Thaindian News

London, July 6 (ANI): The use of smart drugs by British students and academics to boost performance is growing day by day and some are even buying them from suppliers in India.

Barbara Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, said British students are buying prescription drugs such as modafinil and Ritalin.

One in 10 Cambridge undergraduates has used cognitive-enhancing drugs - while another third said they would use them if they had access to them, a recent survey showed.

One in five academics also admitted taking the drugs in a recent poll for the science journal Nature.

But fears are growing that students who order the medication online without a prescription could be exposing themselves to unknown health risk or buying counterfeit drugs.

“I’ve seen students teat open the envelope from Mumbai in excitement,” the Telegraph quoted Sahakian, who was asked to look at the issue by the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs, as saying.

“But when you are accessing drugs over the Internet it’s completely unsupervised. You might be on other drugs or have some pre-existing condition that means you shouldn’t be taking it,” she stated.

Modafinil is prescribed in Britain to treat serious sleep disorders such as narcolepsy. In the US, it is used in the military to enhance alertness.

Studies show the drug increases motivation and ability to sustain concentration over a long period, but it can be dangerous for people with high blood pressure. (ANI)