"After the pain finally went away, I still had a few Vicodin pills left and mentioned it to a couple of friends who suddenly became very "interested" if I was looking to make a "profit." My friends told me to take advantage of the pain and that it would be easy to get another refill if I pretended my pain had worsened. I could even get a stronger dose or a stronger drug. They were right; it would've been easy. After all, they had all done it themselves.
A recent study conducted at the University of Michigan found that about
20 percent of college students take prescription drugs for recreational
purposes. According to the National Center on Alcohol and Substance
Abuse at Columbia, from 1993 to 2005, the number of college students
abusing tranquilizers like Xanax and Valium went up 450 percent. For
opioids like Vicodin, the increase was 343 percent.
A friend stopped smoking pot after receiving a citation from
university police. The next week he obtained a legitimate prescription
for the painkiller Hydrocodone. He still has a drug problem, but this
time it's easier to hide. It would be difficult for Searle to monitor
if a student is abusing his medication, or for NUPD to catch someone
selling it to close friends.
