MTA Argosy article... Non-prescribed study-enhancing drug use...

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Front and back of an mta.ca info card found on the ground

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[ article shared at The Argosy online ~ reprinted without permission ]

“First I get sweaty, then I get kind of excited. There’s a come-up phase where you kind of feel it,” said Ted (pseudonym). “You start reading, you look at the clock and it’s two hours later, and you’ve done 200 pages.”

Ted is a Mount Allison student, and is among a growing number of university students worldwide who use focus-enhancing stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta or Vyvanse without a prescription to help them study. These drugs are usually prescribed to treat conditions like Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but students without these conditions who take them say the drugs sharpen focus and allow them to study or work for much longer periods of time than normal.

Ted said he uses these drugs once or twice per week, on average, but sometimes more frequently before midterms or exams. He may be able to work for upward of 12 hours straight after using, depending what kind of drug he takes and its dosage. He added that he doesn’t necessarily take it do better academically, but to do the same amount of work in a shorter period of time.

While Ted takes the drugs with some regularity, he may be among the more moderate users at Mt. A.

“It’s always available when I have expendable money. It’s like an everyday, once-a-day [habit] in the morning,” said Chris (pseudonym), a Mt. A student who uses the drugs non-prescribed

Chris says he’ll take these drugs every day for weeks at a time, sometimes spending up to $70 per week on them.

“I have a passion for things that I feel is taken away when I’m lazy,” said Chris. “That passion is subdued by fatigue and mental exhaustion that I can reignite and take full advantage of when I use something like Adderall or Vyvance, and it just seems perfect for a student.”

Chris said he’s aware of the danger of addiction posed by using these drugs so regularly, and makes himself go on several-week-long “tolerance breaks” throughout the term. His productivity goes down, but he says he does it because he wants to go to graduate school and is concerned about relying on the drugs by then.

Chris and Ted said they buy study-enhancing drugs from friends with prescriptions and that more serious dealers of these drugs are rare in Sackville. Ted said single pills range from $3 to $10 each, depending on which type of drug they are and whether they have short or long release times, with long-release Adderall usually fetching the highest prices. Both said they started using in high school and that these drugs are commonly used in Mt. A’s residences.

“If you can’t find it in res., it’s probably because you put no effort in or you don’t have any friends,” said Ted. “It’s very easy to find. Not everyone does it, but it’s definitely there.”

Ted added that many students in residence don’t stop at popping study pills. Some crush up drugs like Adderall or Concerta and snort them, which he described as a “shitty experience all around.”

Jane (pseudonym) is another Mt. A student who has used these drugs to help her study. She was recently diagnosed with ADHD and now takes Vyvance on prescription, which she said makes her study and feel normally, but she took study-enhancing drugs before her diagnosis to help her focus. She now sells surplus pills from her prescription, which she gets both by requesting higher dosages from her physician and by not using the medication over breaks.

“I think more people than you would expect have tried it, or wanted it,” said Jane.

Jane, Chris and Ted all agreed that non-prescribed study drugs are widely used at Mt. A. Ted estimated up to 20 per cent of students have tried or use them regularly, Jane estimated 30 per cent of students take them with some regularity, and Chris said that a “huge majority” have tried them but that fewer use regularly. Chris added that he thinks university culture makes students who wouldn’t usually do drugs try them, as substance experimentation and abuse is normalized in universities.

“The use is so rampant because someone can say, ‘Yeah, I can do Adderall,’ without fearing serious social repercussions being a college student,” said Chris.

Relatively little is known about how widely these drugs are used in Canadian universities, but these estimations are in line with some past research. A 2011 editorial from the Canadian Medical Association Journal said 5 to 35 per cent of university students may use non-prescribed study drugs, while the 2013 National College Health Assessment Survey found 3.7 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students reported using the drugs. Other student newspapers across Canada have also reported widespread drug use for academic purposes, such as student newspapers from the University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, McGill and Dalhousie.

According to Adam Christie, Mt. A’s manager of international affairs and acting head of student life, the university doesn’t have any information on how common this drug use is at Mt. A.

“This is the first time it’s come up on my radar,” said Christie. “It’s obviously a concern.”

Taking prescription drugs without a prescription or selling personal prescription drugs is illegal under the 1996 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and under Mt. A’s 1994 Liquor Policy, use of any illegal drug on campus is forbidden. Christie said this policy is being updated as part of a new student code of conduct, pending approval and implementation. The draft for this code of conduct states, “No student shall be in possession of, furnish to anyone, consume or furnish non-prescription drugs or prescription drugs for recreational purposes.”

