Moreover, there is precedent for normal behaviors such as sleep being transmogrified into disease. Doctors, not dealers, are currently the biggest source of this drug. Many people who take Provigil now do so not to treat narcolepsy (the only condition for which the drug has been approved) but for other, “off-label” conditions such as simple jet-lag. However, this lack of interest from the black market may be Provigil’s great advantage. Dexadrin (speed) and adderall (various amphetamines) are freely available, but the dealers have not even heard to Provigil. Multiple inquiries to local dealers turned up no sign of the drug. So far, Provigil has not made a splash on the Harvard campus.
#WAKE UP TIME PILL FREE#
One day, when sleep becomes a treatable condition like cavities in your teeth or ear infections, Provigil may be heralded as a forerunner of wonder-drugs that free us from the tyranny of the pillow. If current trends play out, sleep is just the latest human behavior that will pass from normal, to problematic to disease. The drug has already started making headlines-accompanied by much hand-wringing-on other Ivy League campuses as a substitute for sleep. If approved for this use, Provigil will take one more step toward becoming a lifestyle drug like Viagra that completely changes the way we think about sleep. The manufacturer of Provigil (which is also called modafinil) announced two weeks ago that it would try to get the drug approved for “circadian rhythm disorder,” a fancy name for being sleepy when not sleeping on a normal schedule.
But getting that prescription may soon get much easier. Although the military often experiments with ways to keep soldiers awake, the rest of us need a prescription from a doctor to get Provigil.
Army helicopter pilots who have taken the drug were able to stay up for 40 hours, sleep for eight hours, and then stay up for another 40 hours without losing the ability to perform complex tasks. It’s a small, white and slightly oblong pill that has fewer side effects than caffeine, is safe even in large doses, and has not yet been shown to be any more addictive than your bottomless cup of coffee from Toscanini’s. (A report in Nature this summer showed that slugs placed in caffeine-sprayed soil soon die in a fit of “uncoordinated writhing.”)Įnter Provigil. Unfortunately, the strongest stuff most students take to keep awake is caffeine, which makes you both wired and addicted, and has recently found to be a potent insecticide. Hitting the sack for eight hours every night is just not an option this time of year.
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