The end of semester one is nigh, and exams are once again upon us. While most students will rely on willpower and concentration to conquer oceans of revision this coming stuvac, others have a secret solution.

James* is 21. He is in his third year studying law and economics. Unlike his peers, James’ study companion is not the ostentatiously heavy Cases and Materials on International Law, but a small, white pill crushed into a fine powder: Concerta. The drug is a stimulant commonly prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although he has never been diagnosed with hyperactivity, James says he takes the drug because it makes the studying process more pleasurable. “You sit there for 4-5 hours at a time,” he says. “You’ve got complete tunnel vision. You don’t want to talk to anyone else, you’re just in there for that purpose … you just want to work.”

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Writing in science journal, Nature, Stanford law professor Henry Greely advocates for the widespread use of Ritalin and other ‘cognitive enhancers’. “Human ingenuity has given us the means of enhancing our brain through inventions such as the written language, the printing press and the internet,” he writes. “These drugs are just another way our uniquely innovative species continues to improve itself”. Comparing Ritalin to the invention of the iPhone is a contentious argument, and very few in the world of science and academia agree with Greely. But his argument has a certain utilitarian appeal.

Certainly the risks of being caught taking study drugs is low. Given the cost of drug testing, it is highly unlikely the university would ever swab our tongues or test our pee before exams. With no feasible way to police Ritalin use, perhaps we should all just act on Greely’s advice: jam our pockets with pills and strap ourselves in for one hell of a long night in Fisher, each tablet edging us towards unlocking our mind’s potential like Bradley Cooper in Limitless.