Percentage
of US college students usage of methamphetamine Historical Background / Story of Discovery
Methamphetamine was first synthesized from ephedrine in Japan in 1893 by a chemist named Nagayoshi Nagai. In 1919, crystallized methamphetamine was synthesized by Akira Ogaberlandierita with the reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and iodine.
Methamphetamine was used during World War II when the German military gave it the trade name Pervitin. It was distributed across rank and division of elite forces, tank crews, and aircraft personnel. They dosed chocolates with methamphetamine known as Fliegerschokolade ("flyer's chocolate") for pilots, and Panzerschokolade ("tanker's chocolate") when given to tank crewmen. Adolf Hitler was given daily injections of methamphetamine by his personal physician as a treatment for depression and fatigue. There is a possibility that he started to develop Parkinson’s from his use of methamphetamine. After World War II, a large supply was stockpiled by the Japanese military, and became available in Japan under the street name “Shabu.”
Since it was more potent and easy to make with chemicals instead of plants, methamphetamine became available to the public after World War II, and was still legally produced in the U.S. under the trade name of Desoxyn at the time.
In the 1950’s, methamphetamine tablets called Methedrine were used non medically by college students, athletes, truck drivers as a cure for things such as weight control and depression.
Percentage
of US college students usage of methamphetamine
Methamphetamine powder was soluble in water making it easy for injection which increased methamphetamine usage in the 1960’s, but in 1970, the Controlled Substances Act restricted the production of methamphetamine injections.
In the 1950s, there was an increase of legal prescription of methamphetamine to the American public. It was supposed to be prescribed for narcolepsy, post-encephalitic Parkinsonism, alcoholism, and obesity. But like any other over the counter drug, there was substance abuse.
In the 1960s, clandestinely manufactured or lab produced methamphetamine began to increase for personal use. And peaked even higher in the 1980s. In the 1989 edition of The Economist, San Diego, California was named the capital methamphetamine city of North America and South Gate, California the second capital city for methamphetamine.
In 1983, there were laws passed in the U.S. prohibiting the equipment for methamphetamine production. In 1986, the U.S. government passed the Federal Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act in an attempt to curb the growing use of methamphetamine.
In 1989, five federal laws and a 12 state laws have been in effect to get rid of the production of methamphetamine. Since methamphetamine can be cooked up in home laboratories using pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, which are in Sudafed and Contac, which makes it very difficult to track down and get rid of.
