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Hey everyone,

I wanted to get a rough perspective on adderall/ritalin use is like outside the small sphere of my own law school. Hopefully this thread can also serve as a useful and informational discussion of a drug that (I feel) pervades law school.

In my experience, probably 30-40% of law students actually take Adderall, Ritalin, etc. either to study for tests or to take the tests themselves, and pretty much everyone knows someone who's done it. I wonder if that's the norm, or if that's just a product of my law school in particular.

I also wonder what people think about the ethical aspect of taking drugs to succeed in law school. The fact that law school is curved and your grade is dependent on everyone else's suggests to me that it is "more" unfair to take "performance-enhancing" drugs in law school, since by doing so you directly affect everyone else in your class, and not everyone has access to such drugs, and we also shouldn't force people to take drugs just to compete.

Thoughts?

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Renard wrote:Thoughts?

None.

Renard wrote:In my experience, probably 30-40% of law students actually take Adderall, Ritalin, etc.

73.6% of statistics are made up. Just fyi.

I experimented with adderall and ritalin in undergrad. haven't done it in law school, although I wouldn't be completely against it if i could find a hook.

don't know if i would consider either a performance enhancer. they help you get motivated to study, that's about it. but they never helped me study any longer than i could while sober, and they certainly don't make you smarter.

i've found that there's only a certain number of hours that I can study at a time before my brain is no longer able to learn anything whether I'm on adderall or not. adderall helps to motivate me to study when it's not urgent (ie. not in the month before finals). it doesn't let me study for a longer period of time than I otherwise would, the physical limitation seems to be the same.

actually, sometimes it's worse to take these drugs than not, because the comedown is absolutely horrible and i am in no state at all to study when i'm coming down. it'll also affect your sleep and you may end up spending the next day recovering from the previous night of adderall use, which is quite unproductive and dangerous when you are entering the last few days before finals.

The only person I know who took adderall to study in law school nearly flunked out after last semester. They put him on academic probation.

I'll stick to my drugs of choice: caffeine and cigarrettes

Yes, of course I know people who feel like they can't study without Adderall. Also knew people like that in undergrad... high school... etc. Not me though...I just can't see how taking amphetamines in order to stay up studying for ridiculous numbers of hours could enhance the performance of a law school student. IMO, studying smart and keeping your life in balance > studying while speeding.

missinglink wrote: I'll stick to my drugs of choice: caffeine and cigarettes

+1

If you are referring to one's illegal use of another person's prescription, I wouldn't worry about them. Those people tend to screw up on their own sooner or later , sometimes out of sight of others but it still happens.

In terms of people who are taking it as part of theit treatment regime for adhd / add, more power to them for having that impairment, getting it treated and making it into law school. For a person that needs it, stimulants do not give a leg up over others, rather it allows them to keep pace. In response to the potential argument that stimulant medication is too easy to get through a physician, this is no longer the case. While at one time some doctors did overuse is medications, there is so much oversight on the part of prescribing and diagnostic standards medical group and health insurance that's such prescriptions are now rather difficult to obtain. That said, I have often thought that people who have well managed add/adhd tend to gravitate toward law school like environments.

Renard wrote:Hey everyone,

I wanted to get a rough perspective on adderall/ritalin use is like outside the small sphere of my own law school. Hopefully this thread can also serve as a useful and informational discussion of a drug that (I feel) pervades law school.

In my experience, probably 30-40% of law students actually take Adderall, Ritalin, etc. either to study for tests or to take the tests themselves, and pretty much everyone knows someone who's done it. I wonder if that's the norm, or if that's just a product of my law school in particular.

I also wonder what people think about the ethical aspect of taking drugs to succeed in law school. The fact that law school is curved and your grade is dependent on everyone else's suggests to me that it is "more" unfair to take "performance-enhancing" drugs in law school, since by doing so you directly affect everyone else in your class, and not everyone has access to such drugs, and we also shouldn't force people to take drugs just to compete.

Thoughts?

