I. I am not currently in college. I graduated with various honors this past spring.
II. I don't have any official statistics but in my experience stimulant use was fairly widespread and socially acceptable. By no means ubiquitous mind you, but still commonplace and in many ways entrenched into the school's social culture (I.E. jokes about Adderall abuse in the school's humor publication, etc)
III. Midwestern United States
1. I have used Cocaine, Adderall, Ritalin/Methylphenidate and Dexedrine.
2. I have taken them both to help with academic work and recreationally with about a 50/50 split between the two.
3. I enjoyed the mental sharpness. I am by no means a social butterfly but put a 20 mg Adderall or a couiple of lines of yay into my system and I am the life of the fucking party, sharp as a tack. My mind tends to go at a mile a minute and the drugs help my body catch up. (ADD/ADHD? Probably) Being able to drink and party into the wee hours of the morning on weekends after getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night over the course of the night is a nice bonus.
4. In my experience as well as that of others stimulants as a 'study buddy' are a mixed bag. On one hand they are fantastic for processing and churning out information, I.E. reading or mathematics. On the other hand they are a hinderance to writing, academic or otherwise. In spite of the mental acuity stimulants seem to harm my creativity.
5. No, especially considering the weight loss factor.
6. Not really. Obviously cocaine takes the biscuit as far as recreation goes (and was my drug of choice back in High School) but I'm not even that big of a fan of that these days.
7. Oral, snorted or plugged for the pharms. Always nasal with the cocaine.
8. By my senior year I hardly used any stimulant stronger than coffee any more. I was an English major and given what I said earlier about their effect on writing they really weren't that useful and I preferred opiates for recreation.
9. A little over four years back, in the midst of finals in my freshman year, I suffered what would probably be considered a nervous breakdown brought on by stress and heavy amphetamine use. Bad stuff to say the least. Furthermore, in order to fight off the comedown of the various stimulants I had been using I turned to depressants, most notably opiates. After this episode I began to move away from stimulant use (Yes, I know a smarter man than I would have quit right away but there's no quit in me) but quickly fell into opiate addiction. Been there on and off (currently off) ever since.
10. One of my main problems I have with stimulant usage is that it turns me into such a nice person. When I'm thwacked out on coke or uppers I am considerate, understanding and helpful. It's like the asshole switch in my brain is turned off. This sounds like a good thing but it isn't. I enjoy being an asshole and the feeling of drugs taking away an aspect of my personality, albeit one that most people would see as negative, is fucking frightening. Beyond that I could care less, I just like getting high.
The war on drugs: Even Nixon, who coined the term, would be revolted. Local, state and federal drug enforcement units are nothing short of paramilitaries, the strong-arm branch of a war on the American underclass. I am by no means wholly pro-legalization: I've got no illusions about my primary hobby being good for me and America's hyperconsumerism and tendency towards excess makes grilled fucking meat a health threat, much less crack. That being said arming cops with assault rifles and using military equipment to find and destroy fucking plants on public land are not viable solutions.
II. I don't have any official statistics but in my experience stimulant use was fairly widespread and socially acceptable. By no means ubiquitous mind you, but still commonplace and in many ways entrenched into the school's social culture (I.E. jokes about Adderall abuse in the school's humor publication, etc)
III. Midwestern United States
1. I have used Cocaine, Adderall, Ritalin/Methylphenidate and Dexedrine.
2. I have taken them both to help with academic work and recreationally with about a 50/50 split between the two.
3. I enjoyed the mental sharpness. I am by no means a social butterfly but put a 20 mg Adderall or a couiple of lines of yay into my system and I am the life of the fucking party, sharp as a tack. My mind tends to go at a mile a minute and the drugs help my body catch up. (ADD/ADHD? Probably) Being able to drink and party into the wee hours of the morning on weekends after getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night over the course of the night is a nice bonus.
4. In my experience as well as that of others stimulants as a 'study buddy' are a mixed bag. On one hand they are fantastic for processing and churning out information, I.E. reading or mathematics. On the other hand they are a hinderance to writing, academic or otherwise. In spite of the mental acuity stimulants seem to harm my creativity.
5. No, especially considering the weight loss factor.
6. Not really. Obviously cocaine takes the biscuit as far as recreation goes (and was my drug of choice back in High School) but I'm not even that big of a fan of that these days.
7. Oral, snorted or plugged for the pharms. Always nasal with the cocaine.
8. By my senior year I hardly used any stimulant stronger than coffee any more. I was an English major and given what I said earlier about their effect on writing they really weren't that useful and I preferred opiates for recreation.
9. A little over four years back, in the midst of finals in my freshman year, I suffered what would probably be considered a nervous breakdown brought on by stress and heavy amphetamine use. Bad stuff to say the least. Furthermore, in order to fight off the comedown of the various stimulants I had been using I turned to depressants, most notably opiates. After this episode I began to move away from stimulant use (Yes, I know a smarter man than I would have quit right away but there's no quit in me) but quickly fell into opiate addiction. Been there on and off (currently off) ever since.
10. One of my main problems I have with stimulant usage is that it turns me into such a nice person. When I'm thwacked out on coke or uppers I am considerate, understanding and helpful. It's like the asshole switch in my brain is turned off. This sounds like a good thing but it isn't. I enjoy being an asshole and the feeling of drugs taking away an aspect of my personality, albeit one that most people would see as negative, is fucking frightening. Beyond that I could care less, I just like getting high.
The war on drugs: Even Nixon, who coined the term, would be revolted. Local, state and federal drug enforcement units are nothing short of paramilitaries, the strong-arm branch of a war on the American underclass. I am by no means wholly pro-legalization: I've got no illusions about my primary hobby being good for me and America's hyperconsumerism and tendency towards excess makes grilled fucking meat a health threat, much less crack. That being said arming cops with assault rifles and using military equipment to find and destroy fucking plants on public land are not viable solutions.