Cognitive Drugs Like Ritalin And In The Society Today (Essay Sample)

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Cognitive Drugs
There is a growing demand for cognitive enhancement drugs like Ritalin and in the society today. The abuse of cognitive drugs is common among university students because of the pressure to score high grades and to significantly increase their learning capacity and compete favorably with their fellow students. However, the purchase and use of cognitive enhancement drugs is illegal in America and is punishable by a court of law. Research revealed that around 7% of university students abuse cognitive drugs (Greely 702). More than a quarter of students American universities reported to have used cognitive drugs, thus becoming the adopters of the growing trend in the society which needs an urgent response. Cognitive drugs are widely abused because of the underlying concept that they enhance academic performance (Greely 702). To argue out his position in the matter, Henry agrees that given an evolved regulation of the drug abuse the drug has benefits of enhancement can be advantageous given a critical research on the same. However, the drug remains open to potential abuse despite the fact that it has much to offer individuals and the society at large as much as enhancement and its risks are concerned.
There should be actions that will help the society to understand the benefits of cognitive enhancement drugs (Greely 702). Cognitive enhancement drugs are used alongside other neurological medications to improve the performance of the health. They have a significant mental effect as they can be used both on patients and normal people to help them maintain attention, control responses, manipulate information and improve their memory. An individual has limited access to the abilities of his/her brain which. If cognitive enhancement drugs are used effectively, they can increase the exposure of an individual to his/her brain thus escalating his/her abilities to high levels (Greely 703). The daily life of an individual is occupied with many activities which often tend to cloud the memory leaving little space for other demands. Also, scientists have also established that a human brain has a huge untapped cognitive potential thus creates a barrier between people and what they can manage. The use of cognitive enhancement drugs, therefore, unlocks the brain and exposes an individual to a limitless brain with utmost efficiency. Also, it is important for limited legislative and careful actions to step in and channel cognitive enhancement technologies the right and useful paths (Greely 705). Because cognitive enhancement drugs have a whole lot of benefits as opposed to other drugs such as tobacco, the use of such drugs cannot be completely prohibited but their usage must be regulated accordingly. Also, small improvement of the human cognitive performance by the use of enhancement drugs can improve the world. For instance, a cognitive enhancement drug can enable an individual to build outstanding curriculum vitae and achieve a remarkable height in academics (Greely 704). For example, according to reports, students who used cognitive enhancement drugs ahead of examinations and coursework deadlines ended up successful after quickly breaking down the complicated scientific journals and media coverage. Futurists talk of cognitive enhancers to mean things that help individuals to achieve levels that they would not attain previously. They enable an individual to acquire new forms of mental capability which enable him/her to achieve higher heights in academic and technological fields. However, scientists tend to analyze the use of cognitive enhancers based on their resultant cognitive disorders (Greely 703). Scientists argue that cognitive enhancers are meant to help mentally impaired people to recover and achieve the normal function of the brain. That is the primary function of the cognitive enhancing drugs. However, they can be used to boost cognition functions among young and old healthy people (Marek 6).
According to Henry Greely of Stanford Law School, there should be an evidence-based tactic to evaluating the benefits and risks associated with intellectual heightening (Greely 704). Using cognitive enhancement drugs is an interesting experience for many people but have some frustrating results in the long run. Therefore, for the drugs to be allowed into the society they should be evaluated first and their side effects determined and reduced before they can be used. Greely further claims that the use of cerebral improvement drugs by patients in the extended release and normal individuals in the instant release have different benefits and risks since the process of preparing and prescribing the same drugs differ in either case. Greely recommends further research on both the instant and longstanding effects of intellectual enhancement drugs (Greely 705). Drugs often have their advantages, but also have side effects, their efficacy, and safety when using them. Therefore for a decision of using the drug by healthy individuals to be arrived at, there should be a balance between the benefits and risks associated, which can only be achieved by research to minimize their drawbacks. Considering the current situation, determining the correct amount of enhancer is a pretty difficult task to do. Therefore, for the society to reap the fruits of cognitive enhancement drugs, scientists have to concentrate on the right doses when administering such drugs. For instance, drugs such as methylphenidate work optimally when administered in narrow doses. The use of cognitive enhancement drugs is similar to the drinking of coffee since the effects of the first-day coffee cannot be compared to the second and third days (Marek 11). Drugs work best when administered in the right doses and as compared to under and overdose. Also, Kohn argues that the enhancement scope of a drug is different with respect to different people as a dose best for one system may be harmful to another system because it can be underdose or overdose. The effects of a cognitive enhancement drug in relation to the dosage can be represented in a graph with an inverted U. this simply implies that the efficiency of the drug is high at the right dose and decreases with the increase or decrease in its concentration. The side effects can be devastating in either case making the administration of such drugs sensitive. Problems associated with the inverted U effect include epilepsy and convulsions. The use of drugs is associated with other catastrophes (Marek 13). Each drug has its advantage and disadvantage. For instance, when a drug is used to enhance cognition in a particular function, it does not increase attention but narrows an individual’s attention on one place. The price is often paid by other functions which are neglected as a result of localized attention. The use of such drugs, therefore, operates on the principle of robbing one to pay another thus they do not make an individual to achieve a general cognition expansion. Therefore, apart from depending on the drugs to enhance one’s cognition, the user should take into consideration allocating extra resources to different domains in order to achieve the maximum level (Marek 11). Different scientists differ in the way they approach the use of cognition enhancement drugs. Different drugs have different effects and affect different cognition functions. Therefore, it lies within responsibilities of the scientists to find out the right dose of the right drug to prescribe to mentally impaired individuals and other healthy people who seek to enhance their cognition capabilities. Other scientists argue that the increasing use of smart drugs is leading to a future where people will be encoding themselves using drugs to manage their specific cognition functions as they neglect other basic brain functions (Marek 11).
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