Whether or not study drugs produce the effect in healthy people that is intended – an improvement in concentration – is certainly up for debate. Some experts say they produce the intended effect. Others say the results are so inconclusive, it’s not obvious that the drugs actually do anything for healthy people. Or, if they are effective, it may simply be because they believe them to be effective.

What’s not up for debate: students are taking these drugs.

Cynthia Forlini studies neuroethics at the Institut de Recherche Clinique de Montreal, and has authored several papers on the subject of cognitive enhancing drugs. She brought that expertise to a health-themed hackathon in February – a two-day long tete-a-tete of computer programmers and health professionals, marrying particular problems in healthcare with coder expertise to devise innovative solutions. At the end of such an event, teams take their projects and compete against other teams for prize money and recognition, and the potential to spin their work into bigger projects or job offers from tech companies.

Forlini worked in conjunction with programmers Phillip Wallace and Mike Gozzo to develop a tech-based approach to prevention related to cognitive enhancement.

The problem? Students using study drugs do not typically interact with a physician, leaving them in a vulnerable position, uninformed and potentially harmed by the drugs.

The solution? Connect with them on their turf, social media, when they’re talking about using these drugs.

This video features the music “Gentle Marimba” by Alaistair Cameron (www.cameronmusic.co.uk)
and “Uncaged Czarina” by Dan-O (DanoSongs.com), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license 3.0

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