College study aide: Ritalin the new coffee

College mid-term season means that students have a week to learn all the material they were supposed to be learning all semester. Black coffee is yesterday's answer to the all-night cram session; the students of today have pharmaceutical speed:

"I got prescribed [Ritalin] in fifth grade, upon recommendation of my teacher, and used the medication until Grade 11 or 12 ... I take it today to study, but never after 8 p.m. or I won't get to sleep," said a St. Francis-Xavier student who wished to remain anonymous.

But don't think this is a one-sided story in praise of this wonder drug. There is caution from a local dealer as well:

"I warn people before giving it to them that they should try using [Ritalin] before taking it for any major or important work," the student supplier said. "I've seen many people take this medication and the result is they either can not focus they become too anxious, or too euphoric."

And to round it all out, can we get a sound-byte from a concerned third-party?

"It's kind of unfortunate really," he said, "[but] people are going to do it, people have always done it. People are going to use stimulants or abuse stimulants or whatever. It's kind of like coffee, only in the pill form."

Ah journalism, how sweetly formulaic art thou...