<p>LOL@ all the self-righteousness in this thread. I say let them do it. Personally, my mind would probably suffer from taking Adderall since I get things done in parallel…but if it can help you then more power to ya.</p>
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<p>Self-contradiction in one sentence…nice</p>
<p>I’ve used Adderall a couple times (always only half of an IR pill; lasts like 4-5 hours for me), generally to stay awake (!!) and stay focused. This semester I had a midterm week where I had 5 exams in four consecutive days, and I would have died that Thursday at the end of it all had I not had a chemically induced “second wind.”</p>
<p>It really does help you focus (it seriously will allow you to study twice as much in the same amount of time), but it sure as hell doesn’t do the work for you.</p>
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<p>There is and never will be a universal standard of laws regulating how an individual can learn material. Labeling adderall as cheating just seems like a poor rationalization to me.</p>
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<p>Not only is that a flaw in what you quoted, but also this part:</p>
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<p>Does this person actually think you take the drug and MAGICALLY know everything on a test? Well obviously that is not the case.</p>
<p>YOU NEED TO STUDY REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU CONSUME. Seriously, that was the most ignorant thing in this thread.</p>
<p>Here’s a fake situation:
Imagine you have to go to your work-study research job in six hours. You were given three surprise tests for tomorrow in three unrelated subjects. The tests begins early in the morning the next day.</p>
<p>What does a person naturally do? They study. They study all three subjects to the best that time may provide. they may lose sleep and add on more hours to study.</p>
<p>A person who just drinks coffee stays alert and tries to study as much as possible. However, they occasionally stray off and watch TV because its human nature to do that. And everyone knows how the saying goes, “Hard work pays off later, but procrastination pays off right now.” Anyway, this person probably is very tired during work unless they drink more coffee. And when the time comes to sleep they probably drink more coffee and pull an all nighter and end up with a C, a B, and another C. I guess that’s fine and you did give it your best.</p>
<p>A person on adderall or some type of cognitive nutrition takes better advantage of all six hours, and by the time the job comes you should be more relaxed. (If you KNOW how to use them) And when the time comes to sleep you should be able to just go ahead and do it, you may quickly review and lose maybe an hour of sleep. You’ll probably end up with a B, an A, and another B.</p>
<p>Now I ask you… is it cheating or is it being efficient? Both parties studied very hard and used whatever resources were available to them. What’s the difference? Both parties used what people label here as “steroids or cheating :rolleyes:.” Coffee has some similar effects to adderall and like adderall it stimulates concentration devoids one of sleep, but it isn’t strong enough to keep you focused.</p>
<p>Why should a person who uses cognitive nutrition, not just adderall, be treated any different than someone who drinks coffee? And when was the last time a college student took coffee for its taste?</p>
<p>The main problem that I have with people taking drugs like Adderall without being prescribed them is that it de-legitimizes people taking them for diagnosed mental health issues. </p>
<p>One person taking one pill one time doesn’t make any difference on its own, but when you add every instance of every person together, people with ADHD, etc. are lumped together with the people who don’t have ADHD, etc. in the category of “people using drugs to focus better” instead of “people using drugs to help their brain function ‘normally.’” </p>
<p>It’s sort of like the whole “ADHD drugs are over-prescribed now-a-days,” that, while true in some cases, still marginalizes that fact that somebody properly prescribed Adderall, Ritalin, etc. is essentially taking medicine for a health issue.</p>
<p>Also, the purpose of people with mental health issues being prescribed something like Adderall is so that they can function at a “normal” level. Essentially, if you have AD(H)D, there are certain sensors in your brain that aren’t as stimulated by certain things as they should be, and the medication corrects that.</p>
<p>It’s like the difference between getting plastic surgery to fix a deformity or damage from an accident versus having no deformities/disfigurements, but getting plastic surgery because you want your nose to look a certain way. Yes, it will make you look better, just like taking stimulants makes you focus better, but not getting a nosejob doesn’t impede your everyday life, whereas having a nose that got smashed in a car accident and can’t function properly would.</p>
<p>…That got longer than I expected. Tell me if something seems unreasonable or if it’s over the top.</p>
<p>What is with this term “neuroenhancer”? That’s not a technical term for the drug nor does it accurately describe either Adderall or Ritalin. Adderall is a psychostimulant; it enhances locomotor behavior. It doesn’t “enhance” anything neurological. Ritalin is also a psychostimulant. The funniest thing is that Ritalin is being considered as a replacement/treatment for cocaine dependence.</p>
<p>I don’t care about the morals but I think it’s a pretty stupid decision to take it when it’s not prescribed for you:</p>
<p>-You have no idea what effect it will have on your body. The effects of either differ based on your body type, and the right dose for you might not be the same dose as whoever sold it to you gave you. So some kids may have increased anxiety, nervousness, even paranoia. Long-term use can cause damage to your body, and high doses for a while followed by no doses can cause a wicked crash (think about taking it every day during finals period – then quitting cold turkey).</p>
<p>-Who knows what’s in it? The kid selling it to you could be selling it out of his or her medicine bottle, or they could be selling you an impure mixture of Adderall/Ritalin and something else, or they could be selling you something else entirely.</p>
<p>-It’s illegal, and if you get caught buying it or using it without a prescription, you can get arrested.</p>
<p>I kind of shudder at a world where it’s okay - and encouraged - to take psychostimulants to increase focus; something’s wrong with expectations, then, not people. I’m not so worried about the fairness (life isn’t fair, kiddos, and there are all kinds of other ways to enhance performance) but just the ridiculous standards this would foster – reminds me of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and the soma.</p>
<p>It’s kind of stupid to take drugs to help you study anyway, because if you do it every time you get overwhelmed you become unable to function without the drug in your system. That goes not just for Adderall but for drinking too much coffee or taking too many energy drinks, too.</p>
<p>I think people are looking at this the wrong way. I don’t really plan on using adderall because I don’t really see the benefit, I’m not someone who procrastinates so I don’t really forsee a situation where normal studying is going to put me at a significant disadvantage to someone who studies with adderall. Granted, I’m pretty good at keeping myself on task but even so I just really don’t see it being a huge advantage. The way I look at it is that the people that do use adderall are really just screwing themselves. There will come times in life that they won’t have access to adderall and they won’t have the experience or mindset necessary to succeed, and they will fail. Sure, maybe some people will say “I will always have a supply of adderall ready to go no matter what”. Great. You’ve basically just admitted that you’re entirely dependent on adderall, if that isn’t “mental” addiction(kind of a psychological dependence) I don’t know what is.
