Posted on 02/15/2015 12:10:31 PM PST by Steelfish
Students Used To Take Drugs To Get High. Now They Take Them To Get Higher Grades
14 February 2015 The use of so-called ‘smart drugs’, bought on the internet, to boost mental performance is rife in British universities. So can we all benefit from ‘having an edge’, or is it just a form of cheating that should be banned?
It’s still more than three months until finals, but there’s a whiff of panic in the air of the Edinburgh student flat where I’m having dinner. “Everybody’s feeling it,” says Suzy. Feeling what? “The pressure. There’s just so much pressure.” About what? Your exams? Or what to do next?
“Everything. I shouldn’t even be here. I didn’t even want to go to university but everyone said I should. And the work! It’s just… there’s so much of it! I feel like I wouldn’t even have a chance if it wasn’t for modafinil.”
Modafinil: a prescription-only medication for narcolepsy that the NHS’s website describes as “a central nervous system stimulant” that prevents “excessive sleepiness during daytime hours”. Or, used off-label, bought via some off-shore pharmaceutical retailer, it’s what’s known as a “smart drug”. I hadn’t even heard of it a week ago, but it turns out they’re all on it, the students. They’ve all taken it on at least a couple of occasions, all five of the female final-year students who live in this particular flat, and all five of the male final-year students they’ve invited over to dinner.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
These kids today can’t do ANYTHING right!
;-)
Many people use Ritalin or Adderall for college classes. People pretend to have ADD, then they sell the pills.
I remember an article about Ritalin on campi. The non-prescription users were grinding and snorting.
Yep.
Tons of research on these and the side effects and tolerance development are well-characterized.
Interesting when they admit not knowing the mechanism of action.
I’m reminded of the Red Dwarf “learning drugs” scene.
Based on some of the contemporary curricula I’ve been reading about, heavy drug use may be the only way to make any sense of it.
Modafinil and Adderall are both used to counteract the chronic fatigue associated with multiple sclerosis. My wife stopped taking the former, but still needs the latter; we lock the pills up in a safe box out of sight, so younger visitors aren’t tempted to take them.
Took 8 credits of chemistry in 8 weeks one summer in the early 70’s. Used Dexedrine and it was amazing how when you took a test or quiz you were actually able to bring up the page of the text in you mind relating to the question. My grade before the final was high enough that I was able to opt out and finish with a B+.I still remember a lot of the stuff to this day, so it was learned and not a flash in the pan.
Lots of fancy talk for “speed”. Hardly new on campuses.
“Took 8 credits of chemistry in 8 weeks one summer in the early 70’s. Used Dexedrine and it was amazing how when you took a test or quiz you were actually able to bring up the page of the text in you mind relating to the question.”
My experience exactly, particularly with Biochemistry (zoo major/chem minor).
Common Core is so messed up only the high kids can understand it?
Never mind it was the ADD/ADHD “epidemic” from the early 90s-early 2000s that caused the over-prescription of Amphetamine to young children, only to segue into a Meth addiction in adolescence and adulthood.
Before this, Meth addiction was largely confined to sexual deviants and hardened criminals. It peaked in 2005-2006, leaving little doubt that a sizable number of victims were the children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD not ten years before...
I was almost thrown into all of this—until it became clear that I could not sleep while under the influence of Amphetamine...thank G_D
Yeah, yeah. And people would claim the same thing from speed of marijuana. The deal is it may work a time or two but has less of an effect with each use. Moreover, it does nothing for long term retention. That means if you take a series of classes, one built upon the other, as pretty much all education is, you are actually less likely to remember what you learned last semester.
This is all about testing well and getting a degree. It has little to nothing to do with actual learning or education.
I think we have also forgotten the likes of SHelly, Coleridge, Poe and others who used drugs to supposedly enhance their writing. Again, it does little and pretty much screws your health.
I’ve been told by a reliable source that the largest category of drugs abused by students at the university I work for are the drugs mentioned in this article.
Start giving out drugs in Kindergarten to change behavior and this is where you end up.
They’ve been watching too much of
“Limitless” (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOLqNOfzus4
and
“Lucy” (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVt32qoyhi0
This isn’t a bit new. People have been taking drugs to cram since at least the 1950s.
I vaguely recall, that might be true.
“Many people use Ritalin or Adderall for colllege classes..”
In my neck of the woods, many women use it to get thin. I’ve actually heard it joked about at a PTA meeting. One woman lost a noticeable amount of weight in a relatively short time and someone whispered “oh, it’s the adderal diet”.
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