According to a 2005 survey published by America’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, 13.8 percent of Americans older than 12, or 33.7 million people, had tried cocaine at some point in their life. Of these, 8.8% of college students have tried it in their lives and 5.7% have tried it in the last year.

However, as pressure levels rise with the upcoming exam week, cocaine is certainly not the most prominent, or even the most dangerous drug in student circles. Many students are ready to “taste the rainbow” in an attempt to stay awake and alert, eating a kaleidoscope of yellow, blue, white, and yellow pills as if they were Skittles.

Amphetamines, including Ritalin, Adderall, Conserta, and Focalin, are much easier for most college students to find than cocaine, and the negative stigmas attached to cocaine often don’t carry over. This creates an increased likelihood to abuse the pills, leading to harmful side effects and addiction. But, with the increased availability of a relatively new “superdrug,” amphetamines may not be the biggest danger.

Modafinil, also known as Provigil, was released by the drug company Cephalon in 1998 to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder, and was re-released as generics by competing companies earlier this year, making it cheaper and perhaps even more accessible.

Though it is not an amphetamine, Modafinil has many similar effects. A single dose can sustain wakefulness and alertness for up to forty-eight hours and, unlike amphetamines, when you finally go to sleep you can become fully rested in only six hours, not the eight usually required to catch up. And, perhaps most appealing to college students, if taken just before bed, eight hours of restful sleep can be crammed into half the time.

Modafinil is supposedly non-addictive and, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it can even help to kick a cocaine addiction. According to the study, “More than twice as many Modafinil patients as placebo patients (33 percent compared with 13 percent) were able to attain abstinence [from cocaine] for 3 weeks or more.”

Militaries, including those in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States have researched the drug, perhaps looking to replace amphetamines they have used in the past. According to one study of helicopter pilots, three doses, 600 mg total, might be able keep pilots alert over a span of 88 hours with only eight hours of sleep.

In the past, the U.S. military has used amphetamines to keep pilots alert on long missions. According to ABC news, on April 17, 2002 American pilots complaining of fatigue before a mission were advised to take amphetamines before a mission in Afghanistan. During the mission, the American pilots bombed Canadian infantry participating in a live-fire training exercise, killing four Canadian soldiers and wounding eight.

Modafinil could potentially offer a way to stop many of the negative effects of amphetamines, while substantially increasing the benefits. But, the pill should still not be taken lightly because and if even more stigmas are removed from Modafinil the results could be disastrous.

According to an estimate in Adrugrecall.com, at least 40 million Americans have been prescribed amphetamines since 1996. Modafinil is less likely to be prescribed, making it less accessible to students either legally or illegally, but as is the case with most drugs, if there is a will to find it then there is a way.

Amphetamines are more popular than candy to college students – even health food fanatics won’t even think before knocking a couple back. And now, with the stigma of addiction and the juiced-up buzz gone, Modafinil has the potential to become even more popular. Maybe, instead of drowning your drowsiness with pills, you should reconsider those classic remedies, caffeine and a Snickers bar, as safer remedies on those long nights of studying.

David Poltz, writing for Slate.com, experimented with Modafinil to help him crunch for a deadline. Writing about his first day on the drug, Poltz said, “Today I am my own Superman, dosed on 100 milligrams of Modafinil.” Though he loved the drug’s short term effects, an unexpected addiction kicks in and he later says, “I end my experiment after two days. I am acting like a lunatic.”

That’s just what we all need – even more lunatics at Guilford.