*Editor's note: This is the third installment in a three-part series examining cheating at Dartmouth.**##
Pressed to finish a paper after a night of partying, a male member of the Class of 2012 said he took a Concerta pill at 1 a.m. and entered a "state of heightened purpose," in which his brain produced more than a "random train of thought."
"You just want your paper to be a technically perfect creation," he said. "You are spending all of your time removing all of these contradictions. You become a robot."
The student took another pill six hours later, and was able to finish the 10-page paper in 10 hours, he said.
Faced with intense academic courses and rigorous schedules, several Dartmouth students interviewed admitted to using medications prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder including Adderall, Ritalin and Concerta to help them study.
The students asked not to be named, due to the sensitivity of the topic.
Sixteen percent of Dartmouth students have used Adderall without a prescription to help them study, according to a study conducted by Molly Khalil '12 and Anna-Kay Thomas '12 for COCO 6, "The Mind and Brain" approved by the department of psychological and brain sciences.
The College currently has no data that indicates students are using ADHD medication without prescriptions, but Alcohol and Other Drug Education Program coordinator Brian Bowden said he has heard of cases by word of mouth.
By increasing the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, the stimulant medications improve vigilance, concentration and focus, according to Craig Donnelly, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
"It makes it so that you don't really want to get up from your work, and it keeps you awake for a long time," another male member of the Class of 2012, who started using stimulant medication without a prescription freshman year, said. "I become a perfectionist. Every single thing I do has to be perfect or else I won't continue on to the next thing."
He says he does not believe that he is cheating because of how widespread "study drug" abuse is on Ivy League campuses.
"At this point, so many people use it and so many people are prescribed it who don't really need it doctors just give it to people it's kind of an unlevel playing field," he said.
A female member of the Class of 2013 said she does not see herself as cheating, because other students could easily obtain the pills if they chose to.
Others, however, consider the use of "study drugs" an act of academic dishonesty.
"It's an unfair advantage in the absence of a clinical need or a diagnosed psychiatric disorder," Donnelly said. "You don't have a deficit. You are trying to use something to give you a special advantage. It's the same thing as baseball players using steroids."
The use of such drugs is cheating because not all students have access to them, according to Teresa Fishman, director of the Center for Academic Integrity, a national forum of 360 institutions. She said their use is especially unfair in classes with curves.
Despite potential concerns, any problem with he use of "study drugs" is overshadowed by the abuse of alcohol on campus, Bowden said.
"I spend a lot of time dealing with alcohol. The negative effects of Adderall don't necessarily come to my attention," Bowden said. "A person is not in and out of the hospital because they are using someone's Adderall."
The common side effects of stimulants are a decreased appetite, headache, stomachache, jitteriness and insomnia. Rare side effects include tics, twitches and hallucinations, according to Donnelly.
All of the professors interviewed expressed worry about the strain the pills can take on students' health.
"I feel concerned about the students," mathematics professor Craig Sutton said. "You want to be able to believe that students can achieve great things by keeping things in a balance."
Bowden said he would like the faculty to discuss whether or not the use of non-prescribed ADHD medication is a form of cheating.
Most professors interviewed said they did not know how prevalent the use of "study drugs" is on campus. Some said they do not view the use of study-enhancing drugs as an act of academic dishonesty.
"The drugs are helping you produce the work yourself," computer science department chair Thomas Cormen said. "You still have to produce material on the test."
Cormen said he took NoDoz caffeine pills in college.
Even if the use of "study drugs" is included in the list of Academic Honor Principle violations, it would be difficult to monitor students' intake of the stimulants because they are expelled from the body quickly, Bowden said.
Various schools are discussing making policies against the use of non-prescribed study-enhancing pills, but could run into difficulties implementing them, according to Fishman.
"I don't know how you would police that without violating the students' privacy," Fishman said.
While both male members of the Class of 2012 said they use stimulants two or three times per term around midterm and final examination periods, the female member of the class of 2013 said she takes Adderall three or four times each week, when she goes to class or has to stay up late to complete work. During finals, she takes the pills every day.
While the student was prescribed the medication last term, she admitted to purposely exaggerating the truth to the psychologist, a family friend, when asked about her symptoms, she said.
Most students with prescriptions sell the medication or distribute it to their friends, according to students interviewed.
The female member of the Class of 2013 said that at least three of her friends have asked her for Adderall to help them concentrate.
A pill on campus sells for up to $20, the male member of the Class of 2012, who used Concerta to finish his 10-page paper, said.
Some students interviewed admitted to using ADHD medication to get high for recreational purposes because of the extra energy it provides them.
"It's not a very pleasant high," Donnelly said. "It's like being jazzed up on too much caffeine. You get jittery. You can't go to sleep."
The use of unprescribed Adderall, Ritalin and Concerta is considered a violation of the College's drug policy, not of the Academic Honor Principle, according to Director of Judicial Affairs April Thompson.
"We don't make a direct connection to academic performance," Thompson said. "I don't have a lot of research that directly links academic performance to unprescribed use of Adderall."
