While the use of illegal stimulants by some students may seem unfair to other students against whom they are graded, use of illegal drugs to enhance performance on tests is not considered cheating, according to the Academic Honor Code currently used by the College.
The Academic Honor Principle was adopted by the College in 1962, and still serves as the major document, that governs academic honesty at Dartmouth. While the code specifically says cheating on a examination is defined by, "Any student giving or receiving assistance during an examination or quiz," Senior Associate Dean Dan Nelson told The Dartmouth that because the use of illegal drugs to enhance academic performance is not specifically addressed in the Academic Honor Principle it would not be considered cheating at Dartmouth.
Director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office Marcia Kelly echoed these sentiments. She said that students would be punished for the use of illegal drugs as a behavioral infraction, but would not be reprimanded through academic channels.
According to Kelly, punishments for such infractions if pursued through the Committee on Standards would depend on the situation, but could vary from a slap on the wrist to expulsion. Possession of Ritalin without a prescription is also a felony crime and can carry a jail sentence.
Other organizations around the country are, however, reconsidering this. A November 2002 paper from The John Hopkins University caused a stir in the academic community by reporting that as many as 20 percent of American college students are regularly using Ritalin or Adderall to improve academic performance. Indeed, the Drug Enforcement Administration reported that production of Ritalin has exploded from 3,890 pounds in 1990 to 32,905 in 2000. That is almost an 850 percent increase.The report stated that most students were purchasing the pills from other students for the price of $5-6 per 10-20 milligrams.
While universities are obviously a hub of study drug abuse, students are not the only ones using Ritalin and Adderall to enhance their work performance.
The drugs are being used increasingly in the workforce. In one particularly bizarre case reported by the Associate Press, an elementary school custodian in Indiana recently admitted that she had swiped Ritalin from the school's nursing office, hoping it would improve her cleaning performance.
Currently the American Bar Association is the only professional organization that will bar members who have a history of abuse of so-called "intellectual steroids". The United States Chess Federation moved in 1991 to ban any sort of stimulants, and now drug tests competitors for everything from caffeine to Ritalin.
