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Psychopharm Going 'Mainstream' In Schools?
PizzaFace writes "Back in the day, college was a place where a lot of kids tried recreational drugs. Now the world's more competitive, psychopharmaceuticals are better targeted, and millions of students are routinely using drugs to work better and longer. Stimulants developed for attention deficit and narcolepsy are giving mentally healthy students an edge like athletes get from steroids or human growth hormone. These psychotropics seem fairly safe, but should they be banned in the interest of fairness, perhaps with enforcement by urine tests before exams? Or do we tell our kids that, if they want to compete in this brave new world, they better find some Adderall and jack their brains up like their classmates'." If college students are doing it, how many programmers are? What say you?
The problem with the "Just Say NO" campaign is that it doesn't take into account addiction. Addicts aren't able to "just say no"; they need treatment. The "Just Say NO" campaign only existed as an excuse to decrease the amount of government spending on mental health. On that it worked, but at the price of increased drug use across the country (which explains the early 90s crack epidemic).
Mr. Ben Stanfield, it is with regret that I write to inform you that someone else has been chosen for the position you were interested in. In fact, we have told every other company we know not to hire you.
Best wishes, Hiring manager
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I might further point out:
You seem to place your own individual judgment over that of the government and appear quite willing to violate the law in order to make a statement. Of course we have a long history of that- the various free speech cases etc.
However, Rouseau, writing in The Social Contract recognized that our individual will must become subordinate to a more embracing general will which expresses the views of society en masse. Your posts suggest alienation and indifference to the political process. Rouseau would see this as creating a corperate will which represents only a segment of society, in specific that of the government. This can of course be cured by becoming proactive in the political process by writing the FDA, Congress, etc. De Touquville, in Democracy in America, was a bit more blunt: such activity as yours will nessasarily lead to the failure of the political state since it now does not enjoy the rule of law or legitamacy in the eyes of the populace. While I recognize that political alienation will always be a factor it is disturbing to see some the highest tiers of society are engaging in such activities is truly disturbing.
If you were to wake up tomorrow and decide pants were optional could you justify not wearing them? What if you woke up and decided you wanted to kill your neighbor's dog? Statutes clearly prohibit that- but it is inconvient to your ends. If it is change you seek- do it within the system. Our system- is one of the longest enduring in the modern world and is built to accomidate change. You my friend are merely being a fatalistic troll.