Photo Illustration by Bryan Cole / The Collegian

Prescription drug abuse and addiction a problem among college students

Chances are someone you know is taking medication.

It has become a disturbing trend with college students to acquire pills like Codeine, Vicodin and Xanax “just to be glued to the couch,â€Â a Fresno State student said.

Some students have convinced doctors of needing a prescription, a few are prescribed themselves, but many have friends with prescriptions.

“What I think might happen with some students is the ordering of medication via the internet,â€Â Fresno State Student Health Center Psychologist Dr. Gina Gector said. “Different restrictions make it very easy.â€Â

Another convenient way for students to get their hands on medication is through their own medicine cabinet.

“Students abusing medication might be taking their parent’s prescriptions,â€Â Gector said.

The going rate for pain killers like Vicodin is $3 to $5 a pill.

“I get it from people who already have it prescribed,â€Â a computer science major said. “When I was getting it, I was lucky, I wish I could get more.â€Â

Paying the price for prescription pill-popping

Gector noted that the students who are excessively using prescription and over-the-counter drugs don̢۪t consider themselves abusers.

On the other hand, Adderall and Ritalin, prescriptions for Attention-Deficit Disorder(ADD) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), can go anywhere from $3 to $15 each depending on the number of milligrams of active drugs.

Another pill that̢۪s price is determined by milligrams is OxyContin. One 40 mg pill can cost as much as $35.

Users refer to OxyContin as man-made heroin. It doesn̢۪t come from opium, but it might as well, considering it has the same effects on the body.

The prescription is what̢۪s making pills easily accessible.

Many relate to the fact that the prescription itself is legal.

In reality some of the worst medications are those that are prescribed.

According to a pre-law major, the problem with Vicodin is that your body will become so accustomed to having pain killers that when you stop, you notice aches and pains you have never had before.

Students reported that academic and interpersonal stressors have caused them to self-diagnose and -medicate.

Others believe it is the opposite correlation, holding the doctors responsible.

“Doctors prescribe medications for people in order to cover up the actual problem,â€Â communications major Lisa Delerio said.

“This allows doctors to make a better profit and patients to make more appointments to continue their prescriptions.â€Â

Sleep-inducing drugs widely used

It̢۪s almost as if being on some sort of medication is a part of our culture.

A real eye-opener is the use of sleeping aids like Ambien, Lunesta, NyQuil and Tylenol PM.

Of those pills, Tylenol PM was the most used over-the-counter medicine in the month of February according to a survey of 100 Fresno State students.

Approximately 64 percent of the students who took the survey took some type of pill to help them sleep better.

“I know people who mix NyQuil and 7-Up and call it a night,â€Â advertising major Briana Cleary said.

Gector said she has not noticed much of a problem with prescription drug addiction among Fresno State students — the only correlation she has seen is between alcohol addiction and prescription drug abuse.

“It’s difficult to say how big of a problem the use of prescription pills is on our campus,â€Â Health Center
psychologist Gector said.