Adderall usage in college students without prescription

To address your first statement I would also like to point out that the use of Adderall without a prescription is also controversial, which is why we are having this debate in the first place. I would also like to disagree with you in your statement that "the university classroom is competitive to a much less extent." Academics are extremely competitive in today's world which is exactly why many students take these drugs so they can get better grades than others. If it weren't so competitive then there would be no incentive to take the drugs and we wouldn't be having this debate. Also, there are times when one student taking Adderall to take an advantage can be bad for other students. I personally know several people who have taken Adderall for the SAT and ACT in order to get higher scores which is one of the major factors that schools look at when admitting students. Given the amount of people that I alone know who did this and that 20% of students admit to taking Adderall without a prescription, I think it would be safe to assume that there is a large number of students following this same trend. The problem with this is that those who decide not to take it for whatever reason may end up not getting admitted to the same college as the other person because of their test scores. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu... I also like to say that my opponent's comparison of Adderall to coffee is absurd. I would like to restate that you do not need a prescription to obtain coffee for a reason. Adderall was created for a completely different purpose than coffee. It is a drug that is manufactured specifically for people with a real mental condition. I don't think that feeling tired in the morning can be classified as a mental condition...I have never drank coffee in my life and have never needed to. People who actually have ADHD don't take Adderall because it helps them wake up in the morning they take it because they need it to function normally. Also, coffee affects the dopamine system to a far lesser degree than drugs like Ritalin and Adderall. As for your argument about prohibition and slavery, my statement that taking Adderall without a prescription is unethical because it is illegal is merely a minor supplement to my argument, not the sole basis. The idea that anything that is illegal is unethical to do is obviously not always the case. The fact that it is illegal is just another reason why it is unethical. In this case, I think it is clear that it should be illegal for anyone without a prescription to take the drug, otherwise what's the use in requiring a prescription. It seems to me, given your previous statements, that you are arguing that anyone should legally be able to get any prescription drug without a prescription? The fact that it is so easy for many people to acquire a prescription is part of the problem. Yes, it is definitely unethical for people who do not have ADHD to take Adderall since the drug was meant to help people with this mental condition. Lying in order to acquire a prescription for Adderall in order to get better grades is completely unethical, especially if you are using it simply to get an advantage in school because that is obviously not what the drug was intended for. In conclusion, I think the cons far outweigh the pros when it comes to non-prescription usage of Adderall. It requires a prescription for a good reason (albeit with lenient standards--those of which I think should be stricter). Thank you. I have thoroughly enjoyed our debate.