What’s Missing from the Current Smart Drugs Debate

Abstract

BIn a modern world where everybody wants an edge, how far are you willing to go?^ This is the question posed by an ABC news segment on the drug Provigil. The segment begins with an extended clip from the movie Limitless, likening the fictitious miracle drug in this movie to the real life drug Provigil. Though it is meant to treat narcolepsy or shift work disorder, many people who don’t have these conditions use Provigil as a stimulant: it has become one of the newest Bsmart drugs.^ Smart drugs, prescription drugs abused for cognitive enhancement, do not actually make you smarterand certainly no drug can mimic the effects of the Limitless pill. But these drugs do enhance qualities that we associate with being smart: they can increase motivation, focus, and productivity. As the news segment continues, Provigil begins to sound more and more enticing. Why wouldn’t we jump at the opportunity for instant improvement? Yet I am not at all on board with this line of thought. There are many reasons to be wary of smart drugs. To start with, prescription drug abuse is always risky, and smart drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin often have severe side effects. Many smart drugs are also extremely addictive, and the long-term effects of smart drug use are unclear. In addition to medical concerns, there are also ethical considerations: do smart drugs give some an unfair advantage over others? Is taking smart drugs a way of cheating? On the other hand, suppose there was a non-addictive smart drug with no side effects, a drug as medically safe as Provigil purports to be. Would it be a mistake to overlook this valuable resource? I am unable to offer satisfactory answers to these questions, though others have certainly tried. But this is inconsequential, because these concerns are beside the point. To identify the true issues at the heart of the smart drugs debate we must look beyond the drugs themselves. Provigil is indeed, in the words of the ABC news anchor, Bthe ultimate pill for a 24/7 society.^ But we should turn our efforts towards examining this society and not this pill. Smart drug abuse is a rising problem among millennials, a notable departure from our typical impressions of teenage drug abuse. Today, ‘80s anti-narcotics campaigns warning that BWinners Don’t Use Drugs^ and BThis [fried egg] is your brain on drugs^ have lost their relevance, as the current drug of choice for my generation is ADDmedication. Roughly one in five college students report having taken unprescribed drugs to help them do well in school, and between 2008 and 2013, the percentage of young adults taking ADD/ADHD medication nearly doubled, an increase largely attributed to unnecessary use of these drugs. This not just a student problem; anecdotes of smart drug abuse dominate the online discussion boards of stock traders and investment bankers who have abandoned cocaine in favor of a different amphetamine: Adderall. There is a reason that smart drug abuse is so prevalent among millennials: these drugs have become the vice of a generation who believes that failure is a flaw. Raised on aphorisms expressing firm confidence in our abilities, repeatedly told that we were special, my generation grew up believing that we would and must be successful. Simultaneously, we learned to view failure as a sign of weakness, to view shortcomings as limits to be surpassed. We are called to be both * Eloisa Cleveland eclevel2@wellesley.edu