Julie Crowley
WiseNet and ANZAAS with support from North Sydney Boys High School organised a panel discussion on the issues arising from this issue on Thursday August 17, 2000 in the North Sydney Boys High School Common Room.
The evening began with an introduction by Julianne Crowley, Head Teacher Science at North Sydney Boys High School, and was followed by a brief talk by Professor Graham Johnston from Sydney University on the scientific background and some of the issues arising from the use of drugs to enhance memory as he saw them.
A panel representing a range of interests provided a stimulus for further questions and discussion. The panel members were Jill Tacon, Head Teacher Science at Roseville College and President of the NSW branch of the Science Teachers’ Association, parent representative, Michael Crowley, a former teacher and barrister , Edward Lauer, a Year 12 student at North Sydney Boys High School and Elizabeth Dixon and Alan Valvasori were media representatives. Peter Pockley, Australasian correspondent for “Nature” and well known science correspondent was a wonderful moderator who kept the evening moving at a fast pace.
Some of the issues covered were “How Effective are Drugs at Enhancing Mental Activity?”, “Are These Drugs Harmful?”, “Is Their Use Widespread in the Community”, and “What are the Ethical Issues Associated With Using Them”?
For those who would like to know more about the evening and the issues and discussion arising, Peter Pockley and Graham Johnson have written an article for the November issue of “Australasian Science”.
More background information can be found in an article by Deborah Smith in the Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, September 11, 1999 – on the internet at http://www.usyd.edu/su/pharmacology/aalab/emart.html
There are references to ginkgo improving memory at the Blackmore’s web site at:
http://www.blackmores.com.au/content/health_news.asp?id=113
http://www.blackmores.com.au/content/media_release.asp?id=268
http://www.blackmores.com.au/content/media_release.asp?id=294
http://www.blackmores.com.au/content/media_release.asp?id=404
A 1997 article in Time magazine “Should we say no to smart drugs?” at
http://www.com/time/magazine/1997/int/97505/science.should_we_jus.html
is also an interesting introduction to the issues.