Approximately 8% of college undergraduate students report using prescription stimulants that were not prescribed for them at least once in their lifetime, according to a random sample of full-time undergraduate students at the University of Michigan.

The most common motive for use was to help with concentration (58%), followed by to increase alertness (43%), and to get high (43%), which is consistent with an ongoing University of Maryland undergraduate study (see CESAR FAX, Volume 14, Issue 34).

The proportion of users reporting each motive remained the same regardless of gender, having been previously prescribed stimulant medications, or the number of occasions of illicit prescription stimulant use.

The study also found that students who reported using the drugs to counteract the effects of other drugs or to get high were more likely to also report past year cocaine and amphetamine use, which "may reflect a more extensive stimulant use profile for those students who use illicit prescription stimulants to counteract the effects of other drugs or to get high."

For details, including data charts, source information and caveats, download the PDF file at www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/cesarfax/vol15/15-13.pdf.

Reprinted from CESAR Fax, a weekly, one-page overview of timely substance abuse trends or issues, from The Center on Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland.