Today an increasing number of healthy people are using drugs without a prescription to make them smarter. It’s called Neuroenhancement and 60 Minutes reports that college students are using prescription medication, Adderall and Ritalin, usually given for attention deficit disorder, to help them cram before finals. Based on a CBS News report, Students at the University of Kentucky were interviewed by Katie Couric and one student said, it’s so commonplace, “Why wouldn’t you do it?”
Adderall, along with Ritalin, seem to increase mental focus to make it easier to do boring work. Alan DeSantis, a communications professor at U KY decided to study Adderall after being baffled by his students’ casual use of the drug. In a survey of 2,000 students, he found that 34% of undergraduates had taken attention deficit drugs without a prescription.
The longer they are in school, the more the drug use climbs with about half of juniors and seniors taking stimulants. Among those in the sororities, the numbers are about 80 percent. Where do they get them? From kids who are legitimately prescribed Adderall. They are prescribed a pill a day or 30 a month but rarely take one every day. Instead, they sell the extra pills for about $5 each.
Martha Farah, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, says she’s troubled by the use of drugs on campus, but she believes it will one day be as common as cosmetic surgery to neuroenhance your brain with medication. Others believe it’s irresponsible. Dr. Nora Volkow of Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York is testing stimulants, in this case Ritalin. She is also the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She says they are in the same class of drugs as cocaine and are addictive and can cause heart problems and the long-term effect is still unknown but can include psychosis. But the problem isn’t going away. Last year, 60 Minutes reports 2 million prescriptions of the stimulant, Provigil, were filled and the Air Force has approved it for fighter pilots on extended combat missions. Soon see more and potent drugs to boost your brain power. Most people are okay with it, concludes one student.
