When The Wolf of Wall Street hit the big screens, people made jokes about drug usage by the characters. Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, did cocaine and a wide assortment of other drugs in order to have a better time while working for the firm.

As odd as those depictions look from the outside, they aren’t incredibly far from the truth. If you didn’t already know, the financial world is an incredibly competitive one. Even at Poor As Dirt, we struggle to stay on top of the best hedge funds and all the changes that happen in the industry!

With competition breeds performance enhancement hacks and tweaks and “smart drugs” are taking the financial world by storm. Reports from many of the biggest news outlets have followed Wall Street brokers and traders as they have started using these cognitive performance-enhancing drugs to their advantage.

Here are some of the most well-known nootropics currently available and used by financial traders everywhere:

#1. Sulbutiamine – this is the lowest-risk smart drug because sulbutiamine is a derivative of vitamin B1 (thiamine). This is an essential nutrient that increases focus, and concentration and is vital for cognitive function. This is one of the reasons so many people love the sulbutiamine effects. Because sulbutiamine is a synthetic drug, some consider it dangerous, but the truth is that this drug is nothing more than a better vitamin.

#2. Modafinil – of course, if people on Wall Street are starting to take smart drugs, they aren’t going to opt only for the safe ones. They will look for those that work. Modafinil is a drug used by many people from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Anyone who is interested in numbers will appreciate the drug because it is great for concentration, but also creativity.

Also known as Provigil, the drug is commonly considered the inspiration for the movie Limitless as Bradley Cooper enjoyed his NZT-48. Even if the movie was fictional, many people experience similar effects from the drug. Off-label use of modafinil has skyrocketed in regions where hubs are located.

#3. Hydrocodone – Those people putting in the extra hours and working tirelessly without a clue of the time end up having back aches and whatnot. This is a major setback, especially for financial managers because every second counts in their line of work. To avoid bringing misfortune upon themselves, a handful of those working in the financial sector have resorted to Oxycodone (find the street value of Oxycodone here) and the like which has gained fame as a pain relief medication.

#4. Piracetam – a unique flower among the nootropics, piracetam is particularly useful for learning ability and improving creativity. Many financial managers use this on a daily basis in order to get the best results for their financial endeavors.

There are plenty of studies on the drug, which has been around for over 50 years, so many believe it to be a great way to get started.

Even though there are no current laws about doping in these professions, the morals of taking smart drugs in the financial sector are in a grey area. Nonetheless, many are starting to use the drugs in the hope of getting ahead and it seems to be working.