Scientists on Smart Drugs: Is This the Future?

If you went to university, you may remember drinking gallons of coffee to keep yourself awake and alert while studying for a test or working on a project. Some students resort to caffeine pills, energy drinks and other, less licit concoctions for the same purpose.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that grown-up scientists do the same thing, only with more potent concoctions than caffeine. According to the New York Times,

An era of doping may be looming in academia, and it has ignited a debate about policy and ethics that in some ways echoes the national controversy over performance enhancement accusations against elite athletes like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

In a recent commentary in the journal Nature, two Cambridge University researchers reported that about a dozen of their colleagues had admitted to regular use of prescription drugs like Adderall, a stimulant, and Provigil, which promotes wakefulness, to improve their academic performance. The former is approved to treat attention deficit disorder, the latter narcolepsy, and both are considered more effective, and (are) more widely available, than the drugs circulating in dorms a generation ago.

Users assert that using selected drugs in this way raises their intellectual and professional ability to a degre that would be otherwise impossible:

'I’m not talking about being able to work longer hours without sleep (although that helps),' the posting said. 'I’m talking about being able to take on twice the responsibility, work twice as fast, write more effectively, manage better, be more attentive, devise better and more creative strategies.'

Others, however, feel that the possibility of scientists becoming even smarter than they now are is a Bad Thing.

Francis Fukuyama raises the broader issue of performance enhancement: “The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.” He and others point out that increased use of such drugs could raise the standard of what is considered “normal” performance and widen the gap between those who have access to the medications and those who don’t — and even erode the relationship between struggle and the building of character.

What do you think? Have you used drugs in this way? Would you, if you could get your hands on them?

What if you had to use them to stay competitive in your profession?

Do you see a day coming when everyone will have to take drugs that enhance their performance at whatever it is they do for a living, just in order to stay on top of the job... and avoid getting fired?

And what, if anything, should we be doing about all this?

I've never used this kind of drug, but if it was safe, I'd definitely consider it. I'm not sure such stimulants can ever be safe, though, since the body needs a certain amount of rest. My understanding is that this kind of drug just makes you not feel tired. It doesn't actually replace sleep. That really only makes it useful in situations where it benefits you in the short term. As a long term solution, it doesn't have any value.

What should we do about it? I'm not sure. First, I'd recommend making sure they were safe, and then we can decide.

What if companies start mandating that you take such drugs? I don't like that idea at all. Sounds a little too close to the Gattaca movie (sp?) for comfort.

[edit on 11-3-2008 by DragonsDemesne]

Great. Scientists staying awake longer, devising more ways to corrupt and pervert human nature during overtime. These people need to spend more time not thinking, maybe they could take a hike through a national park and clear their heads. They may find that their obsession with scientific understanding is not the only thing in life.

Here are a few things to consider:

• Are scientists who take smart drugs likely to do worse science that scientists who don't?
  
• Will this lead, ultimately, to more good science, or less?
  
• Are there any moral or ethical issues involved? What are they?
  

Of course, if one despises science or scientists in the first place, these questions are moot. Indeed, the whole issue would be.

reply to post by Astyanax


I am no expert but speaking from my own experience with caffiene (stimulant), when I've had entirely too much, the Law of Diminishing Returns seems to come into play. I get into a state of hyper-stimulation in which it's much more difficult to think clearly or rationally. The heart rate elevates and there is an over-agressive or or over-zealousness that sets in. It seems to me that might not lend itself to rational, scientific thought or observation.