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<p>Admissions committees at colleges don’t know who’s been using these drugs, even though distributing them is ILLEGAL. People broke the law and now have an edge over me. That’s what I’m trying to say. Not sure what the whole snorting coke/banker analogy was all about, because there a limited number of seats we’re all competing with each other for.</p>
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<p>Agree 100%.</p>
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<p>You’re competing for a limited number of seats with people who want them. You have the same option to take these drugs that they have (legalities aside), but you have chosen not do. Great for you, but following the law to a tee has its side effects. You’re not going to get what you want if you refuse to do what is required to get it. Either you have to do what it takes, or settle for less.</p>
<p>If you call a study drug user a “cheater”, you’re being immature and irrational, your priorities are wrong, and you have a sense of entitlement that will disappoint you throughout life when you don’t get everything you think you deserve. Life is nothing to you other than building a r</p>
<p>the study drugs really reminds me of the movie Limitless with bradley cooper. He takes a pill a day and becomes the smartest guy out there. if you think about it though, the drug abuse is really no different compared to athletes taking steroids…</p>
<p>Yikes. </p>
<p>I see two separate questions - one about people who are ADD and need a level playing field, the other about people who aren’t ADD, but take the meds anyhow. </p>
<p>If you are an ADD/ADHD person on meds, god bless you - hard to imagine that anyone could complain about someone working to full potential, and avoiding some of the scar tissue that builds up over a lifetime of knowing that you are having to compete against people who have faced fewer challenges. </p>
<p>If you’re the other guy/gal - I can’t stop you, I suppose, but I do wonder if your confidence, and staying power, might develop…easier, I guess is the word I’m looking for…if you gave it a shot without the meds. You might find out that you are smart and capable all on your own. (Might also have to turn off the TV and Facebook in the interests of time management, but still, just as capable without the meds as with.) </p>
<p>It’s a good question about whether the people on study drugs have “stolen” their place, or scholarship, or award, or whatever. Here’s the view of a dues-paying parent - you’re about to go spend 4 years, and a fair amount of money, at a place where the people you are with, matter. You will learn a lot from the conversations you have with your fellow students, in class and out of class. Do you want to spend 4 years with people who are so competitive they are ready to trash themselves, and what are you going to learn from them if you do? </p>
<p>That’s it from this dinosaur.</p>
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<p>How can you possibly say such things? Wishing health problems and life issues onto people you don’t know? What a heartless thing to do!</p>
<p>These “study drugs” don’t make you smarter or more successful. There is currently no pill out there that would just suddenly increase your IQ level. If you don’t have ADHD, these medications give you energy and motivation for a short period of time. One of them is used off-label to treat depression when other lines of treatment fail. The mechanism of action here has nothing to do with making you smarter.</p>
<p>P.S. Drinking coffee also gives you an unfair advantage. ;)</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t consider “study drugs” cheating, per se, even though I do see an ethical dilemma with their use. I would never use anything like that (nor have I), but there was an “epidemic,” of sorts, during my sophomore year of high school, which was INCREDIBLY annoying. My real issue was with the punishment (or lack thereof) for the offenders. </p>
<p>The people who were caught using drugs (in the bathrooms at school, no less!) basically got slapped on the wrist. Those who were on student council were allowed to remain in their positions, and there were no sanctions against them in the upcoming election. I don’t even think there were suspensions, and my school barely had a detention system. </p>
<p>The guy who was at the head of the “drug ring,” however, got expelled. He spent two years at a community college and is due to graduate from one of the top schools in the country this year. </p>
<p>I think I was mainly ****ed because there was very little punishment overall. Same goes for a cheating scandal that happened later that year (punishment: we all had to retake the exam; those who cheated got 0’s for that test only; admitting to cheating meant the 0 only). Overall, the people involved the incidents go to fine schools; I even saw one on campus recently (and yes, this person was involved in BOTH). </p>
<p>I think the lesson I learned is to focus on my own actions/grades/etc. and not worry about whether or not these people choose to do risky things for their grades. It’s THEIR choices and THEIR bodies and I can only do what’s best for me. I know that, in the long run, it’s much better for me to avoid anything like that because it can’t possibly be a healthy practice. Besides, I’d rather live a clean life than get myself caught up in the study drug scene. I have bigger priorities than that!</p>
<p>I come to this issue from a slighly different perspective. I am physician who specialized in Nuclear Medicine after getting my MD from what is now Drexel University School of Medicine did my residency and practiced in California. My medical career was suddenly over when after turning 54 years old due to a major stroke in the cerebellum of my brain that left me with a severe case of Cerebellar Cognative Affective Disorder (CCAD) which basically destroyed my intellect. </p>
<p>I was no longer able to work or engage in any activity that required even low normal intelligence. It occurred to me that maybe stimulants could help me and my psychiatrist agreed to prescribe me a small dose of methylphenidate (Ritalin). I noted a definite improvement in cognition and was prescribed ever increasing doses of the drug and within a few months was back at work.</p>
<p>Even more remarkable, I got BS in Astrophysics before going to medical school and had hoped to go to graduate school in Astrophysics but realized I did not have the math aptitude to succeed in graduate school in Astrophysics but after reaching a very high dose of Ritalin found I could easily solve Math and Physics problems that I could not do as an undergraduate. I took the state exam for hiring medical physicists and got the best score in the history of the test. I am seriously thinking about switching careers because I never lost my passion for Physics, even though I did not think I succeed in it at the graduate level.</p>
<p>For me, Ritalin has given me my life back. Yes, I am addicted to it, but as I look at it I am addicted to Ritalin in the same sense that a diabetic is dependent on insulin. I would have no life without it.</p>
<p>My daughter’s roommate last year would blow off doing any kind of studying or writing any papers until a few days before everything was due, then she’d pop adderall (not hers) and keep popping them and stay up for 3 days straight with no sleep and get everything done. She could learn half a semester’s work in a few hours, and then Ace the test.
