overheard in providence

A few days ago my friend Matt flagged this n + 1 essay on Adderall use among Ivy League college students. In December, I attended a discussion with Randy Cohen (author of The Ethicist), and of the dozen or so questions submitted by attendees, four had to do with Adderall. After reading the n + 1 essay, I’m fairly certain the article’s author, Molly Young, was one of the submitters.

I have never taken Adderall, but I have many friends who have. Molly Young’s essay (which is short, you should read it!) mostly describes her own experience with an Adderall-induced super work ethic. As Molly mentions (and Matt affirms), her experience is far from universal, but it is certainly representative.

It’s tough to find actual usage statistics, but Adderall XR (extended release) is currently Shire Pharmaceuticals best-seller, accounting for over $1 billion in annual revenue (for reference, 30 pills cost about $100). What’s more, Shire’s exclusive rights to the drug expire next year, so prices are likely to fall (although if Shire has its way, they’ll soon be a new ADHD drug of choice).

Having heard so much fuss made over sports related drug use, I was surprised to hear Randy proclaim Adderall use ethically acceptable. One questioner—Molly I believe— felt the same way. As she put it, “Marion Jones had to return all the prize money she earned while taking steroids. Should I be stripped of all the A’s I received for papers written on Adderall?”

Randy was quick to draw a distinction between sports, which are by definition competitive, and higher education, which is supposed to be about bettering oneself. Under this arguably idealistic view of higher education, taking Adderall unnecessarily does not force others to do the same. Simply harming oneself, Randy explained, is not unethical.

Most in the audience agreed that some students find college much more competitive than Randy’s answer acknowledged. At Brown, I doubt students are genuinely forced to take Adderall just to keep up, but I also wouldn’t be surprised to find a few students who thought they needed it for that reason. Also, even in a noncompetitive student body, widespread Adderall use has an impact on person’s college experience. This may not be a negative impact, but ethical or not, we need to start asking ourselves how many people we’re comfortable with taking Adderall.

If we’re not ok with performance enhancing drugs in sports (although Malcolm Gladwell thinks we should reconsider), it’s seems odd for us to be ok with them in everday life. And what about Adderall use on the job? Surely a fresh generation of Adderall enthusiasts aren’t going to give it up just because they’ve graduated. Should we be worried?

I personally am terrible at sitting at a desk and focusing on work. Still, I don’t see myself taking Adderall anytime soon to enhance my attention. I have been told that a well-known, long-lived, and particularly prolific mathematician, Paul Erdos, took amphetamenes later in life specifically to do math. I’ve also never heard anyone question the value of his work because of it. In the 20th century, Erdos was a rarity, but in the brave new world of tomorrow, there’s going to be a lot more folks at the top of their field who’s productivity and personality are directly dependent on the pills they’ve committed to taking.