What can you do to push and motivate yourself?

[nesty]

I've heard about a lawyer who fell into a 4 month binge with cocaine after which he had an eye opener. One day he felt a little hole on the inside of his nostril against the septum. It seemed like a layer of skin had deteriorated. He didn't feel it was a deep hole, but more like a skin had deteriorated and left the cartilidge bare. This was enough of a scare for him to completely stop his use of coke. Now, was there a skin that would grow over the hole or was it bare cartlidge naturally there and he caused damage directly to his septum's cartlidge? LOL

He was like that if skin would grow back, he would have been lucky and needed to use this as an opportunity to straighten his act. He knew cartlidge did not grow back, but was there a skin that grows back over? I didn't believe that he caused damage to the cartlidge itself. LOL

[chlorineblitch]

{...} cartlidge {...}

It's *cartilage*, not cartlidge!

[emarejay]

hahah

My xanax intake has probably doubled, coffee tripled, alcohol doubled, benadryl to sleep ten times, excercise tripled.

f**ck law school.

[PSUDSL08]

hahah

My xanax intake has probably doubled, coffee tripled, alcohol doubled, benadryl to sleep ten times, excercise tripled.

f**ck law school.

Xanax intake has probably doubled as well...especially when my mind is racing and I can't sleep, exercise has doubled, coffee has doubled...alcohol down about 98%, I dont get sh*t done if I'm hungover, lost 10 pounds

[law professor]

Ritalin is a drug that is widely abused by law students.

You probably have read news stories over the last few years about Ritalin and its ability to improve academic performance, even among students who do not have any learning disabilities like attention deficit disorder. You might also have read about how these non-learning disabled students are increasingly using Ritalin to improve their academic performance in school, including in law school. The controversial and somewhat provocative question that I want to pose is whether law schools should randomly test students for Ritalin use and take action against those students who test positive and don't have a prescription.

In support of the idea, one could argue that Ritalin taken without a prescription is illegal. Schools, particularly law schools, should be concerned if their students are breaking the law. Second, and more importantly, if students who illegally take Ritalin get an academic advantage over non-Ritalin takers, the law breakers are getting an unfair bump up in terms of law school grades and career options.

Moreover, the existence of illicit Ritalin use puts pressure on non-Ritalin takers to use the drug, either through an illegal purchase or by faking symptoms to a physician to get a prescription.  Because Ritalin can have adverse side effects in some people and has unclear long term health consequences, unnecessary Ritalin use is not recommended. In short, to avoid unfairness and to discourage unnecessary Ritalin use, it seems reasonable to randomly test law students for Ritalin and the related drug, Adderall, and to take action against those students who have used the drug without a prescription.

The situation seems to me to be similar to the one professional sports leagues face.  We know that steroids give athletes an unfair advantage and that steroids are illegal without a prescription. As a result, all major sports now prohibit athletes from taking steroids. Arguably, we should do the same when it comes to Ritalin.

Of course, there are differences. First, Ritalin does have some very therapeutic effects, whereas anabolic steroids are (to my knowledge) much more dangerous and of limited therapeutic value. Also, given the number of students who genuinely need Ritalin, we would be invading their privacy by forcing them to reveal their legal use of the drug in order to be cleared after a positive test. Despite these differences with steroids, there seems to be a strong case for student Ritalin testing, especially given the fairness concern. Another objection is that caffeine and even nicotine can enhance test performance, and we don't ban those drugs. But the key difference is that those drugs are completely legal without a prescription. The problem with drugs like Ritalin is that they are both performance enhancing AND illegal without a prescription. 

In the end, it seems that we have gotten to the point where athletic performance is not the only ability that can be enhanced through illegal drug use. Unfortunately, the rules have not yet caught up to address these changes. Is it time we do something about it? Should we start testing law students for illegal Ritalin and Adderall use? And if so, what should the punishment be for violators? Expulsion? Reprimand with a report to the relevant bar association regarding illegal drug use? I look forward to comments.

[eloisa]

I don't like the idea of random drug testing, although I don't use Ritalin/Adderall/Strattera and have no intention of trying them.  I see random drug testing as rather invasive, particularly because (as you pointed out) there are legitimate uses for those drugs.

But I do think that students who use those drugs without a prescription during exams are breaking the law to gain an unfair advantage.  As such, perhaps the non-prescribed use of performance-enhancing medications could be included in the list of activities that violate the honor code.  That wouldn't stop all of the pill-popping students, but it would at least send a message that the behavior is verboten. Some students (though I'm sure not too many) probably would abstain from the drugs simply because they're afraid of getting caught.

The question, of course, is whether that would make enough of a difference.  I'm not sure.

[DC]

Blatant coke use happens at law schools school and for the most part it is difficult to catch students on cocaine because it is not an outwardly noticeable thing.

[portia the beautiful]

Blatant coke use happens at law schools school and for the most part it is difficult to catch students on cocaine because it is not an outwardly noticeable thing.

How about wide-eyed, anxious appearance, abnormal dilation of your pupils, nystagmus (involuntary jerking of eyeballs), rapid speech?

[slacker]

How about wide-eyed, anxious appearance, abnormal dilation of your pupils, nystagmus (involuntary jerking of eyeballs), rapid speech?

That just sounds like about 1/2 the students and a noticable percentage of the faculty.

My motivation comes from the knowledge that the loans are building and are going to have to be paid off.

[Leaf2001br]

It also is nearly indistinguishable from the other exam week amphetamine of choice for law students:  Adderall.

On the original topic, personally I find fear to be a fairly effective motivation.  Seems to do the trick!