Nice catch, DP. Accurate, the ADD drugs filled a void on trading desks when ephedrine was banned. They were already in use, but once the OTC option was removed usage sky rocketed. I've been told they are tossed around like candy at the university and grad school levels as well.

according to physicians that I have met, 2% of all Americans have prescriptions for add drugs and up to 25% of Americans are taking them. Kate, I think it's a shame that these non-athletes are getting away with it.

Abe is on point - there are now huge speed problems on wall Street - and poker players load up pre-tournaments. Musicians and actors take add drugs to calm down pre-performance, teachers, professors and grad students are into them.

And I repeat, studies show that the average steroid user is not an athlete who started as a teen, they are 30 year old white guys who want to look buff (JISSN study).

I can't believe that there are that many adults in the world who are hyperactive and have short attention

Ohh, look, shiny ball! Hit shiny ball!

25% of adults are taking drugs for ADD? I find that extremely hard to believe.

Maybe ballplayers should be forced to report all prescription drugs they are on and then that report can be published for everyone to see.

Better adderall than coke, no?

People are going to use so long as there's a system that believes in the rule of law, and punishments fitting of crimes. Drug use being largely victimless, it's really hard to create a penalty harsh enough to cease use.

Places in Southeast Asia where traffickers get the death penalty and a fraction of a gram of anything will get you years in prison still have drug problems.

Pick your battles. This ain't one of 'em.

I think Kate takes the prize for the most naive poster on baseballmusings. Alert me when she joins the real world....

As a MIT grad student, and someone who has gone through the ranks of MIT (undergrad and grad), I have to interject here. The school definitely applies as one of these "top" schools, and given the small population (~1000 per class), it's fairly tight-knit. I have not seen an ADD drug used here (man, I sound like a ballplayer), and I would venture to guess that the use of those types of drugs are significantly less than recreational drugs (whatever pot is classified as?) here.

Let's not go around saying that this stuff is tossed around like candy, or that 25% of Americans take them without some documented proof. Could it be true? Sure (well not the 25% thing), you know, I would guess that traders and poker players do take a lot of ADD meds, and maybe they think the same of kids in good schools. But in respect to MIT (and I'm sure several other top schools), it's just not true.