News Comment #8
October 12, 2016
The story in question this week is a feature story, focused on the effects of extended periods of use of the drug Adderall. The author in question was addicted to Adderall herself, which makes the story easier to read and connect to. The point the author is trying to make is basically that the drug was introduced to the market without proper research by the FDA in terms of its long term effects, which has caused many people, especially those of college age, to become addicted to the drug as they take it to try and focus.
Many of the people who take the drug don’t actually have symptoms of A.D.H.D, and when they try to get off the drug they find it hard to stay off, crashing hard like with other common drugs found in use today. The author details her story of how she was finally able to get rid of her addiction and lead a healthier life by the end.
This story is especially newsworthy today as many people are using drugs and there is a huge debate in this country over whether or not marijuana should be legalized. Many people don’t think about the effects of already legalized drugs on people, especially when it isn’t prescribed to them. The audience seems to be college age students, as well as people with addictions and concerned family members. The author is trying to warn people of her mistakes and get them to realize that this drug can have serious consequences, even though it’s legalized.
The lead is telling a story, which required a whole paragraph and is semi-confusing at first, but the author brings back the attention to the Adderall part of the story in the second paragraph. It might be more helpful to switch the first and second paragraphs, even though the first paragraph brings readers in without giving everything away, since it is a feature article. While there aren’t a lot of opposing points of view, it makes sense not to include them in the author’s personal story and should probably be left to another author to bring up the good sides of Adderall.
The link to the original story can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/magazine/generation-adderall-addiction.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
October 19th, 2016 at 1:59 pm
I would emphasize your comment about people’s concern — or ack of concern — over legal drugs. My guess is people reading this story wouldn’t be aware that Aderall is addictive and is often bought and sold on the street, the same as meth or marijuana.