Taking drugs to boost brain power/GPA/productivity...

[Blackjack200]

As much as I hate "ADD" drugs, which I think are bullshit and just a way for drug manufactures to peddle amp to kids, heroin is the one of the hands down worst drug you can do to yourself in terms of body harm and addictiveness.

Coke ranks up there along with meth and amp

QUOTE=MagnusTheBrewer;29738111]I'd rather see cocaine and heroin legalized than Adderall or Ritalin sold otc.

If heroin is "hands down one of the worst drug you can do to yourself", why is it prescription medication in the U.K.?

Coke and methamphetamine are drugs I'd avoid if they were all legalized (I'd probably do coke once in a while, but it's not good for your heart.) PCP also. The rest I would be fine with, as long as I knew the dosages I was taking would not cause dependence.

 

[Locut0s]

If heroin is "hands down one of the worst drug you can do to yourself", why is it prescription medication in the U.K.?

Coke and methamphetamine are drugs I'd avoid if they were all legalized (I'd probably do coke once in a while, but it's not good for your heart.) PCP also. The rest I would be fine with, as long as I knew the dosages I was taking would not cause dependence.

That statement doesn't make sense. Any drug that's a prescription drug could turn out to be "hands down one of the worst drugs you can do to yourself". the only thing and I mean the ONLY thing that separates prescription drugs from street drugs is that street drugs are used just for entertainment. Many a street drug could have potential medically beneficial uses if taken under supervision and at the right doses. And on the flip side many prescription drugs could be used as street drugs if taken at a high enough dose to get high.

 

[duragezic]

They can be helpful if you were already in the mood to study and get stuff done, but if you did not want to do anything, they don't make you motivated to work on school.

It doesn't actually improve memory or anything, just gives you a shit ton of energy. So while studying for 8 hours with almost no breaks might seem very difficult sober, on methylphenidate or some type of amphetamine, you just go and go at it. It's not good for you though. It's very difficult to sleep, you have very little appetite.

 

[CRXican]

Saw the segment last night. Pretty crazy. I would never have considered it. No way it can boost you two grade levels.

Makes me wonder about the students who decide to go into law enforcement. Using prescription is bad news, even having them in your possession is a felony.

 

[SandEagle]

i hear viagra keeps you up all night

 

[OverVolt]

i hear viagra keeps you up all night

"I appear to have punctured my test, can I have a new one?"

 

[TheVrolok]

I know/know of a bunch of people who take/took Adderall and Ritalin illegally during undergrad/med school. I don't believe in it, man up and do it yourself or don't do it at all. What happens, especially for the physicians, when they're on call late at night or busy at work and need a pick me up, going to take stims then as well?

 

[OverVolt]

I know/know of a bunch of people who take/took Adderall and Ritalin illegally during undergrad/med school. I don't believe in it, man up and do it yourself or don't do it at all. What happens, especially for the physicians, when they're on call late at night or busy at work and need a pick me up, going to take stims then as well?

I'd rather my doctor be on stims if he is going to be awake for 30 hours and do doctor stuff to me. If a normal person doesn't have the coordination to drive a car after being awake for 30 hours, then I don't want a doctor writing prescriptions, ordering treatments or doing procedures to me.

 

[jhu]

Shit, I did well despite all the drugs! Do I win?

 

[jhu]

I know/know of a bunch of people who take/took Adderall and Ritalin illegally during undergrad/med school. I don't believe in it, man up and do it yourself or don't do it at all. What happens, especially for the physicians, when they're on call late at night or busy at work and need a pick me up, going to take stims then as well?

Back in the old days, people used to do cocaine.

 

[OverVolt]

Shit, I did well despite all the drugs! Do I win?

Yes you do!!! Your in the top 1%!!! Only the elite few can do well while out of their minds on drugs against other students hopped up on adderal.

 

[Blackjack200]

That statement doesn't make sense. Any drug that's a prescription drug could turn out to be "hands down one of the worst drugs you can do to yourself". the only thing and I mean the ONLY thing that separates prescription drugs from street drugs is that street drugs are used just for entertainment. Many a street drug could have potential medically beneficial uses if taken under supervision and at the right doses. And on the flip side many prescription drugs could be used as street drugs if taken at a high enough dose to get high.

"Recreation" is the word you're looking for, not entertainment. And what do you mean by 'street drugs', are you talking about illicit drugs? Or any recreational drug, legal or illegal?

Yes, there are toxic prescription drugs (meaning that they damage organs even at correct dosage levels), but they are used to fight cancer and AIDS etc., heroin is an analgesic and wouldn't be used if it was "hands down one of the worst drug you can do to yourself". That was my point.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

If heroin is "hands down one of the worst drug you can do to yourself", why is it prescription medication in the U.K.?

