There's a big, front-page story in the New York Times today about how high school students are increasingly following college kids into the risky practice of taking drugs off-label as cognitive enhancers. The headline drug in this class is Adderall, an amphetamine that's meant for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It's a real problem, but unmentioned in the lengthy story is the fact that studies have repeatedly shown that placebo cognitive enhancers also give students an edge in memory and attention, including R273, a dummy performance booster that was just lime-flavored baking soda. Other examples are here and here.
For many years, researchers who have shown the efficacy placebo steroids and other sham athletic performance enhancers have argued that their findings could be used by anti-doping folks to dissuade people from taking a risky drug for a boost that they could just as easily get from their own heads. So far, this argument doesn't seem to have made much headway (or in fact, actually been used much). Perhaps, because many of these same studies also show that the athletes lose their boost once they learn that the pill they've been taking isn't a real drug. It takes belief, and it's apparently easier to believe in a chemical than your own, untapped potential.
For many years, researchers who have shown the efficacy placebo steroids and other sham athletic performance enhancers have argued that their findings could be used by anti-doping folks to dissuade people from taking a risky drug for a boost that they could just as easily get from their own heads. So far, this argument doesn't seem to have made much headway (or in fact, actually been used much). Perhaps, because many of these same studies also show that the athletes lose their boost once they learn that the pill they've been taking isn't a real drug. It takes belief, and it's apparently easier to believe in a chemical than your own, untapped potential.
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