Introduction

Brief History of Amphetamine Use

  • Ma huang, a rare herb, used as a stimulant for 5000 years in Chinese medicine
  • 1885 Nagayoshi Nagai isolates ephedrine from ma huang
  • 1887 Lazar Edelano synthesizes phenylisopropylamine, an ephedrine-like amphetamine
  • 1893 Methamphetamine synthesized from ephedrine by chemist Nagayoshi Nagai
  • 1919 Methamphetamine crystallized by Akira Ogata
  • 1927 Gordon Alles of UCLA resynthesizes Edelano's phenylisopropylamine
  • 1932 Alles sells rights to Smith, Kline, French, who market it as decongestant Benzedrine
  • Benzedrine is abused throughout the Great Depression and WWII
  • 1937 Benzedrine tablet form to treat Narcolepsy (spontaneous Sleep Disorder)
  • 1938 Meth marketed to German populus under the name Pervitin
  • (1940 - present) Military applications help soldiers fight fatigue and enhance performance.
  • Post WWII military grade Meth released to Japanese public causing epidemic abuse
  • 1950s Meth used to treat Korean veterans addicted to morphine
  • 1960 US epidemic of intravenous methamphetamine abuse.
  • 1970 Meth was regulated under the Controlled Substance Act.
  • 1980's New forms of Meth were introduced that can be smoked.
  • 1990's Meth use becomes epidemic throughout the US.
  • Currently prescribed as part of a treatment plan for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity   Disorder, Obesity and Narcolepsy

Methamphetamine is a powerful central nervous system (CNS) stimulant. It was first discovered in 1893 from two chemical subgroups: dextromethamphetamine and levomethamphetamine (Yasaei & Saadabadi 2023). Methamphetamine is sometimes used as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity; however, methamphetamine is better known as a recreational drug (Yasaei & Saadabadi 2023).

Controlled substance

Methamphetamine is relatively simple to synthesize and can be produced illicitly in meth-labs worlwide. Due to illicit trafficking and recreational use of racemic methamphetamine, levomethamphetamine, and dextromethamphetamine, the agent is a schedule II controlled substance in the United States and the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

Mechanism of action

Methamphetamine affects the central nervous system (CNS)  by enhancing the release of monoamine neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine (Der-Ghazarian et al. 2019).  The illicit use of methamphetamine can result in many pathophysiologic effects because it is a highly active sympathomimetic drug and a strong psychostimulant.

The effects of methamphetamine can resemble the fight or flight response, i.e., tachycardia, hypertension, vasoconstriction, bronchodilation, and hyperglycemia. Other effects include an increase in focus, alertness, as well as suppression of fatigue and appetite (Drugbank 2023).

© RnCeus.com