Students of all grades dance together as the music pulses through a tightly packed crowd of sweaty bodies. It is the Back to School Dance on Friday, Aug. 22., a night of true Redwood spirit, considered by many to be the best dance of the year.

Before students are permitted into the crazed mass, they are subject to a full body pat down and a randomized breathalyzer test.

According to assistant principal Katy Foster, an increase in security over the past three years has reduced the number of drinking-related student suspensions from 10 in 2012 to zero at this year’s dance, suggesting that fewer students are drinking alcohol before entering the dance.  However, some students say they are turning to other drugs in an effort to bypass alcohol security.

Anonymous senior girl “Josie” explained that, before the dance, she and seven of her friends snorted Adderall, a prescription stimulant, and ate edibles, food infused with marijuana, as well as drinking Red Bull to enhance the effects of the drugs.

“A few of my friends have [Adderall] prescriptions, so we crushed it up into powder right before the dance and snorted it,” Josie said.

Josie said that she believes students have turned to other substances because of the random breathalyzer tests that result in severe consequences for alcohol consumption.

“I think kids have tried to find other ways to have fun, I guess, without drinking, because you could randomly get breathalyzed and get caught,” she said. “For our grade the most, we got to see what the BTSD used to be like, with girls wearing swimsuits and smoking and drinking in the middle of the dance. It was like a big party.”

Josie said that the reason she didn’t drink this year is because last year she was breathalyzed, and while she hadn’t drank, she had taken Molly, a form of ecstasy, without getting caught.

“I didn’t have a bad experience last year when I took Molly, but it really was not something I would do again for the Back to School Dance,” Josie said.

While she doesn’t regret taking the drug, Josie does think that her experience with Molly could have resulted in an unsafe night.

“I think by making it so strict they’ve pushed us to such extremes. I wouldn’t have done Molly if I could have just taken a few shots and danced with my friends,” Josie said. “Given the choice between taking Molly or Adderall or drinking, I would’ve preferred to just drink. I know my limits and I think it’s probably the safest option for me.”

Another student, “Daniel,” a junior who wished to remain anonymous, reported that this year’s dance was “dry,” causing him to take drugs beforehand.

“Right before I walked in, I ate a six dose edible—a weed brownie—and that was exciting, kind of,” Daniel said. “[The school] is so worried and so focused on people drinking that nobody drank and they started doing [drugs] like snorting Adderall.”

Daniel said that a number of his friends also snorted Adderall at the dance to bypass the alcohol security. He also stated that, unlike Josie and other students worried about being breathalyzed, he was drunk at the dance because he had consumed alcohol beforehand. However, he noted that most students did not drink alcohol.

“I didn’t see anybody drinking,” Daniel said. “I was in the parking lot, everybody was shotgunning Red Bulls, so there was a lot of caffeine. One of my friends smoked some weed—everyone was high, but I didn’t smoke. I just got out of the parking lot, ate my brownie, and played football.”

Daniel compared the BTSD to a “rec dance,” a similar dance he used to attend in middle school.

“I think it’s interesting how three years ago we could go to a rec dance completely sober and it would be fine. Now we come here and we’re like, ‘Aw, they’re gonna breathalyze us, that sucks,’” Daniel said.“I didn’t [drink] because I felt like I had to do it. I just did it because I wanted to do it. That’s what I usually do on a Friday night anyway.”

Daniel concluded that, in his opinion, students will go to the dance intoxicated one way or another.

“When you take away the easy route, [students are] going to resort to other stuff,” Daniel said.

Anonymous junior “Christina” decided to drink at this year’s dance, unlike other students worried about being breathalyzed who resorted to other drugs. She was still able to consume alcohol this year without getting caught by the increased security.

“With the increased amount of security, I’ve found that every year the Back to School Dance becomes less fun,” Christina said. “I felt that, if I drank, then it would be more fun, at least for me, and I wasn’t looking to get disappointed because last year was awful.”

Unlike the others, Christina mentioned that the enhanced security actually motivated her to drink.

“I wanted to see if I could get [alcohol] in without getting caught and I did,” Christina said. “Part of me felt like a genius and the other part of me felt really happy because I got to drink, because I feel happier when I drink. I wanted to be happy on a Friday night with friends, listening to music.”

Christina said that because she does not do other drugs, she chose to drink even with the added risk.

“I would have [drunk] no matter what,” Christina explained. “The challenge of seeing whether I could get it in and pull it off was more motivation to me than anything else. Also, drugs scare me, so I would never do drugs.”

In Christina’s opinion, the increased security is backfiring.

“I think that the more restrictions they put on [dances], then the more kids are gonna try and sneak stuff in,” Christina said. “I think they will do more rebellious stuff, rather than if they had minimal restrictions.”

Despite the assumption from some students that most dance-goers were under the influence, many students went to the dance sober and enjoyed themselves.

Sophomore Jacqueline Racich attended the dance sober with a group of her friends.

“[The dance] was a fun time because I had my group of friends with me: good music and good people,” Racich said.“I’m not going to go to a school event intoxicated. It’s not worth the risk. It’s not the time and place to drink.”

Racich said that she could only think of a few sophomores who she suspected might have been under the influence at the dance, and she didn’t know of any freshmen. She believes that the majority of those under the influence were juniors and seniors.

Senior class president Joe Matthews was also among those who didn’t drink at the dance, stating that with the increased security, he believed the risks of drinking were too high.

“I understand why people drink and go to parties [drunk] but it’s not smart to do it at a school-sponsored event,” Matthews said. “You can get suspended, and if you’re a senior then it’s too late to get that expunged.”

*A note on Adderall 

Adderall is a prescription stimulant that contains mixed dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine salts. The stimulant is primarily used to treat narcolepsy and ADHD because it increases one’s ability to pay attention, concentrate, stay focused, and stop fidgeting. In the past few years, high school and college students have commonly abused the drug, claiming that it helps them focus while studying.

According to Dr. Lisa Goldfarb, a psychiatrist at NYU Langone Medical Center, if Adderall is taken by someone for whom it is not prescribed, then it acts purely as a stimulant, creating a “euphoria-like” high for the user. The drug is originally sold in pill form, but is often ground up and snorted.

“Snorting Adderall gets the drug to the brain faster. This causes a faster high and makes the drug more addictive,” Goldfarb said.

Goldfarb reported that snorting Adderall also has a detrimental effect on the user’s nose.

“Snorting can cause nasal constriction, stop blood flow, and kill tissue,” Goldfarb said. “If this is repeated, it causes tissue to die and kills the septum of the nose, making it one big hole.”

If Adderall is snorted, the drug affects neurological development by over-stimulating the brain.

“Neuro development in teens is a finely tuned system. Therefore, it is important not to tinker with it,” Goldfarb explained.