came Friday morning.
The third student was treated and released from the hospital.
The university did not release the names of the students who died or say what caused the overdoses.
Tragedy Explained
“It is with an incredibly heavy heart that I share that our second student who was hospitalized in critical condition has passed away,” Johnson wrote Friday. “Every Buckeye loss is heartbreaking, and these tragic deaths in our community in such a short period of time are devastating.”
The university’s first announcement on Thursday alerted students to the potential circulation of fake Adderall pills that appeared to contain fentanyl. The message says the fake pills are causing an increase in overdoses and hospitalizations.
(Ben Orner, Anna Hoffman. “Second Ohio State student dies from apparent Wednesday drug overdose.” NBC 4. May 6, 2022.)
The university said while they strongly discourage drug use of any kind, students should be aware of the possibility of unexpected contaminates or how drugs may unsafely interact with alcohol.
Columbus Public Health on Thursday shared an alert about fake Adderall pills.
"We want to alert the community that's out there so that others will be aware and take the necessary precautions to try to prevent that from happening again to someone else in our community," said health commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts.
She said Columbus Public Health received information about the overdoses through local hospital and EMS databases the agency has access to, which can show them the status of patients sent to emergency departments.
Roberts said people should only take medicine that comes from a licensed pharmacy, but noted that counterfeit drug manufacturers make it difficult to distinguish between the two. If someone believes they have counterfeit drugs, they can test it using fentanyl test strips. She also suggests carrying Narcan if an overdose does happen and taking medication with someone else in the room.
Students can confidentially pick up a free Naloxone kit or fentanyl strips at the Wlice Student Health Center at 1875 Millikin Road during business hours.
(Cole Behrens Micah Walker Bethany Bruner Sheridan Hendrix. “Ohio State campus warns of fake Adderall pills after two students die. The Columbus Dispatch. May 06, 2022.)
What is Adderall used for?
Adderall is a prescription drug and stimulant used to treat Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, among other uses. However, the drug has gained a reputation for use among college students as a “study drug,” according to a National Center for Health Research study, which found 7% to 33% of all college students abuse Adderall at some point during their college years.
Note
An estimated 5 million Americans are illegally using prescription stimulants, with the majority seeking to boost their concentration and mental stamina over extended periods of time, according to new research shedding light on amphetamine use among adults.
Overall, it found that 16 million Americans over the age of 18 are using prescription stimulants. About 400,000 people are thought to abuse stimulants. These stimulants increase the release of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain, increasing alertness, attention, energy and a sense of euphoria. They also increases blood pressure, heart rate and respiration.
– American Journal of Psychiatry and National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Melissa Shivers, OSU's senior vice president for student life, urged students not to purchase prescription medications from somewhere other than a pharmacy, because drugs obtained on the street could be counterfeit and laced with other
Students claim the drug helps them focus when they are staying up late studying. The benefits carry over into exam taking, as well. Some users say they experience an improved attention span and find themselves better able to concentrate. These elements make it one of the most popular drugs that is used today on college campuses. It helps explains why the largest age range of people who are abusing the drug without a prescription or medical need, are 18-to-25-year-old young adults. The prime age for a college student.
Prescriptions for the stimulant unchanged, but study finds more nonmedical use and emergency room visits among adults
(Lian-Yu Chen, MD, PhD; Rosa M. Crum, MD, MPH; Eric C. Strain, MD; G. Caleb Alexander, MD, MS; Christopher Kaufmann, MHS; and Ramin Mojtabai, MD, MPH, PhD. "Prescriptions, Nonmedical Use, and Emergency Department Visits Involving Prescription Stimulants.” The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. February 16, 2016.)
The alluring social element to the drug – users claim they can stay up later and that the drug makes them feel more talkative – helps people feel more comfortable at parties, which introduces one of the most dangerous aspects of Adderall. When combined with alcohol, the drug can be deadly. This is because alcohol is a depressant and Adderall is a stimulant. Taking these two in combination may initially mask some of the early effects of each leading to dangerous over consumption.
Combining the Appeal With the Rise of Counterfeit Drugs
Brian McNeal, public information officer for the Drug Enforcement Agency, Detroit field division, said the agency is seeing an increase in the amount of counterfeit drugs not just in Ohio, but nationwide.
Counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, or any number of other illicit drugs, and seized by the DEA have jumped nearly 430% since 2019. DEA laboratory testing further reveals that two out of every five pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. Additionally, methamphetamine is increasingly being pressed into counterfeit pills.