But then she would crash, and sleep and be moody for 3 or 4 days.
She says that’s how she got through high school (merit scholar finalist) and that’s how she is getting through college.
And I guess, that is how she will get through life. </p>
<p>It’s really no way to live.</p>
<p>I wish my S would take his legally prescribed ‘study drug.’ He complains about how it slows everything down and turns him into a robot. He is like a Phoenix flying close to the sun without it but he refused his last 3 years of HS and is now a semester in college. He gets enough to pass his classes but the last time he made honor roll was the last time he was on medicine.</p>
<p>It’s sad to watch his self-imposed struggle. It’s so sad to watch a child needlessly struggle. </p>
<p>He is an artist though and says his creativity is stifled by the medicine. Some of his art looks like its done by a guy on an acid trip. Nope, just a kid with ADD that’s off his meds.</p>
<p>Since when is learning a contest that you can cheat at? Hasn’t it always been an individual and collaborative endeavor?</p>
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<p>Don’t these drugs help everyone who uses them work to full potential in the short (and arguably mid) term?</p>
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<p>Everyone competes against people who have faced fewer challenges.</p>
<p>Pot is more than… “a mild muscle relaxant” is just not a correct analogy. Some may be able to take it or leave it and use recreationally, but for so many I’ve seen side effects of lethargy and abandoning goals just so they can continue using and full blown addiction. YES pot can be addicting! It has significant negative side effects. And for the person who said use ( )… as long as you don’t develop a dependency… No one knows if they will develop a dependency or addiction until they are addicted! Young people don’t yet know their vulnurablilities and using/experimenting with all these drugs, including pot is playing russian roulette!</p>
<p>Pot’s not addictive. Period.</p>
<p>rateguess: “LSD is a hallucinogen, extremely harmful (LONG list of side effects), and addictive”</p>
<p>This is 100% false, and leads me to think that maybe, just maybe, your other statements are also false, like amphetamines being structurally close to snake venom. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_health.shtml[/url]”>http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_health.shtml</a></p>
<p>This website (Erowid) is valuable for unbiased, non-judgemental information on the risks and benefits of any drug, including so-called study drugs.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/amphetamines/[/url]”>http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/amphetamines/</a></p>
<p>My son also attends Penn, and it’s at almost epidemic proportions. (I assume you mean UPenn and not Penn State) Out of curiousity, when did your son graduate?</p>
<p>NOT talking about people with ADD/ADHD in this comment–
One of the problems when large numbers of students (someone mentioned 20% at Duke in an earlier post) take Adderall, Concerta etc. to handle heavy workloads is that it can become the new normal. Teachers and professors don’t see any problems with the work-life balance because the negative feedback loop is interupted by the chemical boost. It is similar to what happens in some elite private day schools where “tutoring up” is the norm. Teachers think the kids are handling the workload just fine, not realizing that the only way most can handle the work and get A’s is to get help from tutors, as described in this NYTimes article last year:
<a href=“At New York’s Private Schools, a Tutor for Every Class - The New York Times”>At New York’s Private Schools, a Tutor for Every Class - The New York Times;
In fact, you could argue that as performance is enhanced by artificial interventions like study drugs or non-remedial tutors, standards are raised and the workload becomes even more onerous.</p>
<p>I definitely agree- if it is not fair for athletes to take steroids, students shouldn’t take stimulants… students still compete and train with the dedication of successful athlete and drugs shouldn’t be a part of it… this is one of the saddest, scariest articles…</p>
<p>Those who claim this is “cheating” seem to feel threatened by those who take Adderrall, Ritalin, etc. How exactly is this cheating? Students who take these stimulants/drugs are still putting the work in. Maybe you’re just pointing fingers and labeling this as “cheating” because your mediocre work ethic isn’t getting you to where you want to be and seeing others reach success, with a little help from these stimulants, is making you angry. Quit making excuses for yourselves, pityful. </p>
<p>FWIW, I haven’t taken any of these stimulants, although I’m 100% sure I’ve had ADD for years and I’ve yet to go in a for diagnosis, and I do not plan on taking any unless if my ADD worsens. Even then, I’ll limit myself to a minimal amount of doses needed. I’ll stick to coffee and diet coke.</p>