Perceptions, practices and ethics of (non)-prescription cognitive enhancement drugs. A case study among academic youth in Amsterdam

A phenomenon of university students using prescription stimulants such as Ritalin (methylpenidate) to enhance their academic performance has attracted attention from researchers, bioethicists, governmental officials and the media primarily in the USA. Although the estimates of prevalence and efficacy of these drugs vary their use has raised various ethical questions in the academic literature. This Master’s Thesis explores this phenomenon for the first in Amsterdam and examines how university students themselves perceive ethical issues of freedom, fairness and academic policy regulation in regard to non-prescription cognitive enhancement drugs (CED ́s). It also enquires how they perceive their prevalence, effects and future usage and what kind of social practices are involved in distributing and accessing these substances. 15 semi-structured interviews of “users” and “providers” among university students in Amsterdam were conducted by the author. Quantitative online survey (N=113) provides additional data to triangulate the findings. The perceptions, practices and ethics of students using non-prescription cognitive enhancement drugs to enhance their academic performance is an under researched topic within medical anthropology and sociology, especially in Europe.