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Friday, September 27, 2002 at 10:00 AM EDT
College Students and Psychoactive Medication
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Packing for college isn’t what it used to be. The laptops are spiffier. The DVDs are new. And the toiletry bag, for an astounding portion of young Americans heading off to school, is loaded with prescription psychoactive drugs.

Never mind the old equation of college and recreational drugs, the parents’ old tiptoe through pot and peyote. A new generation is arriving at university heavily armed with prescriptions for Zoloft, Dexedrine, Paxil and Prozac. Xanax, Adderall, Cylert and Ritalin. And it’s not about weekend benders. It’s about ADD, anxiety, OCD and depression.

Officials say that today that about 40 percent of American college students are on psychoactive drugs. Everybody knows the number is huge. But what exactly does it mean? Up next On Point: the Medicated Generation goes to college.

Guests:

Gertrude Carter, director of psychological services, Bennington College

Jeff Winseman, medical director of health and psychological services, Bennington College

Robert Gallagher, psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh

 
 

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