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For the past few years, I've been talking about something that no one else on my campus wants to: the ethics of using and abusing Ritalin and Adderall in the classroom. The problem (from the anonymous anecdotes I collect) is rampant in our honors dorm.  Now, we have an even worse case to worry about. Here's a first hand account of experience with smart drugs:

Johann Hari: They were great at first – but then the creativity dries up - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent

But if I ever had to do exams again, I would take Provigil. And here's the ethical dilemma. Is this the equivalent of athletes taking steroids? Does it create an unfair pressure for other people to take these drugs – which are still pretty expensive – to keep up with other students and co-workers? Or would we be unfairly holding the human race back by refusing to smarten up?

From my perspective, the urge to abuse these drugs is born of the over emphasis on grades and competition, which really does reduce the quality of real learning on a college campus. But I also recognize that removing grades (like Antioch did, Alverno does, etc.) is not a viable option in most academic environments (like mine). So the question becomes: is the abuse of cognitive enhancers the inevitable consequence of quantified learning environments (i.e. grades), or can we shift the ethos of the undergraduate community in such a way that the value of real learning, rather than achieving a certain score, takes precedent?