Unless you have add or adhd adderall is a retarded idea. Why? IT WILL NOT WORK!!

adderall is a stimulant. It only works for people with add/adhd. If you have add, you cant pay attention because your mind needs constant stimulation- it craves being active. Therefore, adderall/ritalin work on people with adhd by giving those people's brain that activity that it craves. With that taken care of, adhd people can focus.

Its called the paradox affect- give stimulants to hyper people to calm them down.

Guess what happens when you give a stimulant to someone without adhd? They get hyper or more likely, nothing. It in NO WAY helps them focus. Its the equivalent of drinking coffee. I mean, if we want to get technical, adderall IS meth amphetamines, albeit in tiny doses. If you are a regular person, do you really think taking tiny doses of speed is going to help you pay attention better?

Oh not to mention that buying addy w/o a prescription > buying weed. If you want to really fuck up your criminal record, go for it.


Also, to any one who says adderal makes people with adhd beter off than regular people, thats a retarded statement. That is like saying that a wheel chair makes someone with paralyzed legs faster then someone with working legs. Its a crappy substitute that will never approach the real thing.

Work hard. No excuses.

Nicholasnickynic wrote: Unless you have add or adhd adderall is a retarded idea. Why? IT WILL NOT WORK!!

adderall is a stimulant. It only works for people with add/adhd. If you have add, you cant pay attention because your mind needs constant stimulation- it craves being active. Therefore, adderall/ritalin work on people with adhd by giving those people's brain that activity that it craves. With that taken care of, adhd people can focus.

Its called the paradox affect- give stimulants to hyper people to calm them down.

Guess what happens when you give a stimulant to someone without adhd? They get hyper or more likely, nothing. It in NO WAY helps them focus. Its the equivalent of drinking coffee. I mean, if we want to get technical, adderall IS meth amphetamines, albeit in tiny doses. If you are a regular person, do you really think taking tiny doses of speed is going to help you pay attention better?

Oh not to mention that buying addy w/o a prescription > buying weed. If you want to really fuck up your criminal record, go for it.


Also, to any one who says adderal makes people with adhd beter off than regular people, thats a retarded statement. That is like saying that a wheel chair makes someone with paralyzed legs faster then someone with working legs. Its a crappy substitute that will never approach the real thing.

Work hard. No excuses.

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Nicholasnickynic wrote: Guess what happens when you give a stimulant to someone without adhd?

I haven't taken any in many years, but I did a few times in undergrad, and if you give it to me, I will study with laser-like focus. So, either you don't know what the hell you are talking about or I have a SERIOUS case of ADD, and I would guess the former.

jkay wrote:

Nicholasnickynic wrote: Guess what happens when you give a stimulant to someone without adhd?

I haven't taken any in many years, but I did a few times in undergrad, and if you give it to me, I will study with laser-like focus. So, either you don't know what the hell you are talking about or I have a SERIOUS case of ADD, and I would guess the former.

+1

jkay wrote:

Nicholasnickynic wrote: Guess what happens when you give a stimulant to someone without adhd?

I haven't taken any in many years, but I did a few times in undergrad, and if you give it to me, I will study with laser-like focus. So, either you don't know what the hell you are talking about or I have a SERIOUS case of ADD, and I would guess the former.

This.

Why do people with (obviously) no experience on it feel like they are authorities on the subject? It makes you concentrate. Regardless if you have ADD or not. Hell, 3/4 of the people that are prescribed it probably don't actually have ADD.

What's odd is that nearly everyone I knew did it in undergrad, but I haven't met anyone who does it here.

TheOcho wrote:

jkay wrote:

Nicholasnickynic wrote: Guess what happens when you give a stimulant to someone without adhd?

I haven't taken any in many years, but I did a few times in undergrad, and if you give it to me, I will study with laser-like focus. So, either you don't know what the hell you are talking about or I have a SERIOUS case of ADD, and I would guess the former.

+1

+2

Renard wrote:Thoughts?

Don't alt.