| A 2007 study, conducted by the University of Texas | | | | percent of college students have used cocaine. Four |
| Southwestern Medical Center, provides researchers | | | | percent have used in the past year and 1 percent in |
| with additional evidence of a correlation between | | | | the last month. The number of cocaine users in Texas |
| frequent amphetamine and cocaine usage among | | | | is pretty comparable to the national average," Maxwell |
| young individuals in Dallas, Houston and elsewhere in | | | | said. According to surveys conducted by University |
| Texas and the occurrence of strokes. | | | | Health Services in the spring of 2006, the level of |
| The study looked at patients from ages 18 to 44, and | | | | cocaine and amphetamine use at the University is |
| then determined who had had strokes and what their | | | | about equal to the national rate. |
| risk factors were. The study doesn't show the | | | | Those particular drugs, methamphetamine and cocaine, |
| mechanism, but it found an association between | | | | versus the percentage that UT students report, is very |
| amphetamine usage and strokes. | | | | low. One percent of men and 2 percent of women |
| Amphetamines and cocaine go straight into an | | | | reported cocaine use in the last 30 days. |
| individual's blood stream, increasing his or her blood | | | | Amphetamines include speed, Adderall and Ritalin, the |
| pressure and heart rate. There were recent animal | | | | only drugs for which there is a reported increase in |
| studies which showed that, when these drugs were | | | | use. About 4 percent of students said they used them |
| taken intravenously, there was an inflammation of | | | | unprescribed. A lot more women than men |
| blood vessels in animals' brains. Hemorrhagic strokes | | | | acknowledge using those drugs, the survey said. |
| result from the bleeding of tissue into the brain when a | | | | Students tend to use Adderall and Ritalin as diet pills. |
| blood vessel bursts. | | | | People might also use the diet supplements to stay |
| Jane Maxwell, a research scientist at the UT School of | | | | awake, to party longer or study longer. The numbers in |
| Social Work, has been researching similar topics for | | | | amphetamine and cocaine use don't change much |
| the past 30 years and said these findings were similar | | | | from year to year, but if there is an increase, it is |
| to her own. "I look at the death certificates of | | | | expected to be with drugs like Adderall and Ritalin. |
| everybody in the state of Texas where cocaine is | | | | UT Southwestern Medical Center's study also showed |
| mentioned, and most of their deaths have to do with | | | | that amphetamine abuse included both |
| strokes and heart attacks," she said. The average age | | | | methamphetamines and the frequent abuse of |
| of victims in cases where cocaine is found in the body | | | | prescription stimulants. Researchers noted that they |
| is 40, and the average age of victims in whose bodies | | | | would advise students using even these prescription |
| amphetamines are found is 38, Maxwell said. | | | | drugs that there is a definite potential risk. |
| "Looking at drug use among college students, about 9 | | | | |