state Ohio: recent publications

May 13, 2022Last week, two Ohio State students died from suspected use of counterfeit stimulant medication laced with synthetic opioid. Though the university did not formally name the students’ causes of death, it did issue a public health warning — “an alert about fake Adderall pills, which appear to contain fentanyl, causing an increase in overdoses and hospitalizations.”The death of these healthy young adults is shocking; their cause of death, unfortunately, is not.

Stimulant misuse (a.k.a., nonmedical use of stimulants), defined as taking stimulants in a manner other than prescribed, has soared on college campuses in the past decade. The public health threat is serious however awareness is paltry.

To better educate the public, and college students in particular, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration last year launched its “One Pill Can Kill” campaign, which warns of deadly counterfeit medications “often sold on social media and e-commerce platforms” and even includes photos of real and counterfeit Adderall pills.This is a good start, but it’s not enough.High school (~10%) and college (~17%) students are the most likely to misuse stimulant medications.12 College students generally overestimate the prevalence of stimulant misuse, which normalizes the behavior and makes them more likely to engage in stimulant misuse themselves. 345 Historically, these misused medications were obtained from family and friends.6 However, these illicit medications are increasingly being obtained via online drug markets and social media referrals.7Students – especially college students – believe that stimulant medications will improve academic performance.8 Nonetheless, research suggests the opposite: college students without