My main concern is the use of technology as a crutch for self improvement. I can appreciate the use of thought enhancing technology coupled with a strong will and determination to accomplish a certain goal - for I think that is a human ideal. But the moment I reconsider is when technology becomes the symbol for self improvement instead of a means to an end. We see this with diabetics who take insulin but never change their eating habits, people who purchase gym memberships but never attend, people who buy books but don't read them, or people who ride a helicopter up to the summit of Mount Everest, etc. Sometimes technology demeans the human experience and the significance of accomplishment... and I think people who struggle regularly feel cheated by advantages that are afforded to people who have privileged access to things of all measure.

The the difference between the top 0.001% and 0.002% is in most sports the difference between making millions and working at Wendy's. As long as everyone is dealing with the limits of biology there is a huge incentive to avoid injury and promote general heath. But, once you start artificially altering basic pathways you can trade huge long term downsides for a tiny performance gain. And due to the competitiveness nature you basically force everyone to do the same. In other words it's a zero sum rule so why not chose rules that keep people healthy over time.

But, outside of Med school there is simply less competitive pressure so I don't think we are going to see the same sort's of banning unless there is significant long term damage. On second thought people often take a fair amount of drugs to get though Med school as it is.

In the previous HN thread on this topic[1], a HN member pointed out that he had built a device for doing this for around $30.00.

[1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3525744