Using non-prescribed study drugs may also carry some medical risk. According to Cindy Crossman, nurse-educator for the Wellness Centre, taking any drug without a prescription could cause allergic reactions, amplify adverse side effects associated with that drug, or become dangerous when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Some stimulants in particular, such as Adderall, may become dangerous at higher dosages, leading to risk of heart complications and even death. Snorting these drugs when crushed up may increase these risks, as it shortens their release time and changes how they become distributed around the body as well. Crossman said she recommends against taking any drug without a prescription.

Christie said he would sooner educate students and encourage them not to use study-enhancing drugs than to legislate against them.

“I’m more interested in knowing the root cause. Why are students feeling like this is an option for them, or even a necessity? Is it a workload issue […] is it pressure on wanting to maintain a certain GPA? A certain scholarship?” said Christie.

Lily (pseudonym) takes non-prescribed study-enhancing drugs a few times per term, usually around exams and important assignments. She said she takes them mainly because there’s not enough time for her to study while being an involved student, and that other high-achieving students she knows take them as well.

“We’re kind of expected, as students, to not only excel in [our] classes but do 100 other things at the same time,” said Lily. “I think that’s what it comes down to: time management. It’s ‘How do I do well in all my classes plus the five extracurriculars I’m doing and then the thing I volunteer for then this other thing I said I’d do?’ So I think it’s very high expectations across the board.”

The Argosy gave the students interviewed in this article pseudonyms to protect their identities and privacy, given the illicit nature of these drugs.   [ Clay Steell... April 6, 2016 ] 

{ It needs to be noted that the Argosy has a huge problem with free speech on Facebook }

High School Student Shows Support of Fossil Fuels, Liberal Heads Explode

How refreshing to see a positive, and uplifting message about fossil fuels from a youngster... kudos sir!
Meanwhile in Canada, Mount Allison University struggles under the oppressive cult known as "Divest MTA"

Locally and across the region there are people who are definitely pro-oil and gas.. its just a simple fact.. we may  not get media coverage... but we are the silent, calm, sane majority.. count on it.

Examining the official narrative of those in 'whackademia' ...

Following the logic of his powerfully-charged, expressive [yet divisive] article [which I have reprinted down below in full] it would appear that any scrutiny and discussion on this topic is absolutely unacceptable .... which begs the question:  why do we even need 'academia' in 2016 and beyond? If the point of 'academia' is to control free thought and free speech and to be continually judged and labelled and silenced if expressing opinion unbecoming of a 'global citizen' then why is it being funded if its not helpful, in the enlightenment?

"dangerous" is a word that 'social justice' warriors/windbags love to use...

words and discussion are the life blood of our society but sadly they're now

being weaponized..

wonder how it will all turn out? 

"The Enlightenment" is not supposed to be the censorship/shutting down of conversations, is it? So.... do you believe you have a right to criticize an ideology in Canada today? check out this petition protecting free speech rights on this issue ... [shared by Council of European Canadians, Facebook]

Argosy's article by Perkin below was reproduced from online article published by "The Argosy" student newspaper online at mta.ca ... its an opinion piece but also a propaganda piece to warn others against being vocal on such issues... its from well paid and much celebrated chaplain rev. John Perkin who contended before the crowd of 200 that he spoke to that day in early October 2015 [before the Federal election] at Gay Pride in Sackville N.B. that:

 "we are all global citizens on unceded territory" 

"Pride October 2015" - Indie Media Eastcoast photography

.. he also made an effort to degrade, demean, and malign my efforts to openly oppose his refugee 'resettlement contracting' work for the UNHCR .. as he speaks at a TED talk here--> Bishop's University Quebec .. listen you'll get an insight into his global dreams and goals .. in 2016 and beyond ... I do intend to oppose his actions; peacefully.. by exposing his misdeeds and misguided good intentions... I firmly believe Canadians should help Canadians first ... that's more logical.  Perkin, an educated man, really needs to do the numbers sometime.. but will he?
https://www.numbersusa.com/

March 9, 2016 original article click here ... reproduced without permission .. for your information...

