Students buying caffeine pills in university markets
With energy drinks lining the refrigerators and coffee at students’ fingertips everywhere on campus, some are now looking for other ways to gain more energy and stay up longer.
But those stimulating supplements can sometimes do more harm than good.
NO-DOZ
Since Sept. 21, 2011 students have been able to buy No-Doz packets at on-campus locations, such as Miller Market. The packets contain four caplets with 200 mg of caffeine in each caplet — an amount equivalent to one cup of coffee, according to the No-Doz website.
Western junior Molly Damen is able to get her caffeine fix via No-Doz caplets with a quick swipe of her Western card, without the wait of drinking a whole cup of coffee.
“I was really stressed out and I would always be tired, so I wouldn’t be able to study as hard, or for as long,” Damen said. “So I started taking them to improve.”
With midterms approaching, Damen said she takes more No-Doz pills in order to pull all-nighters, buying them two or three times a quarter.
According to the No-Doz website, it is more logical to have small, more frequent doses of caffeine instead of one large dose that could cause jitters, since caffeine lasts for about three hours.
For some students, one cup of coffee isn’t enough to stay awake and alert with a full day of classes ahead and little sleep the night before.
However, caffeine may come with more than just positive side effects.
Emily Gibson, medical director at Western’s Student Health Center, wrote in an email that heavy doses of caffeine “can cause significant side effects that are quite uncomfortable in some individuals.”
Western sophomore Morgan Beaumier takes a risk and goes against the recommended dosage instructions on the packet that say to take only one caplet every three hours, and no more than six in the span of 24 hours.
Beaumier has taken up to three or four packets of No-Doz on a busy day.
“When it comes to the end I feel so hyped up,” Beaumier said. “It almost makes me feel gross at the end of the day.”
Advertised as an alertness aid, the No-Doz website said the pills can give a boost “whenever you need to remain alert and wide awake.”
Contrary to Damen’s standard use of one caplet every three hours, Beaumier said overuse of the caplets can result in a large crash at the end of the day and a heightened jittery feeling.
Caffeine takes about 15 minutes to achieve 75 percent of its maximum effect and about one hour to reach 100 percent, according to the No-Doz website.
Beaumier is a regular coffee drinker who decided to start taking No-Doz caplets as a freshman on a budget.
“I was a big coffee drinker in high school,” Beaumier said. “I couldn’t afford my Starbucks everyday so No-Doz became the cheap alternative to a good cup of coffee.”
Gibson does not support the marketing of heavy doses of caffeine such as No-Doz.
These side effects include sleeplessness, irritability, nervousness and a rapid heart beat, according to a warning listed on the No-Doz website.
“If I don’t keep the caffeine level up, I can definitely feel that crash,” Beaumier said. “If you keep taking them, you’ve got to keep it up. You can’t just go cold turkey.”
Molly Damen’s mother, Liz Damen, was hesitant about her daughter buying No-Doz with her Western Dining Dollars.
“I would prefer my daughter not use her dining dollars for No-Doz, because we give that to her to use for food,” Liz said. “I would prefer they not be sold on campus, but in my opinion they’re not that much different from coffee or energy drinks.”
The markets on campus provide a variety of food and personal items to students, Resident District Manager of Dining Services Stephen Wadsworth wrote in an email.
Wadsworth said dining services attempts to sell on-campus products that are of interest to students.
Wadsworth said the choice to purchase and use No-Doz as a study aid is up to students.
“I think that is a personal decision on the part of the customer,” Wadsworth said.
Adderall
According to a national survey published in the academic journal Addiction, 6.9 percent of all college students reported using non-prescribed medication in order to stay alert and focus better.
Students who have been prescribed Adderall — a drug used to keep focused and alert — for Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, are able to have a longer-acting, smoother dose of stimulant, Gibson wrote in an email.
The side effects of taking Adderall, which are less severe than over-the-counter caffeine pills, include decreased appetite, rapid heart rate, elevated blood pressure and wakefulness, Gibson wrote.
The Student Health Center at Western no longer offers the evaluation for students to test for Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder due to the heavy demand for such prescriptions, Gibson said.
Bridget Hobbs, a first-year student at Whatcom Community College, has seen her friends abuse unprescribed Adderall to gain the wakefulness side effect.
“I think it’s really stupid,” Hobbs said. “I’ve seen my friends freak out, not drink or eat anything and stay up for way too many hours.”
Hobbs was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and prescribed Adderall four years ago, she said. Her lack of focus in school led to the diagnosis.
After a year of taking the prescribed daily dosage of Adderall, Hobbs stopped taking it because she didn’t like the feeling it gave her.
Now, Hobbs said she looks for other methods to maintain energy and focus.
“I like pretty much anything that will give me a quick fix of caffeine,” Hobbs said. “I’m a huge coffee drinker.”
Still, Hobbs believes that by selling No-Doz on campus, students have the possibility of taking too many caplets at a time if they are stressed and in need of as much caffeine as possible.
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