Performance Enhancing Drugs Not Just For Jocks Anymore...

When the subject of performance enhancing drugs comes up it is typically associated with athletics and it is typically presented in a negative manner. However performance enhancing drugs are not limited to use by athletes, thier are also drugs available that improve an individuals memory and other cognitive functions and more are on the way.

Is it reasonable for the government to limit access to performance enhancing drugs?

I think not. It is well known that more intelligent people have better jobs with higher pay than thier less intelligent counterparts which provides an improved quality of life for themselves and thier families. It is not reasonable for government to restrict less intelligent people from improving themselves whether that is from getting a better education or by popping a pill.

I understand that some of these drugs are available in herbal form. I will looking further into this subject. Should I find anything useful I will do some personal experimentation, so if you find my future posts to be more intelligent that will be the reason.

The following essay from Scientific American discusses the topic further.

Smarter on Drugs
We recoil at the idea of people taking drugs to enhance their intelligence. But why?
By Michael S. Gazzaniga


Any child can tell you that some people are smarter than others. But what is the difference between the brain of a Ph.D. student and the brain of the average Joe? If we can figure that out, then a bigger question follows: Is it ethical to turn average Joes into geniuses? Evolutionary theory suggests that if we are smart enough to invent technology that can increase our brain capacity, we should be able to use that advantage. It is the next step in the survival of the fittest. As noted psychologist Corneliu Giurgea stated in the 1970s, "Man is not going to wait passively for millions of years before evolution offers him a better brain."

That said, gnawing concerns persist when it comes to artificially enhancing intelligence. Geneticists and neuroscientists have made great strides in understanding which genes, brain structures and neurochemicals might be altered artificially to increase intelligence. The fear this prospect brings is that a nation of achievers will discard hard work and turn to prescriptions to get ahead.

Enhancing intelligence is not science fiction. Many "smart" drugs are in clinical trials and could be on the market in less than five years. Some medications currently available to patients with memory disorders may also increase intelligence in the healthy population. Likewise, few people would lament the use of such aids to ameliorate the forgetfulness that aging brings. Drugs that counter these deficits would be adopted gratefully by millions of people.

Full Article

I suppose I don't have a problem with performance enhancing drugs being used in sports either for the same reasons.
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Thanks for finding such a great article . I quickly read through all four pages, and more or less agree with the author on his standpoint about government regulation of these mind-altering drugs. It's the people's right to decide whether or not to accept these drugs, and the government should step back. Some people, as the author says, will reject their use because of a personal philosophy, while others will embrace them for their benefits. Better memory, faster calculating speed.....it sounds great.

The only problems, as the author points out, are that these drugs will alter our mental lives, and individuals who choose memory drugs for example may find it problematic to remember certain bad experiences that they would normally forget.

It's mentioned that real advances in cognitve enhancement drugs won't occur in our lifetimes. but from the progress I've read about so far it seems that it will be much sooner. Genetic mapping of intelligence, recent increases in our knowledge of the brain, giving Savant abilities to normal people through machines....it all seems to point to a date much sooner.

I think I'd use these drugs as long as the side effects are minimal, and sufficient testing was done, but that's just my personal opinion.

[edit on 10-10-2005 by zhangmaster]

Unfortunately, these "drug induced" fixes don't tend to carry over into our off-spring. THAT is what we really need to shoot for...a genectically inhanced IQ which increases with each generation and that is also the dominant gene.