NEWS: The Age - 9/05/2006 'Anti-sleep drug use on the rise'

[hoptis]

Anti-sleep drug use on the rise
By Melissa Fyfe
May 9, 2006

Australian doctors are increasingly prescribing an anti-sleep pill that has become a lifestyle drug in Britain and the US.

Modafinil, a stimulant designed to treat sufferers of narcolepsy, the uncontrolled desire for sleep, has been available in Australia since 2002.

But it seems some doctors are prescribing it to people who just want to stay awake longer.

Medicare figures show 289 prescriptions were written last year and 224 in the year to date.

The drug's distributor in Australia, CSL, said it had heard reports of doctors prescribing the drug "off label" (for purposes other than its intended use). "We don't want to see a situation where an employer is suggesting people use the drug so they can spend longer on the job," said spokeswoman Rachel David. "It could easily be used as a drug of dependence."

Under Federal Government regulations, only specialist sleep doctors can prescribe the drug, also known as Modavigil.

A Monash University study hopes to clarify how the drug creates wakefulness and what its psychological effects are.

While the drug can cause headaches, users don't feel the agitation or euphoria that is caused by amphetamine-based stimulants.

Clint Gurtman, who is conducting the Monash study, said the drug could be attractive to people including truck and taxi drivers, shift workers and others, but he queried the consequences of creating a 24-hour society.

From The Age

 

[ayjay]

^yes - interesting article; follows on from large piece in Saturday's Age (In A2).

This fits in with the rise in popularity of illegal stimulants too - and certainly a clear contradiction of John Howard's claim that "Tough on drargs" is working...

mmmmmm Modafinal ! Makes me want to try it

 

[drancer]

sounds like a boring drug to me.

 

[Misterwize2]

289 prescriptions out of a population of 20,000,000. Yes this problem is clearly spiralling out of control.

Yet another example of tabloid sensationalism.