Amphetamine salt based drugs such as Adderall, Vyvanse, and Ritalin being open to the free market will bring more positives than negatives to the majority of society. With the drugs open to the free market no prescription will be needed to purchase the study drugs from any pharmacy. The study drugs being open to the public will be beneficial to the society as it will allow people to perform at their best ability and it will boost the United States’ economy by creating new business and cutting down on crime.

Amphetamine was first synthesized by Lazar Edeleanu a Romanian chemist in 1887. He synthesized the amphetamine chemical compound from a plant found in China called Ma-Haunge. The amphetamine drug would reappear in United States society in the early 1930’s.  These types of drugs first were placed on the market in 1933; in the form of a Benzedrine Inhaler that contained amphetamine salts. The inhaler was used to treat nasal catarrh, asthma, and head colds. The Benzedrine Inhalers were used through the naval cavity instead of the oral cavity. With the inhaler being used through the nose it allows the amphetamine salts to enter directly into the blood stream giving an instant effect of drug. The effects of the amphetamine salts in the Benzedrine Inhaler were quickly discovered and the popularity of the drug grew in America. During 1940’s the study drugs will play an important role in the victory of World War II. The American Government would issue pep pills to the American soldiers. Pep pills were pure doses of amphetamine salts and they were given to the soldiers to combat battle fatigue and improve focus for the soldiers. The Pep Pills were only used during World War II for the soldiers once further research was done on amphetamine salt in the following years and it was discovered that the extremely high doses of the Pep Pills were unhealthy to be taking daily. (Reactions.)

These central nervous system stimulant drugs are now used today to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. 2.5 million adult Americans are prescribed central nervous stimulants such as Adderall or Ritalin. However, 6.5 million adult Americans have tried these drugs before. (Aberg) This means that there is a large amount of the American population that is using these drugs illegally. A large portion of these illegal users and college student or employees with high demanding jobs. The study drugs are so popular with these group because of the effects that the amphetamine drugs produce. The drugs improve the user’s ability to focus, pay attention, organize task, and improves listening skills. 

The amphetamine based drugs are most popular with high school and college students as well as young employees with high demanding jobs. In ThinkTank’s video on YouTube they discuss the data from Carl Hanson’s research. Carl Hanson was able to put together a map of where and when college students were tweeting about using study drugs. Majority of the college students tweets about using study drugs were on the east coast of the United States. The number of tweets about the usage of the study drugs increased during midterms and finals however, the number of tweets were at their lowest on Fridays and Saturdays. Friday and Saturday are typically when college students have little to no classes and they use these day for recreational activities but; the college students are seen not tweeting about using the study drugs on these recreational days only on school days. This data shows that most college students are using these drugs to stay focused and organized on school and work but not for recreational use. There are few negatives if the college students are taking the drugs not for recreational use and safely to gain an advantage in school. It would be most beneficial to the college student if study drugs were available to the public so that these students can perform at their best for their academic endeavors. 

Jobs can be overwhelming with high quotas that need to be met and massive amounts of responsibility to one individual. Many employees that struggle with trying to make deadlines for their company they will turn to these amphetamine salt based drugs to gain an advantage in their work load. The study drugs improve the user’s ability to focus, pay attention, and listen. These skills are very important to employees with high demanding jobs not just the college students. Some Employees turning to study drugs for work is most evident in the Silicon Valley area. Silicon Valley is in the southern bay area of California and it houses thousands of tech companies; In 2014 Silicon Valley made up 1.4% of total American businesses. (Castro, Vicky) Silicon Valley is most known for how many tech companies it houses but with this many tech companies in such a small area it brought with it a high demand for study drugs.

The new trend that is spreading in Silicon Valley is Nootropics a none FDA approved substance that can have negative effects on the user. Nootropics are capsules or powder that is to mimic the same effects of amphetamine. Castro states “Programmers claim nootropics can increase productivity and focus but aren’t as intense as prescription psychostimulants. Users can make their own nootropics with powders purchased online or in supplement stores, or they can buy stacks, or pre-made doses, designed to produce specific effects.” The nootropics possess multiple negatives they are not FDA approved and some are making their own nootropics from ordering certain powders online which could be dangerous. It would be much safer if these employees had access to amphetamine salt based drugs therefore making the study drugs open to the market would be more beneficial to the employees with high demanding jobs. Others might not agree that opening study drugs to the public will be beneficial to the society but instead believe that the study drugs bring negative side effects on the user’s mind. An experiment was performed by Farah, Haimm, Sankoorikal, and Chatterjee to test if Adderall would have an effect on the user’s creativity. The experiment had 16 total test subjects; half of them were given a sugar pill to act as a constant for the experiment while the other half were given Adderall. The experiment would consist of questions that would require convergent thought and divergent thought. Convergent thought is the ability to solve problems that have one single therefore one who is more knowledgeable and better at multiple choice questions have better convergent thought. Divergent thought is the ability to solve problems that have multiple answers to the problem; divergent thought requires more creativity than convergent thought. Both convergent and divergent thought question results is how they would measure one’s creativity. The results of the experiment showed that Adderall had no effect on one’s divergent thought however for convergent thought it showed that those with lower convergent thought improved with Adderall. In conclusion of the experiment Adderall had no negative effect on one’s creativity. Adderall improved subject’s creativity for those who had low base ling convergent thinking. 

