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Bethany Wolfrath
Mr. Lisenby
English 101
31 March 2014
Should “Study Drugs” Be Banned?
“According to a 2009 survey in the Journal of Attention Deficit Disorders, 56% of stu-
dents with legitimate attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prescriptions reported hav-
ing been asked to give or sell their medication to other students.” (Kirszner et la. 637). This news
journal among others brings up a hidden topic that speaks of the reality of a large quantity of col-
lege students. It takes on a negative role for those who are drug users and college attenders. In
addition, this begs the question of whether or not these students become drug users before or af-
ter entering their college dorm, and when did this epidemic start becoming an issue? Because this
has become an issue, should there be a limit placed on these so-called “study drugs?” David
Alpert, an editor from USA Today College, gives the cons of this usage while Matt Lamkin, edi-
tor from Chronicle of Higher Education, tells us why using study drugs may have benefits. For
some college students, they need assistance to stay concentrated on their studies. However, many
critics have found the fact to be that students use study drugs use in an inappropriate way. Both
articles touch on this usage as being a form of cheating, but they do not agree on whether or not
this is based on individual opinion or federal law. The result of this conflict may change this
form of help to all students. Using a study drug can be helpful to some but detrimental to others.
The difference is the way it is used, the amount that is taken, and who uses it for its purpose.
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Overall, these study drugs are medically needed by some individuals, but they are over used for
other issues like anxiety, paranoia, or as an excuse for failing academics.
In David Alpert’s article, “Change Honor Code To Include Abuse of Nonprescription
Drugs”, he gives his opinion on the case of study drugs. He believes the correct way for universi-
ties to prohibit students from using these materials outside of the knowledge of a license practi-
tioner would be through an honor code. This honor code would classify the use of study drugs by
healthy students to be in the same category as cheating, stealing, and lying. Albert believes out-
side of this honor code there will be no further action made to follow up on these rules.
One of the reasons for his belief is an agreement with Duke University. In September
