Strung-Out Students

*Original names have been changed to protect student confidentiality  

Inside the dimly lit walls of Canton’s Tick Tock Inn, a group of exhausted students congregate in a darkened corner, murmuring below the volume of the music amongst one another.  

“Today was unbelievable,” Johnny, a short, stout underclassman mutters. “If I hadn’t done a line before coming out here, I think I’d be dead.” His pale, blue eyes drift over to a friend on his left, whose body sways against the beaten wood of the bar.  

“Fuckin’ tell me about it, dude,” Johnny’s friend, Liam, retorts, pressing a thumb to one of his nostrils before sucking in. Willowy and wobbling, Liam glances at the third member of the group, whose buff arms cling to the wall, grasping for balance after one too many beers. “Ask me how Owen is still even walking right now… bro took a nap for an hour and just got up and walked over here,” Liam laughs, slapping his thigh.  

“It’s not my fault Johnny’s fat ass needs coke to help him stand up,” Owen says as he waves a feeble hand in front of his face.  

As the three men disappear into the crowds of the Ticker, a question lingers in the air behind them: how are college students accessing cocaine? Canton’s remote location begs the question of where exactly these drugs are coming from – specifically stimulants like methamphetamine, which can be prescribed, and cocaine. For some students, the answer is “right here on campus.” 

In 2014, The Daily Beast reported that roughly a third of college students will abuse prescription drugs in their time at school. St. Lawrence University doesn’t appear to be an exception to the rule. “Study drugs” used to treat ADHD – like Adderall, Ritalin and Concerta – are the easiest to access at SLU.  

In a seedy dorm room on a Friday night, Clara offers her gal pals a pill to shake them awake for the remainder of the night. As she wiggles the bright orange container, baby blue capsules fall into her palm, and she doles them out to the close friends surrounding her. Allie, a bright-eyed upperclassman, extends her hand needily.  

“Are you sure?” Clara asks Allie, closing her palm for a moment. “You’ve never done Adderall before, I thought.”  

Allie shrugs, looking over to their other friend (and long-time user of Clara’s medication), Ella, for approval. She claps Allie on the back enthusiastically.  

“No pressure, Allie,” Ella hums, plucking a pill from the bottle.  

“Well, I did Olivia’s Concerta a while ago,” Allie explains, tapping Clara’s fist. “That’s basically the same thing, isn’t it?”  

“Erm… I guess so,” Clara sighs, leaning back defeatedly into her chair before opening her palm reluctantly. “How many milligrams was it? Do you know?”  

Allie quickly grabs the pill, setting it down on a desk. As she mulls over the dosage of her last experience, she places a credit card atop the capsule before crunching over the top of it with her palm. When she lifts the shiny black AMEX logo from the wood desk, all that remains below it is a compacted pile of bright azure powder.  

“Beats me. I’ll be fine; don’t tweak,” she insists before wrenching a dollar bill from her pocket.  

Because ADHD medications are prescribed by a doctor, many students think that they are safe. However, the recreational use of “study drugs” like Adderall, Concerta and Ritalin can quickly lead to an amphetamine addiction. What’s more – it only takes one time doing these drugs to overdose. Too much of an ADHD medication, even if one’s never done it before, can be lethal… and at the very least, it can cause a heart attack or a seizure. So why risk it?  

An amphetamine high sends a surge of energy to one’s body, enhancing the brain’s ability to produce serotonin and dopamine. Someone high on a drug like Adderall will feel happy, razor-focused, and extremely energized. Easy to access and fun to use, it’s no wonder why the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that Adderall is the most abused drug on college campuses, next to marijuana and alcohol. A handful of research institutions, including The Discovery House, have suggested that Adderall is the real gateway drug, perhaps more than marijuana.  

This would make sense, given the fact that after alcohol, marijuana and study drugs, cocaine is of competing popularity in the St. Lawrence party scene. This is troubling information alone, but even more so when one considers that a huge amount of the cocaine that circulates through New York State is cut with fentanyl, an opioid fifty times stronger than heroin. New York State’s Department of Health reported that in the last year, fentanyl has been the greatest cause of overdose in the state. By itself, cocaine can send a person into cardiac arrest if one takes too much. Combined with fentanyl? Cocaine can kill someone in one go. Because of this, the places that students source this drug from are literally a life-or-death choice.  

On a humid, rainy Sunday, two students, Nick and Lizzie, walk up Canton’s Park Street towards the Bagelry for a quick lunch. Hungover from a weekend of partying, the two rehash memories from the night before – including their stint with cocaine.  

“I shouldn’t have snorted that shit,” Lizzie, a recreational drug user, chuckles to Nick. “I can still taste the f-cking drip in the back of my throat,” she groans, inhaling through her nose.  

Nick, a tall and slender upperclassman, shrugs indifferently. “Then don’t do so much next time,” he suggests.  

“Hey,” Lizzie points to him. “You don’t turn down free drugs. Besides, I’m not going to get it again. I wouldn’t know where,” she pauses. “Would you?”  

“I don’t know anyone who actually deals on campus,” Nick sighs, halting at the crosswalk. “The only coke I’ve ever done has been from other people, for free, and, if you’re lucky, you can find a gram from someone for like a hundred dollars while they’re home or something.”  

“I know that people who live in cities will go get some from dealers at home. But it’s never a big amount,” Lizzie mumbles while leaning against the traffic pole. “I guess that makes sense, given how much it costs.”  

“If they do bring back a lot, they keep it a great secret,” Nick laughs as the light changes. The two proceed across the street.  

“I feel like, at least around here, there’s not really that much to go around,” Lizzie adds. “Maybe there is, and students just don’t trust it, but I don’t think there’s drug lords in Canton.”  

“Never say never,” Nick grins while approaching the Bagelry door. He grabs it and opens it for Lizzie.  

Nick and Lizzie make an excellent point. Part of the reason St. Lawrence has evaded a cocaine crisis may be owed to the fact that students are genuinely scared of any local supply. In the last year, the New York State Opioid Data Dashboard reported that opioid deaths related to fentanyl in St. Lawrence County have significantly increased. This is awful, of course, but the silver lining is that students are aware of this and choose to stay away from local suppliers.  

The use of stimulants on St. Lawrence’s campus is, indeed, popular – but perhaps not as unsafe as it seems. Students who partake in the recreational use of study drugs, like Adderall, Concerta and Ritalin, seem to get them from friends and trust acquaintances who have a doctor’s prescription. On the other hand, scarier drugs, like cocaine, are usually brought from trusted sources at home and in small quantities. This is reassuring information, considering that St. Lawrence County and New York State at large have a rising opioid crisis. Illicit drugs from un-reputable sources are, today, more dangerous than ever. While this is a terrifying thought, parents can rest assured that while their children partake in risky behavior at college, they’re, at the very least, taking measures to create a safer experience.