LTH-student, Eric, is of the mindset that so called “smart drugs” should be available off the shelf at the pharmacies.
“Usually, I would need like a week to study before an exam, now I do it in just one night.”
Erik says that he “every now and then” uses the drug modafinil, or modiodal which it is also marketed as in Sweden. The substance, which is usually prescribed for people with narcolepsy or multiple sclerosis, has an invigorating effect on healthy people, which resembles for instance amphetamine. In Erik’s case, however, it’s not about using the substance for the sake of having a good time or feeling a buzz.
“If I ever felt like taking it without having to study, I would immediately stop. It’s just a study thing for me. Apart from that, I don’t do drugs or anything like that.”
But with modafinil in his veins, Erik manages to study an entire 24 hours in one run, without having to sleep.
“I sort of have the habit of procrastinating things, so it feels good knowing that I could pass an exam even though I start preparing late.”
“It becomes more and more common”
Eric tried “curing”, as he calls it, which is a term from bodybuilders using
anabolic steroids, for the first time when he was studying for one semester as an exchange student in America.
“The pace in school was so much faster there than it is here in Sweden, and when I heard about the possibility of taking a pill that helped your studies, it immediately captured my interest. Over there, it was really common. Everybody knew somebody who sold it, and there was like nothing strange about that.”
In Sweden, substance control is more rigid, and Erik orders his modafinil on-line from England. He claims that the usage of substances for study purposes is relatively small in Sweden in comparison to America, but it is on the rise.
“It becomes more and more common in Sweden, it seems. I know several people who started curing as late as last semester.
“There’s nothing the police can do”
According to Erik, there is no reason to refrain from doing it.
“Look at it like this: if you take a pill that doesn’t cause any damage and that accelerates your studies, then, why not? Maybe it seems strange, but I actually believe that it would be a good thing if everybody could buy modafinil off-the-shelf.”
The risk of getting caught is small. If you just say that you are not aware of any package in customs, there’s nothing the police can do, says Erik.
“The only problem is actually the money issue. I spend like 500 SEK a month
on this, so it’s a bit of an expense.”
Don’t side-effects worry you? According to the leaflet, you could suffer from conditions such as breating problems and psychoses.
“Yeah, but I don’t have these conditions. There are no side-effects for me worth mentioning.
Can you be sure of that?
“Yeah, I mean, there could be side-effects that you don’t notice at an early stage of course, like the liver and stuff. But I think it’s at least less risky than smoking, and I don’t smoke.”
Read also: “It’s a fundamental misconception “
Text: Tor Gasslander
Translation: Maximilian Aleman Tennell
Footnote: Erik is not his real name.
