Blog 35

The article I chose to read on Common Place is titled, “Leaders or Cheaters: Steroids for the Brain” by Carlton Stine. The article discusses the prescription drug, Adderall. Adderall is a performance enhancing drug originally prescribed for people who are ADD and cannot focus or maintain a productive status. Not only can it help them to reach a point of normalcy and academic achievement, but it can also help people who do not have ADD. It acts as a sort of caffeine rush, but it lasts for hours and keeps you focused on whatever task is at hand. It allows you complete assignments faster and with more efficiency. It decreases stress levels immensely, and makes a person feel confident. Are there negatives? Yes. However the positives seem to outweigh the negatives by far. The drug is illegal and punishable by law if discovered not prescribed, yet it has so much potential to do good. The article says that it is estimated that 35% of college students use Adderall without a prescription in order to do well in school. I myself have friends who are prescribed it and it has worked miracles on their grades. Admitted, I have tried it before because I get extremely unfocused and panicked when it comes to too many deadlines and not enough time. My proof that it works? I took a math test after being bombarded with assignments the entire day. I took that math test at noon. I scored a 62%. A retake was soon established, and with no time to study, I took the test again over the same material with different questions after popping an Adderall. I took that test at 4am after staying up all night doing homework. I scored a 91% on it in half the time. CLEARLY I was more focused, nothing else. I have to say I completely agree with this article and wish the drug was able to be purchased over the counter, especially for those who are very pressured and anxiety ridden. The article also claims that most Harvard professors use it as well, displaying a real quote from a real Harvard teacher.