Greg: All right, what’s going on everyone? It is Matt and Greg here from Project Unbroken. So, today we’re going to be talking about a really popular drug especially in colleges and all that, and that’s Adderall, Ritalin, two very … pretty much the same drug.
Matt: Uppers.
Greg: Yeah, uppers. So, Adderall, Matt, what do you remember Adderall feeling like? I know you have a good bit more experience than I do. I also have experience, not as much as Matt, so if you can start telling us what do you remember it feeling like when you were on it?
Matt: Well, it kind of depended on the circumstance. So, Adderall, I would utilize in a fashion for sometimes studying or focus, or I thought this will help me clean my house and get organized and get my stuff done, and it has a really strong effect and it’ll help you do stuff like that. And the other area that I would abuse it was for partying, staying up later, drinking more alcohol. And in that way it’s kind of similar to cocaine, not quite as euphoric, but you’re moving around, you’re talking, you’re feeling pretty good. You’re able to drink more, you’re able to stay awake. But it has a similar vibe to cocaine, if you’re familiar with that at all, or any upper.
Greg: Let’s compare a more common upper, coffee. How would you compare it to coffee?
Matt: Like 20 cups.
Greg: 20 cups?
Matt: Yeah.
Greg: Because I know sometimes when I drink a lot of coffee, I get anxiety. Like if I drink too much, you almost get that anxiety feeling. I never got that with Adderall or Ritalin.
Matt: No. So, that’s the difference. So if you put it on a scale, you have caffeine at the lower end of the scale, and we’ll just say cocaine at the top of the scale, Adderall’s in the middle closer to the cocaine side. So, cocaine is a lot of euphoria. I mean, for me, I never really got any anxiety off cocaine or Adderall.
Greg: Unless you’re coming down off cocaine.
Matt: Unless you’re coming down off of cocaine. Then you’re going to feel some anxiety. And the same with Adderall. When it starts to go away, it’s depressing.
Greg: Not as intense.
Matt: Not as intense.
Greg: Right.
Matt: So I think something that’s unique about Adderall is you take the pill or sniff the pill or whatever, you ingest it, and you kind of come up and stay at this baseline for a while, whereas cocaine is up and down until you get another bump.
Greg: Yeah. I think a good way to describe it, from what I remember, comparing it to coffee because a lot of people drink coffee or caffeine in general, it’s like you have like that going feeling but you’re even more motivated. You’re more concentrated. You want to really get stuff done. Same thing with coffee in a way, but just more intense.
Matt: Yeah. Absolutely. And again, I think that’s because of that slight euphoric feeling, where you feel good about doing what you’re doing. I drink coffee now and I don’t get super fired up to do anything. But you take an Adderall and you kind of want to clean your house, which is weird. Coffee does not make me want to clean my house.
Greg: Good way to put it.
Matt: So yeah, there’s varying scales. It’s popular in academia.
Greg: College.
Matt: People end up pulling all nighters and it’ll help you stay awake and study, which pro tip, don’t do that. You’re better off just getting a good night’s sleep and having your brain work well the next day. Pulling an all nighter and trying to cram all that in’s not going to help you do better on any test, I promise.
Greg: And I think a lot of people look at it as harmless drug. Tell them it’s definitely not harmless.
Matt: No. I’ve known several people who really had issues with it.
Greg: And I think it led those people into harder drugs as well, you know.
Matt: True. A lot of times I think it’s prescribed at way too young of an age. We’ve known people that were prescribed to it at eleven, twelve.
Greg: Grade school even.
Matt: I know it’s prescribed even earlier than that. And I specifically saw in those kids, they started to learn negative habits for abusing drugs. So, even at a young age, they would be like, “Yeah, I’ll take my Adderall in the morning and I’ll save it and then I’ll take of them at night and I get fucked up.” That’s not a good relationship to learn how to deal with any pharmaceutical, whether it’s narcotic or not. It’s just not a healthy way to have that relationship with drugs.
Greg: I agree. I agree with that. So what do you think about all this Adderall that’s going on in college, that’s where it’s biggest now is college campuses. Should they just not be taking it at all? What’s your views on that?
Matt: I don’t know. In college, it’s a time where people are going to be experimenting with a lot of different stuff to begin with. I don’t want to take anything away from how harmful Adderall can be, but it can be used as a tool, I think, if you’re smart with it and you’re not abusing … you’re not just using it to stay up and drink more and try to burn the candle at both ends. I think if you’re utilizing it correctly within smart doses, whatever, you’re working with a doctor, I don’t think it’s terrible. You have to watch that fine line of when it turns into abuse.
Greg: Especially when you start … I know one of the big things, when you start taking for other reasons. “Well, I want to go out tonight so I’m just going to take a little bit so I can socialize better.”
Matt: Exactly.
Greg: Things like that.
Matt: Yeah. If you stay in your lane with it and use it for what it’s supposed to be used for, a, I don’t recommend it, but I don’t also think it’s the most harmful thing in the world. You just have to be careful, like any drug really.
Greg: Definitely, definitely. All right, so hopefully that gives you an overview of Adderall, what it feels like and what our views are on it. If you have any more questions, let us know and we’ll see you all soon.
Matt: See you guys.