Methotrexate is quite a widely used drug for autoimmune disorders and cancer, but I doubt you'd ever want to take it because it just completely destroys you. Just because a drug is bad for you doesn't mean it's not good as well.

I think GA was responding mostly to cyclohexane's statement about the idea being bullshit. I agree that we don't understand intelligence well enough yet to produce such a drug but there is no reason why such a drug would no be in theory possible once we do understand it. cyclohexane's response seemed more to be along the lines of the very notion being bull.

The way our understanding works at the moment, the concept is bull.

 

[Eli]

I'm all for it. Evolution at it's finest, IMO. Wouldn't mind trying some ritalin. I'd probably get more shit done rather than being dead after a day's work. It sucks essentially only having weekends to work on projects and such.

 

[goog40]

Obviously they need to ramp up drug testing and ban PEDs in college. Put an asterisk next to the GPAs of anyone whose caught.

 

[narzy]

Take adderal to study, then take adderal 30-45mins before the test, and profit?

I've seen quite a few people with ADHD and I see them using the meds wrong. I've seen people take them half-way through the test where it's not really going to have enough of an effect in time. I've seen people chain 2 or 3 of them in a row for a study session when they really should have just taken one, study a bit, give it a rest, then take one before the test. I'm thinking taking that many will make you crash hard.

So yea, most people use them wrong, even with a script. I'm 100% confident that adderal can improve your grades. It's very simple, it makes you more productive with no doubt in my mind.

If you learn it high, you should take the test high. The crash from these drugs SUCK. I find myself agitated and I use it as prescribed by my Dr. and follow the instructions on the label. Personally I think you get a better boost from getting enough sleep, 45 minutes of exercise per day (and no walking to class doesn't count) and eating a healthy diet. But if amphetamine works for you and you can avoid an addiction more power to ya.

 

[Fayd]

Drugs can make you stronger. Drugs can make you faster. Drugs can make your senses more acute. Drugs can make you immune to pain. Drugs can make you happier. Why is it so unreasonable that drugs could make you smarter?

the argument isnt that they make you stronger, they just make you able to focus for longer.

i tend to wonder if i have ADD to any effect. i've *never* been able to focus on school work.

if i had been taking adderall or whatever, i might have stayed in CS instead of failing out of that and going into economics... and subsequently graduating and not being able to find a job.

 

[KingGheedora]

I don't think Adderall really offers an unfair advantage to those who use it illegally. I've heard of people doing this at my school but I've never encountered someone who takes it with the mission of boosting their GPA above what it could be without it. In my experience the reason is something more like "Oh shit, I haven't done any work all semester and I need to read three books and write 20 pages in two days, now I need Adderall to stay up for 48 hours straight." (Note: I have completed that workload over the same amount of time and only needed Coca-Cola and peanut M&Ms, really bizarre two days).

Could the drug potentially be used in a way more similar to steroids (i.e. taking a regular regimen to stay up all night twice a week to study)? Yes, but people who do that are A) really committed, so more power to them, and B) few and far between. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of illegal users obtain the same grades or worse as they would if they could just manage their time properly.

Illegal use yes. But there is i think tons of legal use, where people get prescriptions and use the prescribed dose on a daily basis to enable them to focus on class and homework. These people don't need to pull all nighters because the medications give them the drive and the ability to sit still and do academic work for long periods of time. These people are setting the curve, and I wish I knew about this in college. I was such an innocent back then I didn't realize that I was competing against kids who had an unfair advantage. I think it should be made freely available to any student but controlled somehow to prevent abuse. Or just ban it outright.

For some reason the country doesn't seem to care about academic doping (even I don't care but I do see that there is no difference between it and doping in athletics).

 

[Anonemous]

With the economy the way it is. People will always look for an edge over others for that 1 job that thousands of graduates are competing to get.

 

[ebaycj]

I personally know a lot of people who take these drugs, and do well in school. I don't buy that they actually have ADD, I just think that doctors are more liberally giving out prescriptions for the drugs.

Shoot, at my school (University of Iowa, circa 98-2002), if you were diagnosed with ADD (as in, had a note from your doctor), you got a seperate, quiet room to take all of your exams, and you had as long to take them as you needed. Screw the drugs, the extra time would be a HUGE advantage in and of itself.

 

[0roo0roo]

necro thread

 

[Zebo]

To each his own.

 

[edro]

I was thinking REPOST... but then I saw the date of this thread.

 

[SP33Demon]

Coffee is all you need.

 

[TecHNooB]

Caffeine is my drug of choice. unfortunately, it doesnt work as well as it used to. i can down a can of monster energy and be asleep 15 minutes later.