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While internet websites make it easy for students to access the drug, the BMA said the unregulated use of a prescription drug could lead to misuse of the drug in question.

“For us, there is a concern when people obtain prescription drugs via the internet or through other means,” said a spokesperson for the Association. “Forgetting the issues concerning cognitive enhancers, it is never a good idea to use prescriptions that are not assigned to you.”

A recent report by the Academy of Medical Sciences predicts an increase of the use of such drugs among students in future years and calls for increased research into the health effects further down the line.

“There needs to be greater understanding of the risks and safety of these substances,” said Robert Frost, the senior policy officer at the Academy. “If the use is going to increase then we need to be able to make a better assessment of the effects among healthy people.”

According to ‘Amanda’, most Edinburgh students who take study drugs get them from America, where the number of students taking them is believed to be higher than in the UK.

A study in America that considered anonymous responses from 1,025 American college students found that 16.2 per cent reported use of cognitive enhancers, with 96 per cent of these using Ritalin in order to improve attention, prolong partying, reduce hyperactivity and improve grades. 15.5 per cent of these students used the drug at least 2 or 3 times a week.

‘Tina’, a UC Berkeley Dramatic Arts major, told Student she over-used study drugs and became concerned with what she felt were their addictive nature.

“I think I became dependent on the drugs to work at one point and I would take them literally just to read for no reason...almost because it made working so fun,” she said.

As well as possible health concerns, recent reports have questioned the ethical concerns that arise when students take drugs to improve their academic grades and exam performances.

“Assuming that these drugs give students an advantage, one must question whether this is unfair or not,” said Steve Rolles, head of research at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation. “I mean plenty of students rely on caffeine as a stimulant, it is just that coffee is culturally accepted.”

He added that even if the drugs were proven undesirable among healthy students, there would be little or no way to regulate it.

“Any university would be treading on very shaky ground if they tried to disqualify students who use certain stimulants,” he said. “Testing students against their will raises civil rights issues of privacy.”

For ‘Amanda’, the use of study drugs is a direct result of the increasing and often unmanageable demands put on students by the University community.

“I think if you’re going to put students under such intense, stressful situations, they will have to resort to drugs to cope with the pressure,” she said.