Modafinil is one of the best-known “smart drugs” in Britain, designed to help patients with sleep disorders
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Students at leading British universities are routinely using performance-enhancing “study drugs” to prepare for exams or hit essay deadlines, *The Times* has found.
Students and recent graduates from Oxford, Edinburgh, Nottingham and the London School of Economics said that the pills were easily obtainable for about £2 each. Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said yesterday that a forthcoming study on the use of drugs on campus would include cognition enhancers, with new guidance for institutions expected by the end of next year.
No university in Britain has explicitly banned cognition enhancers although Edinburgh said that the consumption and sale of such drugs breached its code of student conduct, which forbids the use of unfair means in assessments.
The best-known “smart drugs” in Britain are modafinil, which is designed to help patients with sleep disorders, and ritalin, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). [Modafinil](https://archive.is/gQfyH) has never been tested for the effects of long-term use on healthy people. Psychosis and mania have been reported in rare cases.
Although it is not clear exactly how many students are taking the drugs, an online survey of students from 54 British universities published last year showed 19 per cent had used cognition enhancers. The Office for Students described the situation as worrying and warned that use of the drugs could be dangerous and involve breaking the law.
Students told *The Times* that the drugs were commonly used and freely available from people who had bought them online or obtained them from doctors for medical conditions.
Modafinil requires a prescription but possession is not a criminal offence. Online pharmacies, including those abroad, are required to confirm with a GP that a prescription is clinically appropriate. However, Dr Anders Sandberg, 49, a philosopher at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, said that he obtained modafinil online for research with no checks. He buys it from a European online store, claiming to have a prescription, which is not examined.
Barbara Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge University and an authority on modafinil, said that she had been approached by students after giving lectures about cognition enhancers. “Someone comes up and says ‘I don’t want to take these drugs but other people are taking them and I feel I will be disadvantaged’. They see people passing them round the library,” she said. “Sometimes they get them on the internet, which is a very unsafe way to get a prescription-only medicine. It’s like Russian roulette.”
Sahakian has been co-opted to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the Home Office’s independent drug advisers, whose review of cognition enhancers in study, work and sport is looking mainly at modafinil, ritalin and the ADHD treatment dexamfetamine. The council’s decision to review modafinil alongside two controlled drugs raises the prospect that it will be given the same status, imposing criminal sanctions for possession.
Concerns have also been raised over the health impact of taking the drugs.
David Taylor, professor of psychopharmacology at King’s College, London, said: “You are taking a drug that affects the function of your brain without any medical supervision. Modafinil does seem to have the capacity at least to give rise to psychosis and mania in rare cases. It can give rise to depression when you stop taking it.”
Sir Anthony Seldon, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, urged British universities to follow Duke’s lead and forbid the unauthorised use of prescription medicines: “It’s unfair, it gives an advantage. It’s dangerous, we don’t know the long term effects. It puts pressure on students, you become a mug if you are not doing it.”
He said vice-chancellors should make the tablets “as unacceptable as performance enhancing drugs are in competitive sport”.
Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, told *The Times*: “Only limited evidence is available about the use of cognitive enhancers, so-called ‘study drugs’, by UK students. However, Universities UK is launching a major study of illicit drug use in universities at the beginning of 2022. This will include research into the supply, demand and use of drugs by students and will result in a new framework and guidance for universities by the end of next year.”
*Dominic Kennedy, Arthi Nachiappan, Matthew Kayanja* Monday December 27 2021, 8.00am
–
Read **more**:
‘[Students on study drugs: ‘The pills cost about £2 each. It’s much cheaper than a Starbucks’](https://archive.is/J7aAe)’
I hope the drug doesnt end up restricted for those who need it because of this, because this what happened to ADHD meds -_-
Dunno about “study drugs” as such, but amphetamine use was pretty rife when I was at uni.
People were taking all sorts of shit to help them study decades ago when I was at uni, I can imagine the situation has only got worse.
Yeah the problem is the drugs make people think they are working harder, when actually it’s making them worse off. Speed is bad kids m’kay. It doesn’t work.
Never encountered this when I went to uni 8 years ago
The henious bastards probably smoke upon the devil’s lettuce in great numbers too.
As a modafinal user I use it for the effects caffeine gives but less jittery nature
I knew a guy at uni who had 24 hours to study for an exam he hadn’t done any work for so he popped a modafinil. Decided to have a wank first and just ended up hyper focused on wanking all day. He scraped a pass in the exam tbf.
I did modafinil when I was at uni. It’s good shit; I felt like it fixed my brain.
It’s been that way for a while. With competition for jobs and graduate placements getting tougher and tougher, students will do anything to get an edge and study drugs are just part of that. Besides, with the government doing cocaine by the boatload, students could be doing far worse things than taking ADHD medication.
Study drugs have been used for decades. It’s called caffeine.
Serious questions from someone who knows nothing about these drugs. Do these drugs actually help you study and retain information? Do they have terrible side effects or cause addiction like dependency? Is a doctor’s prescription the only way to procure them legally?
As someone with adhd. People who take them when they don’t need them reallg really fucking annoys me
As someone who has adhd and has these meds prescribed cos I literally cannot function without them it really annoys me when non adhd people who don’t need it take them it puts such unrealistic expectations on us and also makes it harder for us to get them when we need them cos people abuse them. I struggle tk get my prescription refilled on a regular basis have tk shell out a fuck ton of money on psychiatrists cos assholes are selfish and abuse them so the gov makes it much harder for people who need them tk get them
This is hardly new, me and my classmates were taking this shit 10 years ago. It was the only way I could stand sitting in a library for hours, plus it kept us out of the pubs.
