lifestyles
WIRED
6 TABLETS
FASTER ACTING
MINI THIN
ACTIMA KELLE
BRONX HOLA ZORP
HELP BRONX HOLA
WITH SOFT CORE WEIGHTS
250 OR LEUPRINE MOL.
The warning on the back of this package reads: Do not use this product unless a diagnosis of asthma has been made by a doctor. Do not use this product if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, thyroid disease, diabetes, or difficulty in urination due to enlargement of the prostate gland, if you have ever been hospitalized for asthma, or if you are taking any prescription drug for asthma, unless directed by a physician. Some users of this product may experience nervousness, tremor, sleeplessness, nausea and loss of appetite. Do no continue to use this product but seek medical assistance if symptoms are not relieved within 1 hour or become worse.
Mini Thin is an over-the-counter drug used to stay awake, lose weight or get rid of a hangover. But the package says it is for asthma.
By Casey Barnes Kansan staff writer
It was late on a Sunday night, and Brian Pagel had a lot of studying to do. He had a psychology test at 8:30 the next morning, and his only hope of doing well was to study all night. Or so he thought.
Pagel, Littleton, Colo., freshman, said that he did not think he could stay up all night on his own, so he took an over-the-counter drug called Mini Thin to help him stay awake, a mistake he would not likely make again.
"My heart started beating real quick and irregular," Pagel said. "I was shaky like I had too much caffeine. I was pretty messed up to say the least."
Pagel's roommate's sister gave him the Mini Thin, claiming it would help him stay awake.
He was surprised at the side effects.
"It helped me stay awake, but I had such an intense buzz that I couldn't concentrate," Pagel said. "It was like the buzz you get after smoking a cigarette for the first time."
The buzz is only one of the many side effects that are associated with Mini Thin, a drug that is marketed for asthma relief.
It can also cause rapid heartbeats, high blood pressure and agitation, said Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center. He said stimulants like Mini Thin also could trigger seizures and lead to psy-
"Mini Thins
are probably the third biggest problem on campus after cigarettes and alcohol. People are addicted to them. They don't just take them to stay awake." -Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
Students have used stimulants with caffeine — such as Vivarin, No Doz, coffee and Coke — to stay awake for years. Those products are all available without a prescription at local convenience stores and grocery markets.
Yockey said asthma patients used to take ephedrine HCL, which is Mini Thin's only ingredient, to help their breathing without becoming drowsy. But that was 20 years ago.
Today doctors won't prescribe ephedrine because it is ineffective and it has harmful side effects, he said.
chotic behavior when mixed with sleep deprivation.
"Mini Thins are probably the third biggest problem on campus after cigarettes and alcohol," Vockey said. "People are addicted to them. They don't just take them to stay awake."
"That era is dead," Benjamin said. "It used to be strong, but in the last six to eight months, sales of those products has gone down to nothing."
He said that he sells most stimulant-type drugs to students around final exams, but he doesn't sell No Doz or Mini Thin to anyone under 21.
But Jerry Benjamin, owner of
the Jayhawk Food Mart, 701 W 9th St., said that he hadn't been selling as many Mini Thin as before.
Although Benjamin said he didn't see the stimulants as a big problem at his store, Yockey said they were a widespread problem at Watkins.
He said that a number of students overuse and abuse Mini Thin. Some use it to lose weight, Yockey said. Others use it to help a hangover.
he said. "But the body can tolerate
only so much stimulation. You cannot over-stimulate your body on a regular basis and not have physical consequences."
And in Pagel's case, the consequences were that the Mini Thin's effects were off only four hours after he took them, and he didn't do as well on his test because he was tired.
"People will wake up with a hangover from the night before and take Mini Thins to wake up,"
Yockey said that those effects are normal and that the results can only lead to low productivity and physical ailments.
"When people take stimulants as a substitution for sleep, they have a distorted perception of how well they are doing," he said. "As it gets later and the person takes more stimulants, their perception of how they are doing increases while their productivity actually decreases. When substituting stimulants for sleep, it actually takes twice as long to get things done."
Voyckey said students need to be realistic in the goals they set for themselves.
He said one patient needed money and the only time he could fit a job into his schedule was from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., atime when he had nothing else to do except sleep.
"The student became sick, and the job only lasted about a week," he said. "You cannot take sleep out of the middle of the night and still expect to function. There is no substitute for sleep."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Lawrence Nightlife Calendar
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St.
Truckstop Love and Smudge, 10 tonight, $4 (18
and over)
Panel Donor, Shiner and Vitreous Humor, 10
o.m. tomorrow, $5 (18 and over)
Tina and the B-Sides, 10 p.m. Saturday, $4
The Specials with Let's Go Bowling, 10 p.m. Monday,
$14 advanced tickets (18 and over)
Oasis and Cotton Mather, 10 p.m. Tuesday, $5
Oasis and Cotton Mather, 10 p.m. Tuesday, $5 (18 and over)
Paladins and Southern Culture on the Skids, 10 p.m. Wednesday, $8 advanced tickets (18 and over)
KJHK Benefit with Heatmiser, Shallow and the Brandos, 10 p.m. Thursday, $8 (18 and over)
Liberty Hall 642 Massachusetts St.
Granada Theater
The Samples, 9 p.m. Thursday, sold out
1020 Massachusetts St.
The Eudoras, Ricky Dean Sinatra and the Bubble Boys, 10 tonight, $3 (21 and over), $4 (18-20)
Mondo Disco with D.J. Ray, 9 p.m. tomorrow, $4-5
Common Ground. 10 p.m. Saturday, $6
Common Ground, 10 p.m. Saturday, $6 Kansas City Chiefs Game on the Big Screen, 3 p.m. Sunday, no cover charge
Club 7, 9 p.m. Sunday, $4
S. T.L. Benefit, 9 p.m. Tuesday, donations accepted
Pulp Fiction Soundtrack CD Release Party, 9 p.m.
Monday, no cover charge
80's Ladies Night, 9 p.m. Wednesday, no cover charge for ladies,$4 men
D. J. Rashid, 9 p.m. Thursday, $3-4
Mulligan's
1016 Massachusetts St.
The Junkyard Jazz Band, 10 tonight, $1-2
Arthur Dodge and Tanya Lorae, 10 p.m. tomorrow.
$1-2
Lou's Revenge with Creek Bank Ghetto Boys, 10 p.m. Saturday, $1-2
Live Jazz Night, 8 p.m. Tuesday, no cover charge Acoustic Open Mike Night, 8 p.m. Wednesday, no cover charge
Musician Defense Fund, 10 p.m. Thursday, $1-2
The Jazzhaus of Lawrence
A
920 1/2 MONTREAL MEET. 10 tonight. $4
Monkey Meet. 10 tonight. $4
D. Alexander and Madhouse, 10 p.m. tomorrow,
$3
Monterey Jack, 10 p.m. Saturday, $4
Twenty-two Brides, 10 p.m. Monday, $3
Easy Reader, 10 p.m. Thursday, $2