Long term usage of amphetamine based salt drugs can lead to potential harmful side effects such as Weight loss, headaches, and heart palpitations. (American Addiction Center) The potential negatives are there when taking the study drugs heavily over a long period however, there are already psychostimulants like the study drugs that are open to the public. Nootropics such as Alpha Brain and AdderRx are available to the public. The nootropics have more of a risk as they contain the same potential long term risk as the study drugs and they are as well as not FDA approved making them nootropics have an even higher risk. The amphetamine based salt drug has a lower potential risk while the nootropic has a higher potential of risk and they are available to the public. It is more dangerous to a society to have the high-risk nootropics over the counter but not the low-risk study drugs. It would be more beneficial to the society as whole to make study drugs open to the public so that individuals would not have to take a higher risk by taking nootropics to help in their academic endeavors or high demanding jobs.

Some might say that taking these study drugs to improve one self’s focus, attention, and creativity is cheating. Those who say that taking these study drugs are a form of cheating or morally bad have not counted for the benefits that they bring and the positives clearly outweigh the negatives. (Soav) Professor Farahany director of Duke Science and Society stated “What if taking a smart drug gives us the capacity to study harder, longer, and better such that we cure cancer, or develop tools for staying better in touch, for solving social ills, or for improving our overall happiness?” Taking the study drugs might be seen as a form of cheating but it can produce the amazing benefits such as an individual discovering the cure for cancer. The positives of discovering cures for illness outweighs the negatives of an individual having an advantage over another. “Improving our brain functioning can influence important outcomes for individuals, like making them more successful at work, enhancing their earning potential, alleviating their likelihood of experiencing social and economic difficulty and improving their overall well-being. Widespread improvement in cognitive function would result in widespread societal benefits like economic gains or even reducing error.” The positives of making the study drugs open to the public outweighs the negatives of some individuals having an advantage or being labeled a cheater by those who don’t take the drug. There is no reason that one should live their live at a disadvantage; especially when there is something as accessible as amphetamines. There is no reason that the American people should handicap themselves anymore. People perform at their peak performance while under the effects of study drugs; the American society shouldn’t limit that and this is why amphetamine salt based drugs need to be open to public. 

Another reason that it would be beneficial to open these drugs to the public is that it would boost the economy of the United States. The study drugs being open to the market would lead to a rise in companies to develop more of the drugs. The rise of these new companies would lead to competition amongst the stimulant producing companies and with more companies developing this would lead to more jobs being created. It would also cut in to the revenue of the underground market of the illegal distribution of the stimulants. The underground economy is the market of goods and services that are illegal and the capital that is exchanged is untaxed. (Floyd, David) There would be no need for people to buy the drugs from anyone illegally thus keeping the money in the economy. This would lead to less crime and save police resources because the drugs are now open to public. The drugs being open to the public would help the economy and cut down on crime and this would be beneficial to the majority of the society.

People will argue that the risks of having these study drugs open to the public are just too much and the positives do not outweigh them. However, the American society is already there for the most part anyone can purchase legal study drug knock offs such TriAdalean, Brain Smart, and Adrenal Caps. Anyone can obtain a prescription to these drugs if they fake the symptoms of ADHD. In Randy Sansone and Lori Sansone’s article they analyze the possibility of individuals being able to fake ADHD. Through the findings of five studies the authors concluded that the symptoms of ADHD can be faked when assessed with the ADHD symptom checklist. (Sansone) An individual can obtain a study drug through multiple ways, the risk of the study drugs being open to the market are unavoidable because they are already available in our society. There will always be someone that “cheats” or has an “advantage” from taking the drug because it is already so accessible in the American society. The best solution is to make the study drugs open to the public and reap the benefits that they possess because the risk can’t be avoided because they are already so many ways to obtain the study drugs. In conclusion study drugs, should be open to the public; meaning that no prescription will be needed to obtain the study drugs. It would be most beneficial to the American society to make the study drugs open the public. There is risk with having study drugs becoming over the counter drugs but it is the safest choice when considering the dangers of nootropics being over the counter drugs. Study drugs being open to the public would also lead to people being able to perform at their best ability and possibly lead to an individual to find the cure for cancer. The open market of the drugs would also be beneficial to the United States economy by developing new companies and cutting down on crime. Overall when weighing the pros and cons of making study drugs open to the public the pros outweigh the negatives. Some of the negatives of study drugs being made an over the counter drug are not avoidable because of how these drugs are already available in the American society whether that be through nootropics or illegal activities. These reasons are why the pros outweigh the cons and that the most beneficial decision is to make the study drugs open to the public. 
