Posted on 06/25/2008 8:00:38 PM PDT by T Ruth
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A variety of studies, polls, and anecdotal evidence show that increasing numbers of professionals and students are using various drugs to sharpen their attention at work or school, reduce their sleep time, or calm their nerves.
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Industry advocates say that researchers will soon deliver more drugs capable of goosing workers' performance, and that the improvement will be enough to make a real difference to company profits and workers' pay. Industry lobbyists are seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for research that will accelerate these developments, and millions of dollars to win public acceptance for brain-boosting drugs.
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Arria says that her 1,200-person study makes her skeptical about the drugs' value to students. "Over time and on average, the students who nonmedically use prescription drugs have lower performance, and it's because they're skipping classes," she said. "From what I know today, it is really the students who work, who don't skip class, who engage in healthy behavior who will be the ones who succeed."
Workers doing boring, repetitive tasks, especially for long hours, do get a boost from stimulant drugs, Volkow said. But performance may decline for white-collar employees who must sift through a wide variety of information. In 2003, for example, researchers at King's College London found that modafinil increased users' performance slightly on one set of tests but reduced it on another.
Drug-using employees may think their performance has improved even though they're actually doing worse . . ..
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(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...
Although chemical enhancement may be tempting for a short-term high-value assignment, I tend to think that in the long run there is no free lunch. Further, there is always the danger of creeping escalation in use and acquired tolerance.
Dang, whatever happened to just tossing a little Bailey’s in your morning coffee and blaming the smell on cough syrup?
Where can we get some of these?
Caffine is a mild stimulant with a temporary effect. However, I think most know that it can cause crashes and circulatory problems long term as well.
The secondary effects of heavier stimulants can be much more serious.
...or checking out the hot, young intern?
Oh wait, that was Bill’s performance-enhancing activity.
I love my caffeine, but it has more side effects and is less effective than modafinil (trade name Provigil), which is one of the drugs discussed in this article. It is a prescription drug, but it isn’t “harder” than caffeine. I get quite a benefit from it. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a friend that wants to get more done.
Funny stuff, damned funny stuff.
< raising hand> I’m guilty. My drug of choice is 2,3,5 trimethylxanthine. I can’t get through the long boring workday without it. I’m addicted and I don’t want to quit. ;-) I’ll bet most of you reading this are, too.
Long distance call Greg!
It's a little scary how much money they're planning on funneling towards trying to get the public’s approval. And the reason it's so scary is that there are so many people who don't think outside their materialistic needs (see “affluenza”), so I fear that this will actually have more support than I'd ever care to see.
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. Numerous government types lurk and post here.
I’m with you. What the devil happened to that?
Thank God, I am retired.
huh, secret is out I guess. I cook my own at home right in the kitchen, the precursors I can get over the Internet. ;)
Truly this is a non-issue. I have a legal prescription for a stimulant. They work. Should you have a legitimate medical reason? - yes. But don’t worry about this stuff.
I’ve thought of cooking up my own—got a good local source. There is nothing like that smell when you’ve got the raw stuff and you roast it.
I’m ashamed to admit it but my kids got turned on to it, too.
Wall Street would collapse if it weren't for caffeine steroids and blow.
I’m thinking nothing short of illegal substances would give me the boost I need.
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