Political Crossfire Forums

Green · Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:25 am Post subject: Mental Suplement drugs cheating?

People take drugs to enhance their mental performance. It is just like stereroids except it is for the brain. People were really pissed off when baseball players were found to be taking stereroids. I wonder why taking these drugs are allowed during tests. Should they be banned from tests and considered a form of cheating?

I say yes. It is an unfair advantage that others do not have. Thus, it is cheating.

Melchior · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 9476 Location: Palm Beach

Green wrote: People take drugs to enhance their mental performance. It is just like stereroids except it is for the brain. People were really pissed off when baseball players were found to be taking stereroids. I wonder why taking these drugs are allowed during tests. Should they be banned from tests and considered a form of cheating?

I say yes. It is an unfair advantage that others do not have. Thus, it is cheating.

You mean herbal supplements like Focus Factor and Ginkgo Biloba? I think those should still be allowed, especially for someone like me, with a horrible short term memory and attention span. How is it any different from eating healthy food? They say fish is brain food, and coffee helps keep you awake, should those be illegal before tests because it's an "unfair advantage?" Should studying before a test be illegal because it's an "unfair advantage?"

Green wrote: Mental diseases only exist when people think that they do not have free will when they infact do.

What? What the heck does that mean? Where did that come from?

00timh · Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 13009 Location: upstate NY

Green wrote: People take drugs to enhance their mental performance. It is just like stereroids except it is for the brain. People were really pissed off when baseball players were found to be taking stereroids. I wonder why taking these drugs are allowed during tests. Should they be banned from tests and considered a form of cheating?

I say yes. It is an unfair advantage that others do not have. Thus, it is cheating. This stuff is over the counter at any grocery store. It's not like you have to go down a back ally and score to get this stuff. :lol:

Prole · Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 2259 Location: Edinburgh

Green wrote: People take drugs to enhance their mental performance. It is just like stereroids except it is for the brain. People were really pissed off when baseball players were found to be taking stereroids. I wonder why taking these drugs are allowed during tests. Should they be banned from tests and considered a form of cheating?

I say yes. It is an unfair advantage that others do not have. Thus, it is cheating.
Which drugs are you referring to? Drugs like herbal supplements, which as 00timh already said, are readily available, and thus are hardly an unfair advantage to those who do not have them; anyone can have them.

The problem with baseball players taking steroids is not in actuality that it creates an "unfair advantage"; they are pretty readily available to any professional athlete. A key problem is not the advantage they allow, but that they create that advantage while simultaneously endangering the users. Plus, you know, that whole illegality thing.

I suppose, then, that we could introduce the same environment for regulated test taking. Prescription drugs used to take ADHD, for instance, can be dangerous if abused; those without a prescription should be barred from using them for test taking purposes. I don't know of any measures already in place for this, though it is a felony drug offense, I do believe.

Also, I'm with Melchoir about mental diseases; what?

Babylon_Horuv · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 2087

there are no drugs that have been shown to have a mental effect similar to the physical effect of steroids. There are only some herbs and nutrients that have a beneficial effect on the mind, the same is true of the body and none of those herbs or supplements are banned for athletes. Only Steroids, which cause damage.

anselfir · Joined: 16 Apr 2005 Posts: 22919 Location: ZzZzZzZz

Dont see the rationale except to maintain a platonic test, which is not that important given tests are there for other reasons than being tests, unlike an athletic competition like the olympics where the test itself is the goal of the test.

The Grandmaster

Green wrote: People take drugs to enhance their mental performance. It is just like stereroids except it is for the brain. People were really pissed off when baseball players were found to be taking stereroids. I wonder why taking these drugs are allowed during tests. Should they be banned from tests and considered a form of cheating?

I say yes. It is an unfair advantage that others do not have. Thus, it is cheating.

What mental supplements are you speaking of? I want some.

mathurin · Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject:

in short, the actual effects of over-the-counter "mind enhancing substances" (herbal remedies) havent really been proven, it could do absolutly nothing, which i suspect they do, there is no magic pill

so no

as for illegal use of prescription drugs, i can go with that, since its already illegal maybe we should just add something, like losing the school credits which we can prove you were using during (hair samples and stuff can tell that) to the punishment

still, i suspect its not really much of a problem

The Grandmaster · Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 8:50 pm Post subject:

Exactly. I have never heard of a true, legitimate "mental steriod."

thehollowman · Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 470 Location: Terra

A photographic memory is a natural enhancement that helps certain people in taking tests. This is an unfair advantage, so should people who have a photographic memory be banned from taking tests?

perdidochas · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 15424 Location: Florida

Green wrote: People take drugs to enhance their mental performance. It is just like stereroids except it is for the brain. People were really pissed off when baseball players were found to be taking stereroids. I wonder why taking these drugs are allowed during tests. Should they be banned from tests and considered a form of cheating?

I say yes. It is an unfair advantage that others do not have. Thus, it is cheating.

I doubt that they really work.

Protostar · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:48 pm Post subject:

thehollowman wrote: A photographic memory is a natural enhancement that helps certain people in taking tests. This is an unfair advantage, so should people who have a photographic memory be banned from taking tests?

A photographic memory only helps you if all you are doing is memorizing facts and regurgitating them onto the test. Subjects this would be useful in would be history and other social/humanities classes. But if it is a math or science class and all you do is memorize examples without truly understanding the concept behind the examples you are just wasting your time. A photographic memory can only carry you so far (speaking from experience as I have one).