Editorial: All doped up and plenty to do

As exam period approaches, many students use coffee, soda or energy drinks to stay up late night after night. But some students are taking more drastic measures. According to a senior thesis by Allison Arensman '04, around 8.9 percent of Princeton students seek to gain an academic edge by taking unprescribed medications used to treat attention deficit disorders, such as Adderall or Ritalin. Clinical data has shown that even in people without attention deficit disorders, these psychostimulants can increase attention span and alertness. Alex Peters '08 wondered in a recent guest column whether the use of unprescribed psychostimulants constitutes a violation of the Honor Code.

The unprescribed use of these drugs is a violation of the Honor Code. Though psychostimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin achieve the same or similar results, they act on the body in a way inherently different from energy drinks or even caffeine pills. Moreover, since using these drugs unprescribed is illegal, students unwilling to break the law are at an unfair academic disadvantage to students without such reservations. This violates Article V, Section I of the Honor Code, which prohibits students from attempting to gain an "unfair advantage" in their academic work.

The Honor Committee should outline its position on the matter and make it clear to students that taking unprescribed psychostimulants is a violation of the Honor Code.  It should consider going even further and adding language to the Honor Code explicitly banning the use of unprescribed medications that enhance academic performance. At the very least, the Honor Committee ought to relay its stance on the matter to all students at Honor Code information sessions during freshman orientation and in the Committee's continual communications with the undergraduate community.

 

See also the dissent to this editorial.

Ken Schwartz '09 abstained from voting.