Friday, October 2, 2009

More Students Turning Illegally To 'Smart' Drugs

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8 comments:

  1. Dman002October 4, 2009 at 10:09 PM

    A "smart drug" is nothing more than a label. Underneath it all, a drug is a drug. A drug, by definition is, "A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose" Student have been increasingly accepting the later part of this definition, and applying it to their study habits. Adderall and Ritalin are drugs prescribed to patients with ADD. The drugs increase the dopamine levels of the brain, and cause the individual to have the ability to focus contently without much interruption. In schools (college) across the country, these drugs are being used by students without ADD to enhance ones ability to study for hours on end without much interruption or distraction. However, many students over look the possible consequences associated with using these drugs. The consequences can be highly detrimental to the student after continual use of the drug Adderall or Ritalin. These consequences include: addiction; severe side affects such as severe sleep deprivation and rare heart problems; and a reduction of self confidence in a sober state (when the individual is not using Adderall or Ritalin). Overall, students who use these "smart" drugs are doing nothing more than hurting themselves in the long run. Whether the troubles come from addiction or loss of self worth, the individual who uses these smart drugs is going to suffer. Thus, these "smart" drugs should have a different name and label; "the quitters drug."

    David Schneider
    Period 5

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  2. UnknownOctober 5, 2009 at 5:37 PM

    As stated in the article, the use of "smart drugs" such of Adderall and Ritalin have drastically increased. These drugs are originally used for students with A.D.D. but are now being used by almost everybody. In current society, more and more students are being diagnosed with some form of ADD, just to be able to get their hands on "smart drugs" or obtain extended time on tests such as the SAT. The problem with this thouhg, is that students only see the benefits of smart drugs and ignore the long term effects such as addictive behavior. In my opinion, the use of smart drugs needs to be more closely moniterd, because the addiction to these drugs is only bound to get worse.

    Colby Barton
    Period 3

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  3. michelle richOctober 7, 2009 at 10:03 PM

    Sadly this is not the 1st time i have hurd of people taking drugs to help them study for exams. This isnt something new, but it may be a better drug. My use to tell me how her and her friends would take these pills during exam week and stay up for about 3 days and take their exams and crash which is the same idea. I completly understand why people would take Adderall or Ritalin to help them study for these exams. I have 7 hours of school a day and then come home and have about 3 hours of homework everynight and im sure its worse in college and when it comes time to exams the amount of information is near impossible to review all of it without getting distracted and bored to the point where the studying is a waste of time. Students are put on so much stress to pass a certain test that they are turning to addictive drugs. WHile yes its wrong to make medicine not perscriped to you ment for people with ADD or ADHD maybe the schools need to take some of this blame instead of putting it all on the students. If i had to get an A on an exam or i dont graduate i would have no problem paying 5$ for a little pill that will help me focus and pass especally if its available. School is so competitive latly that people will do anything to get ahead. Its only a matter of time before this starts happening in High schools.
    Michelle Rich
    period 1

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  4. AnonymousOctober 8, 2009 at 10:19 PM

    I think that these "smart drugs" are being used for the wrong reason. High school and College kids are using the drugs because they cannot study on there own, this is a problem because the drugs are getting easier to obtain. This drug problem is becoming a drug addiction, and kids think that there are no negative side effects. The drug was developed for people with a specific disorder and should not be taking by people with out that disorder. I know first hand about the "smart drugs" because some of my friends have been diagnosed with ADD and have a prescription to Adderall. My friends tell me it helps them concentrate on school and limits distractions. In conclusion I think that the "smart drugs" are a good thing for the people its made for, but bad for the people its not. I think that kids need to break there addiction and study the old fashion way.

