Today, the Thursday before the last non-Final Exam week of the semester, will be a frightening day for many Eastern students. Many will realize they’ve only got this weekend to finish up their remaining coursework before it is time to get serious about studying for finals.

This biannual double-whammy of finishing final projects and studying for final exams is often one of the most stressful times for college students. In times of stress, we are often pushed to do things we normally would not and academic stress is certainly not an exception to that.

The thing I’ve got in mind is Adderall—the chemical solution to the problems that stand in the college student’s way from finishing that final project and cramming for that final exam.

According to my friends and peers who’ve raved about the wonder drug that has come to define our generation of college students, Adderall is, like, the best, man.

They say it focuses you, pushes all of your distractions far away to get your attention on the material you are studying. They say it is way better than coffee and energy drinks combined at keeping you awake during your all-night cram session.

For all my sarcastic italicizing, I will admit to being completely enthralled with the possibility of taking Adderall to help me through a particularly rough night. I’ve heard great stories of such-and-such person taking an Adderall and cramming an entire semester’s worth of information the night before acing the final exam for a class they never bothered showing up for.

There is something undeniably appealing in having the ability to unlock the focused, alert, driven part of your brain for just the cost of whatever your friend with ADHD wants for a single pill.

However great the stories and however seemingly low the price, I’ve seen far too many people slip from someone who used Adderall once to cram for a single Final Exam, to someone who used it prior to every test in every class.

I’m not going to claim that if you use Adderall just once you will become debilitatingly addicted or whatever, but the FDA does say on its website that all amphetamines have a high potential for abuse, especially when consumed for “non-therapeutic use.”

I don’t think my friends who use Adderall multiple times a semester are addicted, but I do think they have given themselves the idea that they need the pill to study, cram or complete any difficult paper.

Their gradual reliance on the powers of Adderall is reminiscent to a larger unhealthy fascination we Americans have with quick-fix solutions.

Although it is the Thursday before the last non-Final Exam week of the semester, and the mountain of work before you may seem nigh unscaleable, there is still time to make a plan to complete your work without spending a night in an Adderall-fueled power trip.

Doug T. Graham is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or DENopinions@gmail.com.