Do negative stimulant-related attitudes vary for prescription stimulants and cocaine among college students?

Nonmedical prescription stimulant use (NPS) has become an increasing problem for college students across the United States. Many engage in NPS due to the belief that their academic functioning will improve - a belief that rarely extends to other illicit stimulants. Because positive attitudes toward substances potentially predict the maintenance of current and future use, the aim of the current study was to directly compare attitudes toward different stimulants of abuse (prescription stimulants and cocaine) to ascertain whether attitudes were generally more positive as a function of both drug and drug user type. Ninety-one participants completed a brief attitudinal index assessing attitudes for both prescription stimulants and cocaine. Participants held stronger positive attitudes toward prescription stimulants than cocaine on a variety of items. NPS users reported more positive attitudes toward prescription stimulants than both nonusers and cocaine users. Nonusers reported more negative cocaine-related attitudes than cocaine users and polydrug users (users of both prescription stimulants and cocaine). Intervention programs may benefit from highlighting the negative consequences of NPS, particularly by way of comparisons to cocaine. Doing so may heighten awareness on the overlap of adverse outcomes resulting from use between these stimulants.