Who Needs Sleep?

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Having trouble keeping up with your busy schedule? Finding yourself tired from lack of sleep? Just can't get over that jet lag? Well Cephalon has the drug for you ... at least according to the NY Times - NYT, Wakefulness Finds a Powerful Ally. In typical US mentality fashion, we respond to studies that show us a being massively sleep deprived, by finding a pill to wake us up.

I have argued long and hard that the structure of US society is driving us all mad - and ill. I have argued, that we need to drastically change our life styles and pace of life; that we are operating beyond human capacity. I have also opined the use of pharmaceuticals to help us cope with the mess. The Times report makes my case. It interviews a 46 year old woman who has to frequently travel internationally for her job. She was trying to keep herself going on caffeine and it just didn't cut it. Then she discovered modafinil, "a small white pill that revs up the central nervous system without the jitteriness of caffeine or the addiction and euphoria of amphetamines. Particularly damning is her statement:

"Without it my life would not be possible."

Reading through the article, I found that this "small white pill" could keep you awake for hours or even DAYS. Further that it was in demand by truckers, programmers, and college students. I immediately thought about a DARPA project I had read about that was studying how to keep soldiers at maximum alertness for days at a time. It was part of the "war fighter" enhancement studies. Interestingly, much of the research being done for this project focuses around Preventing Sleep Deprivation. Orwellian language strikes again, since they are not trying to "prevent" sleep deprivation, but cause it without the usual mental and organ shutdowns that would occur.

I was also reminded of the arguments in the mid 1980s about the cocaine epidemic among high power business and entertainment folks. It was claimed that part of the draw was it helped them "function" at a higher level. Hmm. So now we have this wonder drug which is sure to be in high demand. I do wonder whether Cephalon has been working on the DARPA project.

Posted by rowan at June 30, 2004 08:31 AM | TrackBack | Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |