A Nursing student thinks she has proof that abuse of prescription drugs at Penn is a disturbingly large problem.
Nursing senior Maggie Beerley and her classmates have been working on research for their Senior Leadership Project dealing with the illegal distribution of prescription drugs, including Ritalin, Percocet, Vicodin, Valium, Xanax and Oxycontin. Overall, 29.2 percent of students responding to a survey said they have illegally used some type of prescription drug during their time at the University.
The students in the class surveyed 816 students and tried to get a diverse testing sample. However, a significantly large number of these participants were female.
"I expected this to be a problem and was not surprised when we found out that it is prevalent among Penn students," Beerley said.
Beerley explained that many of these drugs are snorted, as well as taken orally. She also said she believes that students often see the drugs as a study aid rather than a detriment to their health.
An anonymous student respondent to the survey wrote, "I don't believe prescription drugs can be regarded as a problem here because I don't believe they are truly harmful. If they were harmful, they would never [exist]."
According to Beerley, these types of responses demonstrate the lack of information concerning the misuse of these drugs among the University community.
Ritalin, the most popular prescription drug found in the survey results, can help patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder remain attentive for extended periods of time when used correctly. But frequently, the drug is abused for its stimulant effects, which include appetite suppression, wakefulness and increased focus.
The University had previously conducted a drug and alcohol study that found that 8 percent of students, out of a testing sample of 2,500, used prescription drugs during that particular semester.
While Beerley did not limit her study to the current semester, Alcohol Policy Initiatives Director Stephanie Ives still finds these results startling.
"No one else's data says this, and I have seen many college campuses' data," Ives said.
And Ives said she doubts the reliability of the smaller testing sample and the manner of choosing testing subjects.
Beerley found the University study to be inadequate in specifically addressing many of the prescription drugs that she has found to be in rampant usage among Penn students.
"They did it on the computer, which made it less personal," Beerley said. "We're confident people were honest, because of the anonymous pencil responses."
Beerley's study also indicates a significant jump in drug usage following freshmen year.
One hypothesis in the study attributes the root of the drug problem to certain aspects of college life that may dramatically alter the psychological status of University students.
"The jump could be because of certain experiences, relationships or stress factors," Beerley noted.
Stress ranks near the top of Beerley's list of reasons for why students turn to numerous prescription drugs.
"Penn can be a stressful environment at times. Some students are so naive and oblivious that they believe grades are everything, so they do anything to keep ahead of the curve," a University student who took part in the study wrote.
Beerley said she believes that schools should be aware of the problem of stress in college life and address it, especially if drug use is truly a result of stress.
Many respondents to Beerley's project pinned the stress they felt on classroom pressures.
"Selling and taking study pills, like Ritalin, is a definite problem, but I think it would be impossible to stop it. Besides kids are using it to study and be productive. It's essentially for a good cause," a respondent wrote.
Beerley says that Drug and Alcohol Resource Team and other drug awareness programs do not directly address this problem. She said she hopes her study will spark the University, as well as programs similar to DART, to disseminate information on the dangers of these drugs.
Currently, DART does not have a program specifically directed toward the illegal use of prescription drugs. Most of the workshops focus on alcohol and the use of illegal drugs. DART advisor Jennifer Jacobs pointed out that workshops are created in response to student needs.
"DART hasn't done workshops on prescription drugs, because the Web-based survey found the usage to be so low," Jacobs said.
But Beerley feels her research indicates otherwise.
"Even this being published in the paper is a part of our project... anything to make people more aware," Beerley said.