    Cory Highley
    per 6

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  5. AnonymousOctober 8, 2009 at 10:57 PM

    I thought that this article was extremely interesting. Not just that students are trying to “take the easy road out,” but on how we are so dependable on things and how addictive they can become. College is (and will be) stressful, and this “smart drug” sounds way too good to be true in all seriousness, and that’s the catch that 25% of students in colleges nationwide have fallen into. I would never ever take a “smart drug” like Adderall or Ritalin, but I actually decided to read a loud this article to my dad who happened to be in the room at the same time. Once I read the words “study for hours with full concentration without getting fatigued,” he looked at me and said “don’t even think about it!” But right there is the hook. Many students, like myself, become very tired when it comes to lots and lots of tedious studying, and from there our concentration just fades away and then we don’t do as well on our tests the very next day. Like I said, I am not stupid enough to even take one of these pills, but this is just even more evidence to how the state of our culture is today where young people have this mentality that “oh, one pill isn’t going to hurt me,” but then it turns in to an addiction. We have a pressuring society as well. If one person takes these drugs and gets “positive results,” isn’t that going to make the next person try the pill and then the next person and so on… We are such a gullible society. It’s ridiculous! A drug is a drug, and drugs are cheating! Drugs are addictive! Drugs, in the case with these “smart drugs,” will in the long-run hurt you instead of help you. It never ceases to amaze me with what my age group can come up with next to get “high,” and I really stress the meaning of the word “high” with this case because I’m sure many of the students who are taking these “smart pills” aren’t even recognizing that they are “high,” in their minds they are just “extremely concentrated.” The people who actually have been diagnosed with ADD by their doctor should be the only people taking these pills, not anyone else.

    Brandon Schuster
    Period 5

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  6. AnonymousOctober 9, 2009 at 12:38 PM

    Every student in high school and college struggles with studying for tests and exams because they are too exhausted or because they simply do not want to study. Students across the nation are "taking the easy way out" just as the article said. Pop a pill and you can pull an all nighter with ease while a student who has to take the same test is in the dorm room next to you fighting to keep focus on the task at hand. Smart drugs are not for the smart, they are for the lazy. The people who use Adderall and Ritalin are people who either don't know the concept of time management and leave studying to the very last minute or people who cannot handle a heavy work load. If a person is in college to get a degree so they can someday have a professional career then I feel they should be able to prepare for that career without aid from a pill. This trend makes me nervous for our future. If educated America needs to get high to get the job done (even if it is just preparing for a test), what will come next?

    Katie Westrich
    Period 6

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  7. AnonymousOctober 9, 2009 at 12:47 PM

    In this article,the use of "smart drugs" such of Adderall and Ritalin has radically increased over the past months. Students are relying on these drugs to stay up at night to study and they think this will help them and it does short term. Long term wise it will damage their brain. Originally these drugs were prescribed to patients with ADHD. Now students in college are taking them to better in school. Not only is this hurting them but the fact that these students are under so much pressure to do so well they have turned to precription drugs is ridiculous. If they are doing this now, what will come next? This will eventually turn into a major porblem possibly an addicition that will ultimately effect them in their future. Also, the kids probably arent being prescribed these drugs which is technically a felony. I am ultimately not surprised at this situation I also hope though this will not happen at a high school level.

    Alli England
    period 3

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  8. Samantha SchaumOctober 10, 2009 at 12:39 AM

    This article did a bad job of convincing kids to stay of Adderall...better concentration, less restlessness, weight loss, better grades; sounds like a miracle pill to me. Yes, I understand its addictive and not good to use if you're not diagnosed with ADD.
    The most disheartening part is how pampered our society it. Kids in Japan and India are ranked higher than the US in important subjects like math and science and i doubt their kids are taking drugs to help with that. Iceland is ranked higher than us! Does anyone even live there?
    Anyway, on one side, there is a definite lack of integrity with college students who use drugs to get ahead. If you can't achieve anything without being under some chemical influence, does it really count?
    On the other hand, maybe this is evolution. Science creates all sorts of chemicals and vaccines and medicines to cure diseases. Maybe this lack of focus, motivation, and determination when studying is a human default, and is able to be fixed by science. Maybe Adderrall is a step towards perfecting the human brain and making the race smarter, more efficient and progressive.

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