Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Blac The most widely used drugs on college campuses today are am phetamines. The general attitude is that amphetamines have been used by students ever since the drug first became available. Faculty members are aware that when they give an exam, at least hal'f of their students will be using some kind of stimulant, ranging from No-Doz to black beauties.' Black beauties, a type of am phetamine usually prescribed to help reduce appetite, are stimulants that affect the nervous systems of the body which control blood pressure, heart, respiratory and metabolic rates. All bodily functions speed up and a general state of alertness results. Without prescription, possesion of amphetamines is illegal, but they are widely used and easy to get. Half of the legally manufac tured supply of amphetamines find 'A Using sp makes qu ''If you take it one time, i Those are the words of study. He said, ''I hate to always say, ''I'm going to dc ''But, you can get so muc get in bad shape again, you<4 Students usually get sti friends. Guys sometimes c ''My girl took it for the promised that it would only ''She was so excited aboL called me in the middle of t on it to stay. ''That's the way it alway But when you're up. you ca k mark Feder for ill their way into illegal channels, usually on college campuses. Dr. Marion Carr, instructor of health education, said occassional use of amphetamines, or "speed" as it is commonly called, "wouldn't necessarily have any major detrimental effect." Carr said stimulants had been used by college students for some time, "but 20 years ago, it was not being done to the extent it is today." on Cal eed once itting hard rou're going to take it again." a student who uses speed to see anybody get started. You I t rust for this one test. :h done. You know if you ever :an get the speed.'' mrted on speed through their pet it for their girls. first time during exams. She be just this once. it how much she got done, she he night. I knew then she was s is. it's bad when you crash. n do and remember so murbh'' et 'am al crackdown ?gitimate prod Dr. Larry Milne, an instructor in the College of Pharmacy said that use of amphetamines by an estimated 70 per cent of the students "doesn't surprise me. It comes down to necessity. If a guy has exams to study for, he's going to use it." There are two kinds of use ac cording to Milne. "There is misuse; this is the student who takes it once in a while to study. Then there is abuse; those who take amphetamines WPUS Drug Some pi real, bu Many of the amphetamines for sale on campus are stolen from either drug stores or hospitals, but an increasing number of them are made in black market laboratories. Amphetamines are widelv .used and easy to get. Dr. Larry Milne from the College of Pharmacy said "strict federal control caused the increase of illegitimate drugs. "With this control has come more Illegitimately made am phetamines. There was a time when you could spot them," he said. "But, now we're starting to see counterfeits. These are drugs made illegitimately, but made to look like legitimately made drugs," Milne said. Many of the drugs bought as amphetamines are not even stimulants. Dr. Milne said that some capsules sold on campus as amphetamines have been iden tified as Iron sulfate, a type of supplement given to pregnant women. "The main problem with Illegitimate speed amphetamines Is that you don't know what you are getting. "If you're going to take it," Milne said, "make sure It is legitimate." Even with the tighter controls many of the capsules are stolen. A pusher may handle as many as a thousand. ps incr cited uction regularly in large doses. These are the 'speed freaks' who just want to get high." The line between misuse and abuse is very thin. Often a person Is not aware that he has crossed the line. Although speed is not physically addictive, a strong psychological dependency develops for it, ac cording to the U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's pamphlet "Sedatives." Bill speeds, "but I'm no speed scene 11s look t aren't He will distribute them in lots from 25 to 100 to "handlers." The handler doesn't necessarily sell for a profit. The chance ot the source being tracked to the original pusher is almost non-existent. "'A lot of it comes from the fraternities," he said. "I was in one for a while. Its pretty safe. Nobody is going to turn you in. Joe was handling amphetamines for a while. He had some idea of where the drug originated. "One of the guys In the fraternity used to come around and ask If we wanted anything. He would get it for you. "The guys that delivered the stuff were always real nice and dressed like any other salesman. They would walk into the house and give our guy the stuff, and he would pay for It right on the spot. "I think a lot of the stuff was stolen. Most of the guys who sold to us were from Atlanta, I think. Some were from Greenville. Sometimes one of our guys would There are two kinds of use: misuse and abus< make a special trip to Atlanta to pick up some stuff. I don't know where he got it, but in Atlanta It's not too hard to find. "Onen a guy I know staLa n inr f ease freak or anything like that." Bill has been out of school once. To him school is something to be endured, rather than enjoyed. He is not unlike many USC students. "My freshman year I didn't speed at all. I almost flunked out. I ended it with about a 1.2 or 1.3 GPR. I had to do something to stay in school. "I started speeding just for the big tests or the ones that were especially hard. My grades really came up, but I hate it when I speed. "I guess in a year I'll take better than 100 beauties." Although the effect of one black beauty usually lasts 12 hours, Bill said, I've been speeding for so long that it takes two or three to keep me up for 12 hours. Sometimes I hallucinate. I don't want to speed, but I have to." Milne said that with continued use of amphetamines "we're starting to see psychological problems. A person all of a sudden has a personality change. He's harder to get along with. He doesn't realize this. It's very subtle." But sometimes, users are aware of the problems. Bill is. "I know for a fact that if you have any psychological problems and use speed, you're going to get messed up. I have a lot of problems." Bill said he felt he was wearing himself out. "All I want to do now is to get out of school. When I do, I'm through with speed. Right now, I guess I guess I really need it." There also is a chance for kidney damage and "since it speeds up the heart, it can cause damage there," Milne said. "You shouldn't use am phetamines unless you're in pretty good physical condition," he said. "Sometimes the person taking it is not in any position to decide his physical condition. I don't recommend taking them to stay up." Carr said research had shown that a person taking am phetamines "may think he's doing better, when he isn't." Carr said in some persons instance per formance did improve, but more often use of amphetamines is deterimental. Students who develop a psychological dependence on amphetamines run the risk of not being able to get them when they need them. Recent government controls have made the drug harder to get, however, the general attitude is, if you can get them, take them. beauties or maybe T-20's (am phetamines with a tranquilizer to ease the effect) from a hcspital here In Columbia. He just took the whole jar and they thought it had never been shipped." It may be possible for students to steal amphetamines, but ac cording to Milne it would be almost Impossible for a student to have access to the raw materials to make amphetamines. "Supply companies just wouldn't sell to ~. him," he said. Illegitimate arugs may or iisy not be amphetamines and they may or may not have the correct dosage. Death from an overdose is rare, but as Milne said, "Anytime you stimulate yourself, you are going to war out faster."