Nature has an interesting commentary piece about the use of cognitive-enhancing drugs like Adderall, Ritalin, and Provigil and that are currently being used for their cognitive-enhancing properties by otherwise healthy people, along with drugs on the horizon that are likely to be “abused” in this way.
The piece by Henry Greely et al starts by recognizing that even though the use of drugs like ritalin without a prescription is illegal in the United States, it is becoming fairly routine and common on college campuses in this country,
Yet one survey estimated that almost 7% of students in US universities have used prescription stimulants in this way, and that on some campuses, up to 25% of students had used them in the past year. These students are early adopters of a trend that is likely to grow, and indications suggest that they’re not alone.
The commentary generally comes down in favor of sensible regulation of cognitive-enhancing drugs, arguing that “based on our considerations, we call for a presumption that mentally competent adults should be able to engage in cognitive enhancement using drugs.”
Hell yes, they should.
The authors call for ensuring that cognitive-enhancing drugs are safe, but that we don’t go too far and demand that such drugs meet higher standards of safety than other types of drugs.
An evidence-based approach is required to evaluate the risks and benefits of cognitive enhancement. At a minimum, an adequate policy should include mechanisms for the assessment of both risks and benefits for enhancement uses of drugs and devices, with special attention to long-term effects on development and to the possibility of new types of side effects unique to enhancement. But such considerations should not lead to an insistence on higher thresholds than those applied to medications.
We call for an evidence-based approach to the evaluation of the risks and benefits of cognitive enhancement.
This, of course, makes far too much sense to ever actually become policy in the United States, but it is at least a useful exercise in outlining an alternative to the inevitable war on smart drugs.