Students turn to 'smart drugs' to boost grades

Students are increasingly using brain-boosting drugs – and they're virtually impossible to ban, an expert has warned.

Drugs normally used for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are being used by students around the world to improve their academic performance.

In some US universities, a quarter of students are reportedly using "smart drugs", and there is anecdotal evidence of increasing use on British campuses.



The Academy of Medical Sciences said last year that the use of medicines "off label" is likely to rise.

"The expectation that 'off-label' use will increase is borne out by existing advertising of cognition enhancers and smart drugs on the internet," it said. The use of the drugs in UK schools and workplaces raised "many of the same issues as the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport".

Vince Cakic, from the department of psychology at the University of Sydney, writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics, said today that smart drugs, or "nootropics", were highly attractive to students and nearly impossible to ban.

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