Slate Promotes Drug Use
So what’s wrong with performance-enhancing drugs anyway? Only the strictest moralist or some subsets of the religious object to the use of one performance-enhancing substance, caffeine, which some authors have seen as the drug which created the modern world. And alcohol, the well-known mind-altering substance, is available on practically every street corner. If drugs are okay in the workplace and the bar, then why shouldn’t athletes and students be allowed to boost their own performances through chemicals?
I’ll leave the discussion about athletes to others. It’s academics that concerns me, because I want to keep abreast of ways to improve my output. I’ve written before of Adderall, the pill some students pop to boost their study habits. Now Slate conducts its own investigations of the pill. It turns out that notable writers like Jack Kerouac, W. H. Auden, Graham Greene, and Philip K. Dick all used Benzedrine, a substance similar to Adderall. Slate’s writer confirms that the drug can help improve concentration and make writing faster, but he also notes its downsides:
About six hours after taking the drug, I would feel slightly groggy, the way I sometimes get in the early afternoon when my morning coffee wears off. But when I’d lie down for an afternoon nap, I couldn’t go to sleep. My mind was still buzzing. This withdrawal effect is common. Adderall users often complain that they feel tired, “stupid,” or depressed the day after. After running on overdrive, your body has to crash
Okay, so it looks like Adderall is too risky to take (not least because possessing it without a prescription is a felony in most states). But what if there were an Adderall where the after-effects of the drug were no more (at least, not much more) harmful than caffeine? Would it be immoral for me to take it then?
I say: Not at all.
12 Responses to “Slate Promotes Drug Use”
It’s interesting that you post this and your “moral hazard” note about UA on the same day. I think there’s a parallel between UA’s bad behaviour and taking drugs for short-term gains in performance.
Anyone who is willing to accept the short-term boost of this drug over the long-term side effects (much like nicotine, caffine, etc) gets a competitive edge NOW. Thus, in order to remain competitive in the short-term (and keep their jobs/stay in business) everyone else has to take the drug as well.
Just as UA’s competitors, even if they WANT to be good corporate citizens, will likely be forced to ditch their retirees to remain competitive.
Basically, the market generally incents people to burn up their long-term prospects to fuel short-term gain.
It happens in corporate America, where companies are constantly trading short-term results over long-term gains. They have to, to stay competitive.
And it happens in our personal lives, where we eat unhealty fast food because, in a world where we’re always rushed, it’s easier than cooking … or we smoke/chug coffee because in a world of structured nine-hour workdays there’s no time to take an afternoon siesta. We have to, to stay competitive.
The ultimate moral hazard is the squandering of the long-term benefits of our lifelong contract with our own bodies in order to gain short-term relief from a the challenges of a competitive market.
Caffeine doesn’t seem to do much other than ameliorate the effects of fatigue. I would guess that a good night’s sleep would be better for taking a test the next day than a jolt of caffeine.
On the other hand, a drug that actually improves one’s concentration and writing abilities does seem like cheating–just like performance-enhancing drugs for athletes. It runs counter to the ethic that hard work (physically or mentally) gets you ahead.
“On the other hand, a drug that actually improves one’s concentration and writing abilities does seem like cheating–just like performance-enhancing drugs for athletes. It runs counter to the ethic that hard work (physically or mentally) gets you ahead.”
Thanks for this–I hadn’t been able to write out this counter-viewpoint (ironically because of a lack of caffeine–my brain is fuzzy in the morning). I just don’t see how to separate “hard work as a virtue” (the Weberian interpetation of Calvinism) from “hard work helps you get ahead.” And if “this blue pill helps you get ahead,” then I don’t understand why it would be sinful–assuming, of course, that it’s non- or mildly-addictive.
I see where you are going, Paul, but I think you have misordered the logical chain.
Paul (I think): hard work helps you get ahead and hard work is a virtue, so that which gets you ahead is virtuous (or at least is not NOT virtuous).
“Calvin” (really just me channeling Calvin): hard work is virtuous, hard work helps you get ahead, but if you get ahead without working hard, you are doing it without the element of getting ahead that is virtuous, so you are not virtuous.
therefore, those with the proverbial “Protestant Work Ethic” should despise this Adderall business.
Instead of a trackback ping:
http://www.positiveliberty.com/2005/05/performance-enhancers.html
It’s from a capitalist but not a Protestant perspective, as you might expect.
Legalizing drugs would sound paradoxal, but it would actually eliminate a problem and drug lords would slowly disappear.
i took an adhd pill and they do work good, but for me its not the case. the pill was ritalin some shit like that. and i went to play soccer. i tought it was going to be like a enhacing drug. but it suck i had the biggest chest pain ever i coul not run after 5 minutes the game start. im in a really good shape. im really fit for soccer. i been playing since i was 4. and when the game was finishing i started with cramps. i ate 2 bananas a lot of water. but it was really bad. like really bad cramps..usually you get them really after a game. and i never get cramps. so i dont recomend adhd pill for atheletes…..
If we don
I spent the last two years of my BFA hooked on anything that would keep me going. Between six hours of class and six hours of homework. Then six to eight hours of work. I needed every bit of edge I could get. I started on Adderall and after about six months I found it was easier and more effective to get coke. Keep in mind I got strait “A’s” and every one loved my performance. On the flip side I nearly lost my mind and spent countless amounts of money on these drugs. I cant even imagine what physical effects I had done to my body. I can tell you this was a bad idea, I now can hold my own without any drug. I just need a balanced diet along with a good night sleep. With this I can achieve anything I put my mind to you. And when it comes to creativity I can assure you that it doesn’t do anything but make you less coherent. I’m more creative and clear now that I have sobered up.
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. Tola.
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Thanks