Six per cent of Auckland University students are using drugs to enhance their performance in exams, a survey has found, Radio New Zealand reports.
It’s not a new thing, I guess, just in this instance we’re looking specifically at students. You could argue that it could be cheating but you could also argue that it’s helping someone fulfil their ambitions
The study covered 400 students enrolled in nursing, medicine, pharmacy, accounting and law and found 6 percent were using drugs including Ritalin – commonly used to treat Attention Deficity Hyperactivity Disorder – as cognitive enhancers.
The researcher behind the survey, Bruce Russell, said some people might regard the drug use as cheating, and tertiary institutes should develop a view on their use.
Performance-enhancing drugs were common in some fields of work but there was debate about their use in education, he said, pointing out amphetamines are used by truck drivers to help them stay awake on long drives.
“It’s not a new thing, I guess, just in this instance we’re looking specifically at students. You could argue that it could be cheating but you could also argue that it’s helping someone fulfil their ambitions.”
Despite the findings of the study, Dr Russell doubted tertiary institutes could ban them, because random testing would be impractical.
A spokeswoman for the University of Auckland told the Herald it has no position about the use of cognitive enhancers by the student population.
Around 12,000 people received prescriptions for stimulants used to treat ADHD in the year to June 2013.