"I am teaching the Apocalyptic Consciousness class again this semester, a course that explores text, worldviews and their outworkings. In its origins, the apocalyptic literature focused on the perseverance of the faithful through times of oppression and persecution. In its dualistic language, the persecutors were often demonized as a way of encouraging passive resistance to the forces ranged against the faithful. Over the centuries, this dualism of the righteous and the unrighteous has led to a connection between the unrighteous and the enemy—it is, in a word, “othering.” This dualistic worldview manifests itself increasingly in our contemporary world as a polarity between those who share certain values, creeds, ideologies, nationalities and even skin colours, and everyone else. It manifests itself in rhetoric that speaks of “us” and “them.” It leads to dangerous rhetoric and even more dangerous actions. The dualism of apocalyptic thought has led to white supremacist movements, hatred and violence.

It is troubling to see this rhetoric, which has shifted far from its textual and religious origins, being employed in the American presidential primaries. Donald Trump and his rhetoric of the far right have attracted a following which wants to “make America great again,” but at the expense of others. The rising tide of American Islamophobia, racist rhetoric about Latin American immigrants, and simplistic solutions to American and global issues are deeply disturbing.  Perhaps even more disturbing are the large numbers of ordinary people attracted to this rhetoric, who shrug off suggestions of interning Muslims as though they are somehow reasonable. The lives of others – those who are not white or Christian – are suddenly rendered expendable.

Comparisons have been made between the rhetoric of Donald Trump and the rise of Hitler’s Nazism, which may or may not be overblown. Comparisons have also been made to Adolf Eichmann, the bureaucrat who arranged the execution of millions of Jewish people as though it were just an operational exercise. It was in covering the Eichmann trial in 1963 for the New Yorker that Hannah Arendt coined her now-famous phrase, the “banality of evil.” Eichmann didn’t look evil, he didn’t look guilty, he just looked ordinary. Therein, of course, lies the danger.

We face this danger of evil in Canada, too, including and perhaps especially in such banal forms. We assume the face of white supremacy is found only in the deep south of the United States, wearing the white hoods of the Klu Klax Klan. But in Canada, right-wing extremism – encompassing white supremacy and racism, Islamophobia, and homophobia – is on the rise and finds expression through social media in hate speech, but also through vandalism and violence including assault and even homicide. Since the fall, we have read that Syrian refugees were pepper-sprayed at a welcoming event in Vancouver, a mosque in Peterborough was set on fire, and graffiti calling for people to “kill refugees” was spray-painted on walls and cars in Calgary. Over 1,000 hate-motivated crimes are committed each year in Canada, and many of these can be attributed to right-wing extremists.

We may have preconceived ideas about white supremacists: gang members, skinheads, young white men in low-income and urban settings—those who are raised in a context of violence. But there are others who are dangerous not because of acts they might commit, but for the attitudes they nurture and the acts they might incite. Under the banner of “free speech” they promote hatred against particular identifiable minorities, and they are the banal face of evil.  They are young and also middle-aged, they are uneducated and they have college degrees, they are unemployed and they are working, they live in rural and urban areas. And increasingly they target Muslims and refugees as the objects of their hate speech.

Unfortunately this attitude is found across Canada, and is not limited to urban centres. Even here in Sackville there are those who espouse white supremacist agendas, employing the usual hate rhetoric of Islamophobia and racism. Perhaps it is just as well that refugee families have not yet arrived in Sackville, as they have already been targeted in social media by hate speech, under the misguided notion that it is permissible under Canada’s endorsement of free speech. Public-access Facebook sites which originate in Sackville target and link all persons of Arabic origins or Muslim faith to the extremism of ISIS, they make statements that refugees are “a black plague” or that Muslims refugees are “the enemy,” they provide links to known white supremacist sites including PEGIDA Canada. Such rhetoric serves to make hatred mainstream. It encourages tolerance of hatred in discourse, and by implication, in action. I presume that in the Sackville case, these social media sites with barely a handful of followers have only limited impact. Nonetheless, this is the banality of evil. It seems so innocuous and ordinary, lurking in sites that purport to be for the public good, but nonetheless, it is more than just mean-spiritedness and a misunderstanding or fear of Islam—it is evil. This rhetoric of evil needs to be exposed for what it is, to be denounced and brought to account through proper due process.

While there is room for different opinions about refugee resettlement, the targeting of the SRRC by the rhetoric of hatred and white supremacy is deplorable. I can only hope the overwhelming kindness, generosity and compassion of the vast majority of Sackville residents, to which we have already been witness, will continue when refugee families arrive and settle. I hope our care for one another will extend also to the recognition of evil, even in its seemingly innocuous forms, and will expose that evil so that our community, including refugee newcomers, will be safe and welcoming to all."

[photo credit to "A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" facebook... documentary found at http://alinskyfilm.com ..]