"Just three years ago, 20% of the counterfeit pills that we seized contained the lethal dosage of fentanyl," he said. "Now that's up to 42%.
The most common counterfeit pills he's seeing include oxycodone, Xanax, Percocet and Adderall. And the rise in counterfeit pills is not just happening on college campuses, but everywhere.
(Cole Behrens Micah Walker Bethany Bruner Sheridan Hendrix. “Ohio State campus warns of fake Adderall pills after two students die. The Columbus Dispatch. May 06, 2022.)
Last Word
Mexican drug cartels, who have no interest in dose regulation or safety, smuggle counterfeit meth-laced pills into the U.S. Fentanyl is believed to be 50 times more powerful than heroin and manufacturers press the drug into pills to make them look legitimate, tricking unsuspecting victims.
These addictive pills pose a serious threat. Almost one million Americans over the age of 12 suffer from methamphetamine use disorder each year. There is no effective treatment, and the drug can cause severe tooth decay and skin sores; irregular heartbeat; anxiety, confusion and insomnia; psychosis, and death.
Other sources of Adderall?
Drugs Data, a DEA-licensed laboratory, reported an occurrence of counterfeit Adderall cut with fentanyl. Someone in Southern California submitted it for testing after buying it online from India.
(“Counterfeit Adderall (AD 30).” https://www.drugsdata.org/view.php?id=11161.Drugs Data. 2021.)
This report emphasizes just how dangerous counterfeit pills can be. Since 2019, the number of counterfeit pills seized by the DEA has increased nearly 430% – Additionally, about 40% of counterfeit pills cut with fentanyl contain a potentially fatal dose.
(“One Pill Can Kill.” https://www.dea.gov/onepill.United States Drug Enforcement Administration.)
And, where there is greed, there are criminals. In 2021, Westford, Massasschusetts man, who worked as a pharmacy tech, was sentenced to six to eight years in state prison for trafficking narcotics, including Methamphetamine that was pressed to resemble Adderall, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.
Mark Garcia, 35, of Westford pled guilty to multiple drug trafficking charges on Wednesday including 11 counts of possession of a Class E drug with intent to distribute, trafficking in cocaine more than 36 grams, trafficking in methamphetamine more than 36 grams, three counts of possession of a Class C drug with intent to distribute and two counts of possession of a class B drug, the DA’s office said.
(Kiernan Dunlop. “Westford pharmacy tech Mark Garcia sentenced to 6 to 8 years for trafficking cocaine, meth made to look like Adderall pills.” Kdunlop@masslive.com. April 13, 2022.)
To close, the prevalence of counterfeit pills is alarming. The DEA and other law enforcement agencies in New England are seizing these Meth laced Adderall pills every day.
“It’s got me awake at night because we’re seeing so much of it,” says Jon DeLena, DEA Associate Special Agent in Charge of the New England Field Division.
Drug enforcement agents reveal exclusively to 7 Investigates, just how New England streets are being flooded with a deadly version of the popular prescription drug.
“Recently, one in four pills that we submit to the lab contains a deadly dose. one in four pills, that’s the message we need to get out to our communities,” says Agent DeLena.
“To me, in my 25 years with the DEA, it’s the most alarming thing I’ve ever seen,” says Agent DeLena. “It’s a move by the cartels to manufacture pills to look like Adderall made with nothing but crystal methamphetamine. This is a twisted move, a sick and twisted move on behalf of these criminal organizations.”
Agent DeLena believes the cartels are targeting young people, who are more likely to abuse Adderall.
“They (the cartels) know, sadly, that it is young people, middle school kids, high school kids, even college kids who are using Adderall and also abusing Adderall,” says Agent DeLena. “People assume that it’s a safe drug.”
“Local criminal organizations have decided maybe they should try to manufacture these pills, and they are not even close to being as good at it as some of the cartels in Mexico are,” says Agent DeLena. “It’s so difficult to dose these drugs appropriately when you’re blasting through a pill press machine, that there is no quality control, no oversight of – so dangerous.”
That means, there’s no way to tell how much of the dangerous drug is in just one pill, until it’s tested.
“We’ve seen purities in the tablets or even in those bags as high as 15 to 17 percent, so that’s like double dosing right there,” says Lab Director Thomas Blackwell.
(Sam Smink. 7 Investigates: Adderall pills laced with Crystal Meth being made in New England.” https://whdh.com/news/7-investigates-adderall-pills-laced-with-crystal-meth-being-made-in-new-england/. 7 News Boston. July 27, 2021.)
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