While coffee has traditionally been the students study aid of choice, many are now turning towards ‘brain boosting’ drugs in an attempt to study longer, concentrate harder and improve their exam results.

Prescription drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall and Modafinil have traditionally been prescribed for sufferers of ADHD and narcolepsy, but according to the British Medical Association (BMA) they can improve memory, concentration and attention span in healthy people, as well as those with impaired functioning.

Despite the long-term side effects of such drug use in healthy individuals being largely unknown, some students at the University of Edinburgh said that their benefits outweighed any concerns of potential harm to their health.

“The drugs put you in a zone where you don’t mind working and are able to concentrate for hours,” said ‘Amanda’, a fourth year student who has taken Ritanol a number of times. “I don’t worry about the side effects at all, because I don’t think I take them enough to do me any harm.”

‘Amanda’ added that while she only took the drugs occasionally, she knew a friend who wrote his dissertation in five days using several pills each day to keep him alert and motivated.

Despite many students feeling no decline in their health after using such drugs, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence said the side effects of Ritalin could include insomnia, anxiety, stomach and headaches, as well as an increased heart rate, palpitations and raised blood pressure.

The BMA also warned of the hidden disadvantages of the cognitive enhancing drugs, including the risk of users being plagued by unwanted or painful memories as well as being prone to excessive wakefulness for periods of time.

Despite experiencing ‘sweatiness’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘feelings of nausea’ while she was on Modafinil, recent Cambridge graduate ‘Emma’ said that the sale of the drug became a ‘roaring trade’ during her final year at the university, with students taking it as often as two or three times a day for several weeks, or even months.

“Loads of students tried it and you would see people working day in, day out without a break,” she said. “You can do so much more when you’re on it and you are not only less distracted but really enjoy the work you are doing. I mean, students would actually deal them in the library during finals.”

However, when not prescribed, Ritalin is a class B drug in the UK, and possession can lead to a five-year prison sentence, with dealers running the risk of 14 years behind bars. Despite Modafinil also not being available without a prescription, Snowton said students could access the drugs relatively easily.

“I got the drugs from someone I knew who had ADHD and therefore had a constant prescription”, she said. “You can get the drugs if you want them here and I think it is quite rife among the Edinburgh community.”

‘Tania’, a fourth year Edinburgh student said she got her prescriptions direct off the internet site urantiapharma.com, where Modafinil is sold for as little as 46p a pill.

“I just order it online and use it when there is a work emergency and I have to get something done really quickly,” ‘Tania’ said. “It doesn’t make me wired or anxious and I think while the use is not yet widespread, there is a growing scene in Edinburgh.”

While internet websites make it easy for students to access the drug, the BMA said the unregulated use of a prescription drug could lead to misuse of the drug in question.

“For us, there is a concern when people obtain prescription drugs via the internet or through other means,” said a spokesperson for the Association. “Forgetting the issues concerning cognitive enhancers, it is never a good idea to use prescriptions that are not assigned to you.”

A recent report by the Academy of Medical Sciences predicts an increase of the use of such drugs among students in future years and calls for increased research into the health effects further down the line.

“There needs to be greater understanding of the risks and safety of these substances,” said Robert Frost, the senior policy officer at the Academy. “If the use is going to increase then we need to be able to make a better assessment of the effects among healthy people.”

According to ‘Amanda’, most Edinburgh students who take study drugs get them from America, where the number of students taking them is believed to be higher than in the UK.

A study in America that considered anonymous responses from 1,025 American college students found that 16.2 per cent reported use of cognitive enhancers, with 96 per cent of these using Ritalin in order to improve attention, prolong partying, reduce hyperactivity and improve grades. 15.5 per cent of these students used the drug at least 2 or 3 times a week.

‘Tina’, a UC Berkeley Dramatic Arts major, told Student she over-used study drugs and became concerned with what she felt were their addictive nature.

“I think I became dependent on the drugs to work at one point and I would take them literally just to read for no reason...almost because it made working so fun,” she said.

As well as possible health concerns, recent reports have questioned the ethical concerns that arise when students take drugs to improve their academic grades and exam performances.

“Assuming that these drugs give students an advantage, one must question whether this is unfair or not,” said Steve Rolles, head of research at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation. “I mean plenty of students rely on caffeine as a stimulant, it is just that coffee is culturally accepted.”

He added that even if the drugs were proven undesirable among healthy students, there would be little or no way to regulate it.

“Any university would be treading on very shaky ground if they tried to disqualify students who use certain stimulants,” he said. “Testing students against their will raises civil rights issues of privacy.”

For ‘Amanda’, the use of study drugs is a direct result of the increasing and often unmanageable demands put on students by the University community.

“I think if you’re going to put students under such intense, stressful situations, they will have to resort to drugs to cope with the pressure,” she said.

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