The desire to increase academic and professional performance is driving millions of young Americans to misuse stimulants designed to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the Washington Post reported Feb. 25.

ADHD drugs allow users to stay awake longer and finish work more quickly, but also can lead to addiction. A study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse this week estimated that more than 1.6 million American teens and young adults misused these drugs during a 12-month period, and 75,000 became addicted.

"We live in a highly competitive society, and you want to get the top grades and you know your colleagues are taking stimulants and you feel pressured," said NIDA Director Nora Volkow. "Yes, you are going to study better in the middle of the night if you take one of these medications. The problem is a certain percentage of people become addicted to them, and some have toxic effects."

"As a child, you have multiple friends who are being treated with stimulant medications," Volkow added. "You get the sense that these are good. The message we are getting cannot be underemphasized -- it has become something routine."

Pediatrician Lawrence Diller said that warnings on ADHD drug packages should be dealing with addiction and misuse issues, not just possible side-effects. "Seventy-five thousand addicts to prescription stimulants is much more troublesome than the 100 to 200 adults who have strokes," he said. "Houston, we have got a problem, because we are just in the middle of this epidemic."

The research was published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.