io9
Today, the results are in for a survey conducted by the scientific journal Nature on "enhancement" drug use among its readers. Turns out 1 in 5 of the 1400 respondents have taken drugs to enhance their performance (i.e., recreationally) rather than to cure a problem. The most popular of these drugs was speedy Ritalin: 62 percent of respondents had used it. It was followed closely by concentration-focusing Provigil (44 percent) and anxiety-reducing beta blockers (15 percent). These scientist drug users were of all ages — in this chart, you can see that drug use for "enhancement" is just as popular among the kids as it is among the seniors.
Four-fifths of all respondents in the Nature poll (not just the pill-poppers) thought people should be allowed to take these pills if they wanted to.
It's interesting to compare these results with those from an annual study done by the National Coffee Association, which reports that 1 in 5 people in the U.S. drinks espresso drinks. They also have a fascinating chart, similar to the chart done for the Nature study, showing what percentage of people drank coffee the day before the survey, and breaking down the answers by age. You can see that recreational coffee use is rampant — up to 70 percent of people drank coffee within the last 24 hours in 2007.
And yet coffee is a crappier stimulant than Ritalin or Provigil, with lots of bad side-effects. So the lesson here? Scientists get the good shit, and the rest of us are left clutching a shakes-inducing mug of Starbucks. Charts via Nature and the National Coffee Association.
Poll Results: Look Who's Doping [Nature]
Comments
I don't drink coffee often, but we have some badass shit here on campus, its just labeled "Bold" and it kept me shaking all the way through my homework and class.
Also scientists are all about effectiveness, why stop at caffeine when you can rock your world with stronger stimulants.
Speak for yourself, lady. My brother has ADHD... I gotz the hookup!
I'm already on anxiety-reducing medication. And coffee rules.
I've been straight edged all my life, avoiding even coffee, but I've started to wonder what my university academic performance (which was terrible until I was forced to switch majors.) would have been if I had carefully and judiciously applied small doses of nicotine, caffeine and Benzedrine. This was back in the 80s when the stimulants were all sloppy, toxic or illegal.
I saw a lot of my fellow students, methodically planning to use these things and, sometimes even cocaine, to pull all-nighters. They actually did pretty well on exams and problem sets but they'd usually forget it all after the test.
Brain performance enhancing drugs are getting better and better all the time. And it's a not so widely known fact that doctors, have the greatest legal freedom to do so, often dose themselves with these things to do better.
But this is an old pattern. The ones with money and power use that money and power to acquire the tools to stay on top. I bet the Provigil use in Washington DC is enormous now.
When one considers the relatively mild psychotropic effects of... oh look boobies!
/wanders off to Fleshbot
In college I used Mini-thins and other ephedrine tablets to stay up all night (sometimes for school work, sometimes for an underground newspaper, sometimes just to play D&D or poker), which was legal at the time. Last year I tried a Provigil tablet for the first time and I've used it half a dozen times since. I had no anxiety reactions, no jitters, none of the shaking I used to get from ephedrine. I just feel focused, energized, and frankly, kind of happier than usual. I've used it to work productively for longer hours, to improve focus and concentration after a night of sleep lost to airline delays, and to stay alert while driving over 1000 miles in a day. I had a legal prescription, and I'm down to my last tablet. I'm kind of saving it for a critical need.
Great, so the smart people are taking drugs to "enhance" their abilities. I guess it's okay when you need to come up with a cure for cancer or write the next T.O.E., but god forbid you should juice up to play ball better. The gross hypocracy of America's drug-using culture is pathetic. I wonder if those same pill-popping scientists think of themselves as smarter, or better than your average drug user?
@Jeff-Minor: Doesn't the cry of "...for Science!" mean anything to you? Two little words that can screw down even the tightest of moral dilemmas for some people.
Slatz, it does, but not in all cases. I'm all in favor of tweaking my brain so I can fold spacetime or communicate with the dead. Oh, but that's --not-- scientific! Blah, blah, blah... ;)
"And yet coffee is a crappier stimulant than Ritalin or Provigil, with lots of bad side-effects."
I believe the attempt here is to make it seem that the side effects of coffee are worse than those for Ritalin or Provigil? As someone who has ADHD, I've attempted to take Ritalin. It doesn't work for everyone with ADHD. In my case, I had 3 days of near-homicidal rage followed by three days of suicidal depression. Needless to say, that was the end my Ritalin usage. Not a drug to be taken lightly.
@Jeff-Minor: Not to argue against your point, but the study seems to ask "have you ever taken" not " do you take on a regular basis" (this is evidenced by the negative line "have never taken")
@Spoonman: Caffeine is a crappier stimulant with more universal annoying side-effects, vs Ritalin and Provigil (which can have more severe side effects)...
How does that strike you?
I'm in favor of letting people take drugs if they want to. I just think it's funny how people define "drug" use. "Oh, it's just a brain stimulant." "Oh, I'm just altering my conciousness." "Oh fuck, their are ants all over me! Get them off! Get them off!"
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