Smart Drugs documentary reveals experiment among those fuelled by need to succeed

VANCOUVER—Toronto filmmaker Ann Shin was so intrigued by an animator’s tales about doing some of his best work with the help of “smart drugs” that she wanted to learn how they would work if someone tried them as part of a months-long experiment. She recruited Nikolas Badminton, who was then based in Vancouver and calls himself a “futurist” who speaks and writes about trends, to take on the task in California’s Silicon Valley, the epicentre of a subculture known for using smart drugs, or nootropics. “Futurist” Nikolas Badminton, shown in a handout photo, is shown in a scene from the documentary film Smart Drugs, as he experiments with various supplements and drugs, also called nootropics, through a hectic work schedule. Badminton spent five months working a hectic schedule and popping pills and powdered mixtures used by tech types aiming to enhance cognitive function as they power through projects, ward off sleep and seemingly operate like machines. His journey, punctuated by long bursts of energy and sheer exhaustion, is captured in Smart Drugs , airing Sunday on the Documentary Channel. Badminton, whose sleep is disrupted while he’s on the regimen, is monitored by a doctor through the so-called biohacking adventure that has him meeting “Brain Bro,” who swallows handfuls of pills to try and keep up with the pressure to produce. The word “nootropics” is used to market certain supplements sold online in Canada that claim to help with focus and increase energy. Some medications are also referred to by biohackers as nootropics, for instance Adderall and Ritalin, which are commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or modafinil, typically prescribed for narcolepsy. Prescription drugs are often obtained from patients who take them for those reasons under a doctor’s supervision. Shin said she knows of a mother who uses […]

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