Moda, the "safe" stimulant you have never heard of
Photo by K. Mennem
Modafinil is a stimulant you may have never heard about. Maybe that is a good thing but maybe it isn't. This substance goes by many names. Provigil was the original name you may have heard when it was approved for medical uses in 1998, but it is commonly also known as modafinil, modafinilo, or simply just moda. One South American producer went as far to label it Aditral, likely to dupe Americans into thinking it was a form of Adderall since it is sold openly in Latin America.
In the United States it is a schedule IV controlled substance, which is the same as Valium or Xanax. Getting a prescription may or may not be hard to attain it in the U.S., depending on the type of doctors you have or the state you live in. Most scripts are written for narcolepsy, as it is a stimulant, however it varies greatly from adderall, ritalin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Some studies claim it isn't even a stimulant at all, simply an awakening agent, as it contains no amphetamines.
Moda, as I will refer to it for simplicity, was created in the 1970’s by Michel Jouvet, a French Neuroscientist. Jouvet was famous for his sleep studies and few mention him now along with the word modafinil anymore. (More on the boring science and statistics later)
It was first used in mass by the French military, and then other militaries across the world (including the United States) as a safer stimulant replacement than amphetamines. Over time it became popular with truck drivers and rich kids studying at Ivy League schools. Prescriptions peaked and then dropped within 20 years in the U.S., which is why many have never heard of it. Most college students seek out adderall for all night study sessions, but at one time the choice was moda.
Many on the black market consider it a nootropic, which may be flooding your social media pages as a replacement for harmful substances. The legends and lore of actual moda (and not nootropic scams on social media) of it being used by Presidents and special force teams has kept it relevant, at least with a cult following.
Moda has an odd history of clinical studies. Studies have shown it has no addictive properties like other known stimulants. It has even been used in studies to treat cocaine and crack cocaine addiction with some success. As of 2012 it has been used as a replacement in the U.S. military (and high ranking officials) as a replacement for dexamphetamine for fatigue.
When the drug became available to go generic, it spread across Latin America. It is available without a script and a per pill cost is about $1.50 USD. Most users just take one in the morning, but party animals will often do much more. The half life is 12 to 15 hours, so responsible users can get a seven pack from a generic pharmacy for around $12 USD each week.
Not to forget, when mixed with other drugs and booze, moda can be a very dangerous drug. As it compounds with other substances it can cause paranoia, rage, sleeplessness, and the ability to just party more.
Getting a script in the United States may be hard nowadays. Over the counter in other countries is easy, but in some places it is so unheard of that they may not know what you are talking about when you request it. Argentina, Peru, and Mexico are the nations that produce and consume the most. Prices do vary from name brand name pharmacies to generic pharmacies.
The stories of use of the substance vary greatly. From “my rich uncle used this to get through Harvard, to mi tio takes this to work hard every day in construction in Guadalajara”. And lets not forget, the ol “ every President in the world eats this smart drug for breakfast”.
Websites have popped up all over the U.S. during covid trying to sell the Latin America generics as a cure for long covid fatigue (along with kratom, a story for another day). The prices are exacerbated and I would suggest never buying it from one of these sites.
I live most of the year in Latin America and when people ask for cheap pharmacy stuff as gifts (usually Viagra and Z-packs), moda rarely hits the list.
A few of the studies for cocaine addiction (which I would label SUS) report that it “may” help in cravings for cocaine or crack cocaine. While moda may give you the energy or “life” you feel you need, it doesn't stop true addicts from wanting to snort, smoke, or inject. Doing any of this would be highly harmful with moda as I have never seen a form safe to break down. Moda would be harmful used in these methods instead of pill form, as the neuroscientist wickedly crafted decades ago.
In my personal opinion, I believe moda and caffeine could replace harder stimulants like cocaine, crack, and meth in disciplined recovering addicts, but the people willing to take that route and drop the routine I mentioned before are rare.
Most moda users flip flop between adderall and moda for work or school. Few seek it as a recovery or a party drug. Despite its biochemical makeup being very different from Addy or blow, the number of scripts written (vs the cocaine and addy per person use numbers in the U.S.) are the proof in the puddin. Pills on the black market, shipped directly to the U.S. often go for $10 USD or more. This, combined with the lack of doctors using it as a replacement for aging adderall addicts makes it a drug of the past. Cocaine and adderall are just more widely available and overall cheaper for the intent of users. And let's not forget that adderall is conveniently processed in an easily crushable form for users to snort, which is not standard practice in pharmacology. (Crushable means it can quickly be smashed into a fine powder and snorted for quicker absorption)
The poorly funded studies seem to replicate the recent use of psilocybin mushroom therapy for the use of hard drugs, but they never caught traction or did a wide enough study to make any importance.
Now let's talk about why anyone gives a shit….dopamine.
Dopamine is a human neurotransmitter that triggers pleasure, happiness, focus, and simply makes a person find things interesting. Most mental health issues trace back to having too little or too much dopamine. Many drugs boost dopamine, ranging from the amino acid Tyrosine to full on crystal methamphetamine. Ritalin and cocaine also boost dopamine. Cocaine users see a rapid rise in dopamine and a massive drop. This is how a short half life drug like cocaine also leads to mental illness, causing users to feel depressed when they are not high on it.
Many of the online ads for nootropics are heavy on Tyrosine, which is made naturally in the body. Natural tyrosine levels keep a person's dopamine levels doing pretty good. Boosting natural tyrosine with the supplement tyrosine can be a nice boost. Studies have even tried using massive tyrosine supplementations for cocaine addiction.
The point here is, moda is tyrosine on steroids. A massive dopamine level boost that potentially lasts all day without addiction or withdrawal issues.
Drugs like modafinil and adderall have an extended dopamine half life, opposite of cocaine, chocolate, and caffeine. This is why research and studies half ass recommend them with low funded studies. It just sounds safer to promote.
Moda will likely slip into oblivion or continue on with its cult following. The script numbers in the U.S. are low and the prices in Latin America are cheap. In summary I'm not sure anyone cares except for those that are currently using it or researching the drug.