<p>Tales from the gray area…
[Can</a> a Pill Make You Smarter?](<a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/29/hearstmaghealth409263.DTL]Can”>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/29/hearstmaghealth409263.DTL)</p>
<p>"I would have made the perfect poster child for the “Just Say No” campaign. …Somehow, I made it through prep school and college among the most prudish of friends. To me, anyone who engaged in chemical enhancements was a slacker or a cheater, and most certainly someone I didn’t know.</p>
<p>But then I discovered Smart Drugs. Crack for nerds.</p>
<p>Smart Drugs, or more precisely, cognitive enhancers, include a variety of controlled substances, available – if you insist on being legal about it – only by prescription. They include stimulants such as dextroamphetamine (sold as Dexedrine and Adderall) and methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta) for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). By mimicking the brain neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine, stimulants leave you utterly consumed with the task at hand until mission accomplished. Then you’re fired up to tackle something else, anything else, from organizing your sock drawer to grooming your cat.</p>