Performance enhancing drugs!!

[waba]

In addition to the other thread on drugs, the idea of performance enhancing drugs have always been around - and are banned in generally every sport you can think of. However, a new type has started to emerge - psycologically enhancing drugs.
a lot of people at university have started taking them to improve their grades, cram bgefore an exam, etc, and it has started to filter down into schools. In a sense, competing in a university to get a certain grade is similar to competing in sport (especially as tests are often standardised) However, there is a massivly split opinion on whether they should or should not be used - especially as, at the moment, a lot of them seem to not have bad side affects (e.g ritalin).
Is it any different from us drinking a cup of coffee to stay awake whilst working?

There was a great mathematician called Erdos who wrote probably the most amount of maths out of anyone - he pumped himself full of drugs and coffee, to the point where he slept for about 3 hours a night, and the rest of the time he work. However, the stuff he came up with was fantastic, he loved what he was doing (although he was a bit crazy) and advanced mathematics massivly....

[Pullen]

for exams no, unless everybody takes them, coffee at night for working is absolotely fine as its not cheating and/or unfair

[snakedoc]

Indeed, it is and artifical example of how the person actually thinks and works. Not a true test of ability at all unless they plan to spend the rest of their lives taking it.

[waba]

in that case, perhaps drugs tests should be enlisted before exams?

[Pullen]

maybe, but standards in tests would be raised, and the tests would be harder which would more or less make you back to square one