Wouldn’t everyone love to have in their grasp a pill that could instantly give you a better chance at success? One fourth of the students that attend Oxford University take a smart drug, also called a cognitive enhancer, to improve their performance (Knapton). Smart drugs were first used to give people with sleeping disorders more focus and alertness. Now, students abuse the original purpose of the drug and use it to help them perform more efficiently in school. College students should not depend on smart drugs to succeed, but on their own determination, effort, and intelligence because though smart drugs can enhance their senses, they take away the true purpose of the drug, develop a dependency on drugs, and diminish their character as a student. To begin, the true purpose of smart drugs is to treat diseases that prevent a person from staying awake. For example, the illness Narcolepsy creates a “supernatural excessive sleepiness of patients” (Romans). Using …show more content…
Before smart drugs became popular, students had to depend on their own hard work and effort to succeed in school. Many students are capable of gaining success without the use of any drug. On the other hand, some students cannot pass on their own merits. Instead of telling struggling students to take drugs, we should encourage them to work harder and be more determined. Also, there are tons of students who have vowed to stay drug free. Yet, now they see the students who usually struggle getting ahead of them. Then, they begin to wonder if smart drugs aren’t such a bad idea, and they go back on their word. Peer pressure is another contributor. Since almost everyone is doing it and it works, those who haven’t will be persuaded into taking it. Once they start, they will probably never stop and always depend on the drug to help them during exams. These drugs can take away students’ valued characters such as determination, responsibility, willingness,