Drug use on college campuses is no longer confined to the realms of those out on the weekend, experimenting or looking for a good time.
An increasing number of college students now turn to prescription drugs, such as Adderall, to enhance their academic performance and get better grades, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education Center.
Although many people may consider prescription drugs safe to use because they are not “street drugs,” they can have harmful side effects that are amplified when mixed with alcohol or other drugs. Side effects include paranoia, depression, cardiac irregularities, and seizures, which can be life threatening, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education Center.
A study by Dr. Timothy Fong and Dr. John Tsuang from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine suggests that the number of Asian Pacific American students who use prescription drugs is on the rise, too.
However, there is not much information available specifically about the use of prescription drugs for APAs as a distinct group.
“I feel like everyone does it,” Kathryn Rutherford, a sophomore English education major said, giving examples of numerous times she heard it being talked about on campus. “Last year during finals week, I heard some girl on the bus talking about how much Adderall she took.”
However, she doesn’t feel like it is specifically a problem with APA students, but just students in general.
A 2008 National Survey of Drug Use and Health shows that only 3.6 percent of those people ages 12 or older who identify their ethnicity as Asian use illicit drugs, but there is no data specifically for prescription drugs.
Although there are no concrete statistics, Asian Americans could very well be using prescription drugs because of their pressure to achieve academically, according to Dr. Lisa Mar, an assistant professor in the Asian American Studies program.
“I believe that many Asian American students do feel family, peer, and self-generated pressures to get good grades,” Mar wrote in an E-mail.
It may be difficult for Asian American students to handle the pressures, and campuses may need to find better ways to help Asian American students deal with it, Mar wrote.
David Toledo, president of the Asian American Student Union, agreed that APA students might face pressures to get good grades and that the sense of filial piety among Asian-American students could be a factor.
“They may (or may not) have been raised to get good grades and be successful so they can care for their parents later,” Toledo said.
Katie Bardales, a sophomore Animal Sciences major, agrees that pressure from parents could be a reason why an APA student would use prescription drugs.
“My friend has really strict Asian parents,” Bardales said. “So maybe that has something to do with it.”
At the University of Maryland, prescription drug use seems to be a problem among students in general that is known but not brought up by the university or health center.
Toledo said that he doesn’t know of anyone specifically in the Asian-American community abusing prescription drugs, but he feels like it is going on with students from all ethnicities whether it is talked about or not.
“I feel that at a certain level, if people are getting results, then we do not ask how they achieve them,” Toledo wrote in an e-mail.
“Parents and people that care about you want you do well in school,” Toledo said, “so they just see that you get straight A’s and they don’t see the other side of that.”
