The UK needs a national debate on the increasing use of performance-boosting drugs in schools and universities that are being used by students to chase higher grades, according to an academic.
Paul Cooper, a professor of education at the University of Leicester, said in a seminar this week that psychotropic drugs such as Ritalin, used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and their availability without prescription over the internet, is having a direct effect on educational attainment.
Prof Cooper said that anecdotally, he had heard of children being self-diagnosed with ADHD by their parents, who then bought drugs online to improve their grades.
According the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, 420,000 prescriptions of Methylphenidate (MPH), a drug used to treat behavioural problems, were filled in the UK last year - twice as many as in 1998. In a study at the University of Michigan, 8% of students confessed to taking non-prescribed stimulated recreationally and to improve their brain power. Research in 2004 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the US also claimed that 5.1% of 17 to 18-year-olds had abused MPH.
"I think currently people are becoming increasingly more comfortable with the idea of using medication," Prof Cooper told EducationGuardian.co.uk. "There's a cultural shift."
"A few years ago when I talked to people about the use of drugs on children, people were reminded more of thalidomide ... I think that's fading from the collective memory."
Amphetamines, like speed, are known to increase concentration and combat fatigue, although they often come with side effects. These types of drugs have been proven to increase cognitive function and language ability in students with ADHD.
Prof Cooper said that the routine use of such drugs could favour richer students and families.
"Drugs like these are expensive," said Prof Cooper. "Children from poorer backgrounds would be disadvantaged. This could lead to a widening of the gap in educational attainment between the poor and the better-off."
"Our culture tends to see education, especially educational qualifications, as a form of capital. There is a strong impulse away from notions of equality of opportunity towards an emphasis on the securement of personal advantage at any cost," he added.
Many drugs have been proven to increase cognitive function, and it could be argued that medication - if safe - is a type of technological advancement, said Prof Cooper. However, medicating students could have other negative impacts on the quality of education.
Students on the autistic spectrum, for example, may not be able to reach their full potential if medicated, and "smart drugs" would not help the emotional and social development of pupils.
If medication is starting to become a fact of life in education, said Prof Cooper, then "our schools have to deal with that, and determine what the pros and cons are of equality of opportunity".
