A new drug Modafinil, marketed as a "cognitive enhancer," with the apparent ability to allow users to concentrate for extended periods, is the latest drug being embraced by both students, shift workers and the deadline-affected -- but at what price?

The wakefulness-promoting drug is approved by the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder and excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea.

Modafinil supposedly improves memory and enhances one's mood, alertness and cognitive powers. The drug has a smoother feel than amphetamines and enables the user to stay awake and alert for 40 hours or more. Once the drug wears off, users just have to catch up on some sleep.

Modafinil could be dangerous, since it doesn't require a prescription, unlike other attention-sharpening drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall, and isn't a form of amphetamine and therefore is not an issue for the police. So online "pharmacies" stock plenty of it.

Marketed as Provigil,' 'Aletec' and 'Vigicer,' Modafinil is a psychostimulant approved by the US Federal Drug Administration for improving wakefulness in patients with excessive sleepiness associated with shift work sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea / hypopnea syndrome and narcolepsy.

Not surprisingly, a drug that enables people to stay awake for 40 hour periods at close to full mental capacity with no real side effects could quickly gain widespread usage as a time-shifting drug, particularly when it is devoid of the jitteriness associated with most drugs commonly used in such circumstance such as dextroamphetamine, cocaine and the world's most popular drug, caffeine.

Naturally, humans don't deal well with lack of sleep, and thanks to fast-paced lifestyles and ever-increasing job demands, sleep deprivation is a common occurrence in modern culture.

Australian researchers recently found that people who drive after being awake for more than 17 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent (the local blood alcohol limit). Tests the world over have found that sleep deprivation significantly reduces human performance capabilities, coordination, reaction time and judgment.

Twenty four hours without sleep is enough to reduce most humans to half their normal mental capacity, and it declines rapidly from that point.

The U.S. military is currently showing interest in the drug. A large contributor to battle fatigue is sleep deprivation. When the military is on the move, almost everyone is required to perform mission-critical tasks long after they should be asleep. From the personnel at command HQ to the soldiers at the front, two or three weeks of activity with just a few hours sleep per day is routine in combat situations.

Meanwhile , even the president seems to have taken an interest. To quote The Daily Beast: "Tucked away under a list of medications in the report on President Obama's recent physical exam is this intriguing notation: 'Jet lag/time zone management... occasional medication use.' Sleep doctors we consulted say one possibility is Provigil, a stimulant that is regularly prescribed to help people fend off excessive sleepiness," aka modafinil.