What if someone told you that there was a way to do better on your SAT, in class, and on other school related assignments? But what if that way included taking a drug that wasn’t prescribed to you and is harmful to you physically and mentally? Not so enticing now, is it?

People who take Adderall without a prescription feel like they are doing nothing wrong and people who take Adderall with a prescription feel like they are in the clear. Frequent users/abusers raise points that it helps them get homework done, it betters their test scores, and it allows them to get their schoolwork completed. Those points may be true, but not because of the way they are thinking.

One major issue about Adderall is that kids think that just because it’s prescribed by doctors that it’s not just like any other street drug. The problem is, just like any other street drug, teens begin to abuse it. When “patients” without attention deficit disorder take Adderall there are some severe side effects. Side effects include short term and long term heart problems, insomnia, and even potential death if overdosed on.

Another problem that students face is that they believe Adderall does in fact boost scores in all areas of education. But that’s the thing; Adderall begins to become a placebo, so in no way can it actually make you smarter, it’s all in students’ heads. The drug will potentially cause the user to feel focused and concentrated, but that is something a student could do all by themselves, without taking an “academic steroid”.

On another note, teens who are now abusing the drug are hurting not only themselves, but their peers as well. According to Reuters.com, there is in fact a shortage in the medication because too many people are demanding the pill. The amount of people prescribed went up 13.4 percent from just 2009 to 2010. Now government officials have reported that there will be a shortage and this hurts many kids who actually need their medication. It also hurts the abusers because they become dependent on the drug and feel without it they can no longer function.

In today’s society, many people try to find the easy way out or a way to get the upper-hand. If someone offered you a tiny blue pill and told you that it would solve all of your problems would you follow their lead? The answer, just like you were taught in fifth grade, is to just say no just like to any other drug. Adderall needs to be consumed only by people who truly need it to function on a daily basis. So avoid pulling a Bradley Cooper because the negative effects of Adderall are limitless.