National Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Strategy Background Paper: Monograph Series No. 69
1.3 History of amphetamine-type stimulants
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
Chapter 1: Introduction- 1.1 Background to the National Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Strategy
- 1.2 Defining amphetamine-type stimulants
- 1.3 History of amphetamine-type stimulants
- 1.4 Forms of illicit amphetamine-type stimulants
- 1.5 Australian data collections
- 1.6 Availability
- 1.7 Price
- 1.8 Purity
- 1.9 Routes of administration
- 1.10 Summary
Chapter 2 Setting the Context- Chapter 3: Effects of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants
- Chapter 4: Prevention and Harm Reduction
- Chapter 5: Treatment and Service Provision
- Chapter 6: Law Enforcement
- Appendix 1
- Appendix 2
The use of amphetamine has been documented for centuries in China, where the ma huang plant (Ephedra vulgaris) has been used to treat people with asthma (Tyler, 1986). The ma huang plant contains ephedrine which is a central nervous system stimulant first produced by chemical synthesis in 1887 in Germany (Tyler, 1986). Following this discovery, amphetamine came into medical and recreational use in the 1920s primarily through the treatment of colds and asthma. In 1932 the Benzedrine Inhaler was introduced as an over the counter product and became a licit substitute for cocaine which had been declared illegal by the US federal government in 1914 (Tyler, 1986). By 1940, thirty-nine disorders had been identified for which Benzedrine – one of the three main kinds of amphetamine – was the recommended treatment, including night blindness, sea sickness and impotence (Tyler, 1986).
Methamphetamine, more potent and easier to make than amphetamine, was discovered in Japan in 1919 (Bell, 2006). The crystalline powder was soluble in water, making it easy to inject. During World War II and the Vietnam War methamphetamine was widely used by the armed forces to increase alertness, confidence, feelings of increased strength and to suppress appetite. In the United States in the 1950s, legally manufactured tablets of both dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) and methamphetamine (Methedrine) became readily available and were used by college students, truck drivers, and athletes. These drugs were often used as a substitute for cocaine, which had become illegal, and one of the primary reasons for use was to remain alert for extended periods of time.
By the 1960s the market in methamphetamine had changed from being predominantly licit to illicit. The black market consisted first of the diversion of supplies from pharmaceutical companies, chemists and doctors. This was followed by the synthesis, manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine by motor cycle and other criminal gangs and syndicates, 6 particularly on the Pacific Coast of the United States (Bell, 2006). The Australian experience of amphetamine use and supply largely followed that of the United States. As noted by Dillon (2000), MDMA use in Australia seems to date from as recently as the late 1970s. It was briefly used as a therapeutic drug in the early eighties by some psychiatrists for the treatment of post traumatic stress and as an aid to marital relationships, but was never a mainstream or widely used legitimate medication and declared illegal in 1989.
