Generation Pill



FROM BRAIN BOOSTERS TO PAINKILLERS. PRESCRIPTION DRUGS HAVE BECOME THE SUBSTANCE OF CHOICE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES ACROSS AMERICA.









The computer lab at Adam's' school is a brightly lit room filled with
new Macs. Located on the second floor of the library, it overlooks a
wide lawn inevitably crowded with the mixedjock-and-hipster population
of his Massachusetts liberal arts college. "It usu­ally happens like
this," Adam tells me. "I'll be working in the computer lab, and my deal
er will pop his head in, be like, 'Yo! Adam,' and toss a wad of tissues
at me." Inside the tissues? A handful of Adderall capsules, ready
to be chased with whatever liquid is at hand. Water fountains are
located conveniently nearby.
Before Adam found his current dealer, he counted on a variety of source
s for his secret study weapon, a high-powered psychostimu­lant often
prescribed for ADHD. "If I heard that someone had a prescription,
I'd send them a Facebook message. Most times they were like,
'Yeah, text me next time you're on campus.'" You won't find any
nervous street-comer trades at Adam's school. Instead, deals are done
in quiet corners of the library or over organic chicken fingers
in the cafeteria. Cops? Not a problem. Your average campus dealer
is a fel­low student shillingmeds stolen from Mom's bathroom cabinet
or pocketed after a minor injur\'. Or maybe he's selling his
own prescrip­tion to turn a profit, like Adam's dealer." He has
a 'scrip for ADH D. but it makes him crazy, so he doesn't take it,
" Adam says, pausing for a sec­ond. "Although he's always in the
library, so maybe he dips into the stash now and then. Some of the time
he asks if I have any pills to trade. like when i had my wisdom teeth
taken out, I suffered through the pain and used my Vicodin as currency
for Adderall."
Adam is not unusual. A 2008 study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America found that one in five teens reported abusing a prescrip­tion medication at least once in their live s, and 61 percent of teens reported that prescription drugs were easier to buy than illegal drugs. Substance abuse is nothing new on campus; what's new is the abuse of phannaceuticals in the pursuit of better test grades and airtight essays. "The problem with Adderall is that it works," Adam tells me. "My grades are legiti­mately much better when I have a steady sup­ply of it."

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