Cognitive Enhancing Drugs and Their Effects

Mind Boosters

During recent years there has been a significant rise of concern regarding the usage of cognitive enhancing drugs among healthy individuals. The stimulant drugs of Adderall and Ritalin, which originally is prescribed for those who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, are primary examples of so-called "smart drugs" that are taken by students to improve their concentration for the task at hand. There has been much debate on whether or not a student's usage of the drug should be regulated by their university through a system of testing. Although many people share the opinion of enforcing some form of urine analysis before every exam, I contemplate this solution to be financially irresponsible. I consider the argument of regulating cognitive enhancing drugs among students to be strictly a personal matter that should not have to deal with sudden impulse reactions by the university through its drastic attempt to voice their concern. I believe the university should avoid the conclusion of setting rules and regulations due mainly to the fact most students resort to the use of mind stimulating drugs with foremost intentions to increase their grades, gain a competitive edge over their classmates or to increase their capacity for knowledge.

We currently live in a society that demands perfection. So many people grow up in a family that does not accept a lack of motivation, which inevitably builds their desire of success throughout high school. However, many people do not realize how many distractions surround the individual each day when they graduate onto college. I imagine the stress of these various distractions that one may encounter is the gateway that leads many people to experiment with cognitive enhancing drugs due to their overwhelming fear of failure. Hence, if there is a way to assist one's focus on their schoolwork and lowers the chances of personal disappointment, then why not give it a shot.

However, many people with some knowledge of prescriptions that energize the brain often disagree with the acceptance of taking a drug for the sole purpose of boosting an individual's grades. One of the major factors of Adderall is its ability to lead to a serious procrastination state of mind, which means people usually end up taking an enhancement for the main purpose of cramming for an exam the night before. I personally know a few people that partake in the use of Adderall, and they literally never study in advance. These all-nighters people pull can easily catch up with the person's state of mind and causes them to feel lethargic during the daytime. Then, of course, the result of always being tiresome throughout the day aids the person's willingness to skip class, and at that moment is when the grades slowly begin to fall. On the other hand, if someone took the necessary steps of creating a timetable for their everyday responsibilities, then the conflict of decreasing grades due to the lack of sleep would soon seize to exist.

Pro racecar driver, Danika Patrick, once told the media "if there was something that would give me an edge on the rest of the field then I would take it." Patrick's statement is a clear example of the raw competiveness that many people contain within themselves. Many do not realize this perception, but if you want to ultimately become successful, you must compete for every opportunity that comes your way. So, if someone recognizes they must stand out among their classmates in order to have the best opportunity for obtaining the job they desire, such as being hired for a specific law firm, then how can you even begin to blame the person for taking advantage of the situation. Dr. Jacob Appel, a bioethics lecturer at Brown University proudly states, "I'm a strong supporter of individual autonomy and I think people should be able to enhance themselves all they want." The human desire for advancement in the world is incredibly strong and constantly searches for a new means of success.

Many students continuously complain that people who use cognitive enhancing drugs have an unfair advantage over the students who do not take any supplement. Mrs. Barbara Sahakian, a professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge University's psychiatry department reaches further and explains how these annoyed students "feel it is cheating, and it puts pressure on them to feel they have to use these drugs when they don't really want to." First of all, the students who are complaining need to move on and stop dwelling on what everyone else is doing. After they have accomplished that milestone and started refocusing their