16 comments
Modafinil is one of the best-known “smart drugs” in Britain, designed to help patients with sleep disorders
–
Students at leading British universities are routinely using performance-enhancing “study drugs” to prepare for exams or hit essay deadlines, *The Times* has found.
Students and recent graduates from Oxford, Edinburgh, Nottingham and the London School of Economics said that the pills were easily obtainable for about £2 each. Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said yesterday that a forthcoming study on the use of drugs on campus would include cognition enhancers, with new guidance for institutions expected by the end of next year.
No university in Britain has explicitly banned cognition enhancers although Edinburgh said that the consumption and sale of such drugs breached its code of student conduct, which forbids the use of unfair means in assessments.
The best-known “smart drugs” in Britain are modafinil, which is designed to help patients with sleep disorders, and ritalin, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). [Modafinil](https://archive.is/gQfyH) has never been tested for the effects of long-term use on healthy people. Psychosis and mania have been reported in rare cases.
Although it is not clear exactly how many students are taking the drugs, an online survey of students from 54 British universities published last year showed 19 per cent had used cognition enhancers. The Office for Students described the situation as worrying and warned that use of the drugs could be dangerous and involve breaking the law.
Students told *The Times* that the drugs were commonly used and freely available from people who had bought them online or obtained them from doctors for medical conditions.
Modafinil requires a prescription but possession is not a criminal offence. Online pharmacies, including those abroad, are required to confirm with a GP that a prescription is clinically appropriate. However, Dr Anders Sandberg, 49, a philosopher at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, said that he obtained modafinil online for research with no checks. He buys it from a European online store, claiming to have a prescription, which is not examined.
Barbara Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge University and an authority on modafinil, said that she had been approached by students after giving lectures about cognition enhancers. “Someone comes up and says ‘I don’t want to take these drugs but other people are taking them and I feel I will be disadvantaged’. They see people passing them round the library,” she said. “Sometimes they get them on the internet, which is a very unsafe way to get a prescription-only medicine. It’s like Russian roulette.”
Sahakian has been co-opted to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the Home Office’s independent drug advisers, whose review of cognition enhancers in study, work and sport is looking mainly at modafinil, ritalin and the ADHD treatment dexamfetamine. The council’s decision to review modafinil alongside two controlled drugs raises the prospect that it will be given the same status, imposing criminal sanctions for possession.
Concerns have also been raised over the health impact of taking the drugs.
David Taylor, professor of psychopharmacology at King’s College, London, said: “You are taking a drug that affects the function of your brain without any medical supervision. Modafinil does seem to have the capacity at least to give rise to psychosis and mania in rare cases. It can give rise to depression when you stop taking it.”
Sir Anthony Seldon, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, urged British universities to follow Duke’s lead and forbid the unauthorised use of prescription medicines: “It’s unfair, it gives an advantage. It’s dangerous, we don’t know the long term effects. It puts pressure on students, you become a mug if you are not doing it.”
He said vice-chancellors should make the tablets “as unacceptable as performance enhancing drugs are in competitive sport”.
Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, told *The Times*: “Only limited evidence is available about the use of cognitive enhancers, so-called ‘study drugs’, by UK students. However, Universities UK is launching a major study of illicit drug use in universities at the beginning of 2022. This will include research into the supply, demand and use of drugs by students and will result in a new framework and guidance for universities by the end of next year.”
*Dominic Kennedy, Arthi Nachiappan, Matthew Kayanja* Monday December 27 2021, 8.00am
–
Read **more**:
‘[Students on study drugs: ‘The pills cost about £2 each. It’s much cheaper than a Starbucks’](https://archive.is/J7aAe)’
[‘The ups and downs of smart drugs like modafinil](https://archive.is/WNlZh)’
Far from just at universities…
But sure, pretend it’s just students.
I hope the drug doesnt end up restricted for those who need it because of this, because this what happened to ADHD meds -_-
Dunno about “study drugs” as such, but amphetamine use was pretty rife when I was at uni.
People were taking all sorts of shit to help them study decades ago when I was at uni, I can imagine the situation has only got worse.
Yeah the problem is the drugs make people think they are working harder, when actually it’s making them worse off. Speed is bad kids m’kay. It doesn’t work.
Never encountered this when I went to uni 8 years ago
The henious bastards probably smoke upon the devil’s lettuce in great numbers too.
As a modafinal user I use it for the effects caffeine gives but less jittery nature
I knew a guy at uni who had 24 hours to study for an exam he hadn’t done any work for so he popped a modafinil. Decided to have a wank first and just ended up hyper focused on wanking all day. He scraped a pass in the exam tbf.
I did modafinil when I was at uni. It’s good shit; I felt like it fixed my brain.
It’s been that way for a while. With competition for jobs and graduate placements getting tougher and tougher, students will do anything to get an edge and study drugs are just part of that. Besides, with the government doing cocaine by the boatload, students could be doing far worse things than taking ADHD medication.
Study drugs have been used for decades. It’s called caffeine.
Serious questions from someone who knows nothing about these drugs. Do these drugs actually help you study and retain information? Do they have terrible side effects or cause addiction like dependency? Is a doctor’s prescription the only way to procure them legally?
As someone with adhd. People who take them when they don’t need them reallg really fucking annoys me
As someone who has adhd and has these meds prescribed cos I literally cannot function without them it really annoys me when non adhd people who don’t need it take them it puts such unrealistic expectations on us and also makes it harder for us to get them when we need them cos people abuse them. I struggle tk get my prescription refilled on a regular basis have tk shell out a fuck ton of money on psychiatrists cos assholes are selfish and abuse them so the gov makes it much harder for people who need them tk get them
This is hardly new, me and my classmates were taking this shit 10 years ago. It was the only way I could stand sitting in a library for hours, plus it kept us out of the pubs.