College is about more than just learning information, its also where you learn time management and organizational skills that will serve you well throughout your life. If you want to take a shortcut and avoid preparing yourself, fine, its you’re life/body.</p>
<p>Also, IMO, Adderall is to coffee as Steroids is to protein powder.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking lately about trying something like Adderall or Ritalin. I’m still only a high school junior, but with an internship, being president of 3 clubs (one of which is a primary club at my school and takes up a lot of time), MESA, secretary of another club, college classes, AP tests coming up, volunteer work, SATs, ACT, etc etc, I’m already finding it hard to keep up. I can’t imagine what college is going to be like.</p>
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<p>Seriously? You don’t need that much in your schedule. If you can’t manage, cut things out.</p>
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<p>I wonder who is at the very top. Probably people who are extremely smart, but their EQ is so low they are not actually human. They see us as guinea pigs and drones. That’s probably what’s happening. :o</p>
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You can get fairly high with a high IQ or a high EQ, but to get to the very top, I’d think would need to have both.</p>
<p>Hmm really? I thought people who are the very top are the ones who have almost no time for family since all their focus are put in for the company. They end up being desensitized. This is an ignorant speculation I guess. I really don’t know what’s going on at that level.</p>
<p>Waitingforcal, you can manage that without adderall. I don’t meant to say it’s not a lot, because it is, but either drop something or figure out an alternative. Everyone’s experience is different, but I can assure you it won’t help you as much as it will hurt you. The first time I took adderall I was extremely paranoid and stared at a table for an hour. I thought it would really help me focus on my work but I had no clue I would feel that. Since then, I’ve never touched it. I suggest nodoz or just lots of caffeine. I hope in college (I’m a high school senior) that I won’t come to such a stressful point where I think I need it again.</p>
<p>Adding to the argument, I do not believe it is cheating or giving an unfair advantage. If someone wants to take it, it’s their choice. Also, as opposed to steroids people who legitemately have ADD or ADHD need (well, not need) to take it where steroids (unless used as an antibiotic) is not necessary.</p>
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<p><strong><em>? ■■■■ out of here with this ‘EQ’ </em></strong>***.</p>
<p>well it certainly would be more convenient than jasmine tea.</p>
<p>This is b*** *****. Just use Ginkgo Biloba and Ginseng. Drugs are drugs, even if they are prescribed. I don’t have a moral problem with it. It is the fact that these are foreign chemicals that do not belong in your body and will mess you up in the long run…</p>
<p>[Ginkgo</a> Biloba - Circulation and Memory Enhancer](<a href=“http://ezinearticles.com/?Ginkgo-Biloba---Circulation-and-Memory-Enhancer&id=1048166]Ginkgo”>http://ezinearticles.com/?Ginkgo-Biloba---Circulation-and-Memory-Enhancer&id=1048166)</p>
<p>^ I don’t get it. Ginkgo Biloba comes from trees, marijuana is a plant. But you would only view the former as ok, because it’s legal I suppose. But what about drugs like Adderall? They are legal and used to improve concentration. So what makes Ginkgo Biloba better than them? Because it’s “natural”? Well, so is marijuana.</p>
<p>The reason Adderal is cheating is because it isn’t readily available to everyone, and other people’s abuse affects your grade! Grades are done on curves, and if other people are taking a drug that allows them an advantage that others are legally not allowed to have…well I don’t think that is fair. I wouldn’t be bothered by adderal if it was sold in a convenient store so that everyone could have it. Anyone can buy coffee so the using caffeine is fair, it is part of the rules.</p>
<p>Duh…let’s see Molly. Maybe the impairment of psycho motor coordination is an issue. Or could it be the toxic levels of Ammonia or Hydrogen Cyanide found in Marijuana? Hmm, which to choose, which to choose.
As far as Gingko is concerned, In some people, Gingko can cause vomitting, but it is rare. Furthermore the Alkylphenol associated with the leaves, is extracted when manufactured in caplet form…</p>
<p>Pushin30 - No, I get why marijuana is illegal, although I’m not against using it. All drugs come with side effects and risks, legal or not, and I think it should be a person’s choice. But I don’t know why you’re pushing Gingko but putting down Adderall and Ritalin. Sure, Adderall probably has some side effects, but I’m guessing it improves concentration and focus a lot more than Ginseng, otherwise all the ADD and ADHD students would be taking that. Students want that extreme concentration for certain occasions, like finals/midterms or whatever. </p>
<p>I understand Gingko is used by a lot of elderly people to reverse the effects of aging, but with Adderall and Ritalin, non-prescribed students generally don’t use it regularly, simply to boost concentration before a test or pull an all nighter. Why are you morally against that?</p>