Question

After watching the documentary "Take Your Pills", do you believe that it is ethical to take performance enhancing drugs to get ahead in work? Please use an example from the documentary. My answer should be at least 300 words long.

Answer 1

I support the documentary's criticism of current prescribing practice of doctors of prescribing ADHD stimulants, making diagnosis too soon and giving easy way out to children and filling their pockets better. I do not believe in performance enhancing drugs and do not think its an ethical practice. Film highlights that people who take these pills regularly are always on a competitive race drive at work, school , college etc. But is it fair for some people to use these drugs and leave behind many others who may not have an access to them? And especially when these drugs come with a host of safety issues like cardiovascular diseases, psychosis and a long term addiction etc.

Consumers are not well explained, for example in the movie the former NFL offensive lineman Eben Britton told a story in which he was suspended from the league for taking Ritalin when he ran out of Adderall, he has prescription and therapeutic use exemption for the latter. But because the two drugs are completely different, he failed the drug test, seemed his doctor had not explained him the difference between two drugs.

Though its not uncommon for people of all ages and professions to be using such stimulants, such as the College student, the financial analyst, the above mentioned athlete, the programmer, the child diagnosed with ADHD, “Take your Pills” explores the attitudes surrounding such drug abuse, the culture of branding it all and how such drugs are shaping the society as a whole.

At the final close of this documentary, Dr. Wendy Brown, a political theorist at UC Berkeley poses a question-what it truly means to be a human and the role performance-enhancing stimulants play in that. She asks if letting our minds wander or the ability to experience more emotional interpersonal connections is being hindered by stimulants.