An explosion in the variety and availability of cognitive-enhancing drugs, from prescriptions like Ritalin to commercial drinks like NeuroFuel, raises concerns for scientists and educators alike--not just over the potential for abuse, but also over what educators and researchers consider, and how they approach, normal achievement. Evidence is still limited--but growing--that some chemicals can boost attention, memory, concentration, and other abilities related to academic performance. Researchers at the Society of Neuroscience conference here questioned whether it is safe and fair to allow healthy people to boost their brain function chemically, or use drugs to correct environmental factors like poverty or bad instruction. Those can lead to brain deficits similar to factors that characterize medical conditions like attention-deficit disorders. The author reports on the advent of "smart drugs" that raises safety, ethical concerns.