Editorial
In a scene from Ray Bradbury’s famous novel, “Fahrenheit 451,” Guy Montag confronts his apathetic wife, Mildred, about consuming an entire bottle of “sleeping tablets” in a night. The pills, to be taken every night before bed, allow the subject to achieve a deep sleep. Mildred adamantly denies she would ever do such a thing.
“Maybe you took two pills and forgot and took two more, and forgot again and took two more,” Montag says. “And were so dopey you kept right on until you had 30 or 40 of them in you.”
Though better known for its frightening prophecies about censorship and social control, this timeless classic also alludes to a society of people that is constantly self-medicating. Characters live in a world so pharmacologically reliant that there is a synthetic drug for nearly every situation — whether you want to go to bed or wake yourself up, whether you want to put your body to work or just numb it from reality.
What Mildred calls “sleeping tablets,” are not unlike the countless drugs on the American market today. From uppers and downers and everything in between, we are a society infatuated with finding just the right medicine for just the right situation — as long as it’s legal.
It is no different at this country’s colleges and universities, where students, driven to push their capabilities to the limit, are constantly looking for an edge up. Whether it’s Red Bull or coffee, adderall or ritalin, Diet Coke or Pepsi, as ambitious young adults with the world at our fingertips, we often turn to artificial substances when faced with life’s challenging situations — be it an 8 a.m. class or a 10-page research paper.
To argue that abusing prescription drugs like the ones described in the Graphic’s series is no different than drinking a lot of caffeine to stay up all night is simply naïve. Regardless of the quality of results, taking drugs that are medically prescribed to another person for a specific purpose can be dangerous and even deadly. But drink all the cups of Starbuck’s premium you want and you’re never going to die, at least not for a long time.
Nevertheless, the heart of the issue here is not an ethical question about which form of drug use is more or less permissible, but rather a moral one concerning the fabric of American character. Is something lost when the human race can no longer function without the help of mind-altering substances — when everything life throws at us has an appropriate pill and dosage?
Yes, like Bradbury’s intriguing look into the future, this might be a stretch. But in the case of study drugs, where national trends tell us that use is rising, one can’t help but wonder how far students are willing to go to push themselves to succeed.
It is clear that the risk of bodily harm is overwhelming and outweighed by the risk of failure. But rather than worry about the physical effects of these drugs, students and faculty everywhere need to look at society’s continually increasing dependence on artificial substances.
Sure, a few 20-milligram adderalls might get some students through finals, but when life presents a real challenge, what pill will they turn to?
Life is an ever-constant series of facing and meeting challenges, each one meant to better equip us for survival in the real world.
If we continue to substitute chemicals, rather than try to awaken our natural abilities, when faced with trials and tribulations, we risk creating a future of humans less capable of adapting to an ever changing and challenging world.
The Pepperdine Web site reads “Strengthening lives for purpose, service, and leadership.” This goal can never be achieved when students are always looking for a shortcut, an easier way out.
Study drugs might increase brain activity, but they decrease something infinitely more important — accountability. When students become reliant on prescription meds to complete their work, they risk not only their health but the worth of their academic achievements.
Decades ago, author Ray Bradbury saw the potential for such a gross misuse of drugs. We, as future leaders of the world, should do the same.
February 19, 2004
