Nature just revealed the results of an informal internet poll of its readers, finding that a full one-fifth have used or currently take drugs or supplements for "cognitive enhancement."
2/3 report taking Ritalin for this "non medical" purpose; 44% have taken the newer stimulant modafinil.
But the most interesting finding is that 80% believe healthy adults should be permitted to take these drugs if they wish to do so.
Now, this is just an internet poll and we all know the self-selection issues that mar these. However, if 80% of those who care enough to write into Nature on this issue believe that essentially recreational drug use should be legal, the war on drugs has lost a great deal of its legitimacy.
Everyone knows hippos live wild only in Africa — but that might change in the near future, thanks to infamous Colombian drug cartel leader and all-around douchebag Pablo Escobar. In one of his many outlandish delusions of grandeur, he constructed a private zoo on one of his palatial estates, complete with a herd of hippos. But after Escobar was gunned down, his empire fell and the estate fell to ruin. The hippos ran free, thrived and even reproduced. Now there's even a possibility that the hippos could spread into the surrounding rain forest, becoming one of the larger invasive species in recent memory. Let's go to the tape:
More bad news for drug warriors: another new study! This one finds that teens who smoke marijuana but not cigarettes are emotionally healthier in some ways than those who abstain entirely and than those who use both.
