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The Biggest Unanswered Question About ADHD Drug Abuse

English: 20mg extended release capsule of Adderall

English: 20mg extended release capsule of Adderall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s been a ton of commentary on the New York Times story about otherwise healthy teenagers abusing Adderall and related drugs in the hopes of gaining an improvement in test scores, whether they be standardized tests or grades. For example, my colleague Matthew Herper has some excellent commentary. Additionally, Vaughn Bell’s compilation of media scare stories dating back to the 1930s about students abusing amphetamines is not to be missed.

But across all the commentary, there’s one question that I find hasn’t been answered: Does Adderall actually give normal teens better grades?

There’s no question that Adderall and related drugs make a big difference for students who truly suffer from ADHD – there’s plenty of clinical evidence for that. But after a few hours literature searching and making crowdsourcing requests, I haven’t come up with an answer as to whether Adderall is actually useful as a means for students to get high test scores.

Judging by the anecdotes presented in the Times stories and elsewhere, it appears that these drugs are primarily used simply in order to stay awake to finish tasks. This isn’t much of a surprise: teenage sleep schedules are comically mismatched to school schedules, which means that most teenagers are suffering from a pretty severe sleep debt. Pile homework, extracurricular activities, and just needed relaxation on top of that, and it’s not much of a surprise that teens are looking to amphetamine-based drugs like Adderall to help.

But that doesn’t mean that Adderall is necessarily improving their grades. That might be simply a function of being able to stay awake to finish homework. Snorting Adderall right before a test might raise scores because of a placebo effect. The placebo case is especially suspicious because the kind of person who feels so much pressure to get scores that they’ll snort Adderall is probably the kind of person who’s already done a ton of studying. As far as I’ve been able to find, there are no double-blind placebo studies of the effects of Adderall on normal teens.

In other words, all of the evidence that Adderall is “cognitive enhancing” appears to be anecdotal.  Which means that there might be some otherwise healthy kids out their risking damage to their bodies for no reason at all.

I’ll continue my search for literature related to the cognitive effects of Adderall on normal teenagers. If you know of any good studies, please mention them in the comments. In the meantime, I’d personally suggest that if you want to improve your intelligence, you’re far better off avoiding stimulants in favor of a good night’s sleep and the occasional nap.


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  • Martin Martin 2 years ago

    I am going to go out on a limb and guess that when I know of people snorting up at mid-day, and then studying for 9 hours straight, there is some sort of benefit regarding increased focus and concentration. I have a hard time believing Adderall is used like a pot of coffee to simply cram more into a day, although this could be plausible.

    I think that if further research is to be undertaken, what should be focused on is what users retain, as that is really the only important component of studying for tests. Furthermore, due to a plethora of speculations here and there in the past few days, it should be a requirement for authors to actually use the drug themselves to add some credence to their various speculations and claims. There is nothing worse than reading how some 40-year-old guesses about how drugs affect teens when they themselves have never tried the substance they “know so much about and have researched.”

    I suggest snorting up and researching this topic all night; that should clear up this discussion pretty fast.

  • jmssisler04 jmssisler04 2 years ago

    I have met lots of teen ands tweens that have prescriptions of Adderall based on bogus ADHD diagnosis. ADHD is a shockingly easy diagnosis to get. These teens and tweens know exactly what symptoms to present and how to present them to keep the insurance based spigots turned on. They then sell the Adderall to theirs peers to obtain drugs of choice, like tobacco, alcohol, pot, oxy, and etc. Some just sell them for pocket money.

    The real issue tho is why is Adderall out there in the first place? Think about it: kids acting out in school because they are bored to tears and are being taught by overworked stressed out teachers. Then some brilliant adults find out by giving them speed then they start doing well in school. The drug companies, insurance companies, schools, and parents are swept up. They drug companies have figured out they can target adults the same way. They find adults that are bored to tears with their mundane lives. That is why we now have banner ads on social web sites urging people to obtain diagnoses for ADHD to obtain speed paid for by insurance companies.

  • I agree that many people “fake” symptoms to gain access to an ADHD prescription. However, as person who suffers from “real” ADHD, I can provide an answer to your question (i.e. “why is Adderall out there in the first place”). Answer: because some people really suffer from ADHD, and when “those” people take Adderall there lives improve (drastically, sometimes). I speak from personal experience.

    The problem is not the kids, it’s the doctors who prescribe them. A “faker” is easy to spot–i.e. they talk a mile-a-minute when they take it, they likely “Googled” ADHD symptoms hours before their appointment, they pop their Adderall like Skittles and go through their prescription way faster than the “real” kids, they lose drastic amounts of weight, they don’t fidget or twitch uncontrollable during prolonged settings such as a school assembly, class, church, etc.. Moreover, these types of kids probably abuse other types of drugs or stimulants such as alcohol, cocaine or the like. Don’t look for the “pot heads,” because these “fakers” like the “high” the “go-go-go” of Adderall. Those are just a few signs (out of many) of “fakers.”

    Anyway, I can spot them, because when I went to law school, many of them sat next to me in class. Many of them were my so-called friends. However, all of “them” (i.e. people who fake symptoms) made me feel guilty or ashamed of my disability. I felt like I needed to “justify” WHY I needed to take Adderall. With that said, I strongly encourage doctors to do MORE due diligence before prescribing medication. In short- Adderall is out there, because when used correctly, it makes a world of difference for those who actually suffer from ADHD.

  • rach35 rach35 2 years ago

    I know many people who used the drug in college that were not prescribed the drug and they saw a better result if they studied on the drug and took the test of the drug vs only studying on the drug. The drug will not “make you know the answers” but gives you the ability to more easily learn the answers and recall the answers.

  • Mike breton Mike breton 1 year ago

    ADHD ? Do you have it? today everyone has it. and true adhd is very powerful to overcome\

  • Josie F Josie F 11 months ago

    There is a typing error in the second last paragraph. In the sentence: “Which means that there might be some otherwise healthy kids out their risking damage to their bodies for no reason at all.” Before the word “risking” instead of “their” the correct word would be “there.”