Robert Zilinyi, left, and Rafik Mohamed such a way that we can alter the natural course of our lives. To draw the line at improving our mental capabilities seems ludicrous and irrational. Our cognitive capabilities stand at the forefront of the improvement of ourselves and of our surroundings. This does not mean that the health risks in taking nootropic drugs are negligible and should be ignored. They are probably the most important issue relevant to nootropic use. However, to propose, as Racine and Forlini do, that the necessary healthcare resources required to develop an ideal cognitive enhancer should not be allocated to the development of such drugs is, I believe, wrong.12 Nootropic drugs are already being developed to treat neurodegenerative diseases. In the development of these drugs, we expect them to be developed to a standard wherein their use is not detrimental to the patient or user. If we are already developing these drugs, why should we not support the development of over-the-counter nootropics the same way that we support the development and distribution of something such as an over-thecounter antihistamine? There does not seem to be an adequate answer to this question. This brings me to my next point on healthcare resources, the availability of nootropics. Cakic argues that the use and availability of these cognitive enhancement drugs would be favorable only to the upper class and would once again widen both the educative and socioeconomic gap between upper and lower class individuals.13 The foundations of this argument appear to rest on the current status of nootropic drugs in general. They are for the
most part prescription drugs that only those prescribed them are supposed to take. Because of this, those who want nootropics and are not prescribed them must seek them out through illicit or dishonest means. Many times such individuals end up paying top dollar for these cognitive boosts. From this situation, without further consideration of future circumstances, several authors have concluded that only the wealthy would be able to get nootropics and that the uneven playing field would persist. The obvious solution to this problem is to make a nootropic drug that could be sold over the counter. If a nootropic drug were developed for widespread use by anyone, due to the vastly increased demand, the price of these drugs would most likely be comparable to that of something like an everyday vitamin. The realization of the goal of developing a non-harmful nootropic drug would make the issue of the use of cognitive enhancers much more straightforward. If developed, I believe that this drug would face the same sort of reception that caffeine receives from the general public because they serve a similar function. While some would stand in opposition to their use for personal reasons, many would accept these drugs as another means to improve their capabilities. Caffeine itself is considered to be a nootropic drug; it increases alertness and helps improve cognitive function and is the most widely used study aid known to academia. If this hypothetical nootropic drug were developed, from a pragmatic standpoint, its availability would have to be 85