Earlier meth epidemic without WW2?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1487
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Deleted member 1487

I've been getting into the history of the drug trade lately thanks to the history channel documentary around the history of the War on Drugs, which led me to Norman Ohler's book "Blitzed" about the role of pharmaceutical grade methamphetimines and their use by the Nazis in WW2. Though apparently the author makes an overstated case about the role of the drug in German society/the military before and during WW2, it still is an interesting take on events. Germany was deeply connected with the legal and illegal drug trade pre-war, as the German chemical industry was a major innovator in pharmaceutical drugs and originally patented cocaine and heroin production.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Isolation_and_naming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin#Name
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#History.2C_society.2C_and_culture

Meth though was I guess realized for it's effect first by the German drug giant and sold to civilians pre-war, with major use by the German military.

If WW2 did not happen, is it possible that there would have been a meth epidemic globally due to Pervitin being able to be marketed globally?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temmler
n 1938, a Temmler chemist in Berlin synthesised Pervitin(methamphetamine-hydrochloride), the pharmaceutical drug was then manufactured and dispensed over-the-counter to the public as a central nervous system and circulatory systemanaleptic, psychiatric performance enhancing stimulant and to induce or extend wakefulness to treat narcolepsy.[2][3] Pervitin was made available and packaged in thirty tablet oral dosage form, and in six 1ccm glass ampulla form as an intramuscular or intravenous injectable. The company became especially known for the introduction of its methamphetamine-hydrochloride preparation brand Pervitin, which the company produced from 1938 up until 1988.[2]

According to a Der Spiegel article in 2005, Nazi Germany believed that Pervitin could also help win World War II, so the German armed forces was supplied with more than 38 million Pervitin tablets, especially during Germany's "Blitzkrieg" invasion of Poland and the Battle of France during 1939/40 where it was introduced to soldiers to attenuate anxiety and increase performance and concentration.[2][4]

Sold over the counter, but IOTL not really sold outside of Germany because of the start of the war, is it possible that without the war, say a generic Hitler dies in 1938 after Anschluss due to a silly accident situation TL, that Meth in this form is then marketed globally and as an over-the-counter drug then gets traction as a 'miracle drug' due to the naivety of the times? AFAIK it didn't really get very far due to the war situation and the Americans having time to create their own version that was used for a while before being restricted:

Obetrol, patented by Obetrol Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s and indicated for treatment of obesity, was one of the first brands of pharmaceutical methamphetamine products.[137]Due to the psychological and stimulant effects of methamphetamine, Obetrol became a popular diet pill in America in the 1950s and 1960s.[137] Eventually, as the addictive properties of the drug became known, governments began to strictly regulate the production and distribution of methamphetamine.[131] For example, during the early 1970s in the United States, methamphetamine became a schedule II controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.[138]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obetrol
Abuse
The ready availability of methamphetamine-based medications in the 1960s led to their use and abuse as recreational drugs. Obetrol was the recreational drug of choice for artist Andy Warhol.[5] Obetrol was abused by a character named Chris Fogle in David Foster Wallace's novel The Pale King.[6] Obetrolling or doubling was the process by which the character referred to tripping on Obetrol, because it increased his self-awareness and made him feel alive.[7]

Apparently this actually became Adderall:
Rexar reformulated Obetrol to exclude methamphetamine and continued to sell this new formulation under the same Obetrol brand name. This new unapproved formulation was later rebranded and sold as Adderall by Richwood after it acquired Rexar resulting in FDA warning in 1994. Richwood submitted this formulation as NDA 11-522 and Adderall gained FDA approval for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder therapy on February 13, 1996.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histo...es#History_of_amphetamine_and_methamphetamine

Could we see a 'methed up' 1940s-60s?
 
Yes, Obetrol did become Adderall. Obetrol consisted of two salts of methamphetamine and two of amphetamine. It was reformulated to include four salts of amphetamine, two of which were in the original brew, and the indication was changed from obesity to ADHD. You have to appreciate that Playboy cartoon in the 70s Obetrol ad in the Wikipedia article. Also referring to Wikipedia pictures, there's a photo of a bottle of Pervitin that includes the chemical formula of the drug, rather than a generic name. (It says "Pervitin / 1-phenyl-2-methyl-aminopropan" not "Pervitin / methamphetamine.")

Methamphetamine is, as you probably know, a somewhat more dangerous and addictive drug than amphetamine. It has a methyl (CH3) group on its nitrogen atom, which makes the molecule slightly more able to pass through the blood-brain barrier. But they didn't know much about that in the 40s or 50s, and it's a tossup as to which form of amphetamine becomes popular in the US market, with the caveat that people will prefer methamphetamine if they have the opportunity.

Supposing German Pervitin is marketed in the US by Temmler, people would prefer it over American Benzedrine, and the naivete of the time would have seen doctors prescribing it left and right for obesity and fatigue. (Actually, the German company would set up an American branch, as German pharmaceutical companies always do. They wouldn't be making the stuff in Germany.)

As with many drugs of abuse, the meth epidemic in the US, the one that began in the mid-40s, started in doctor's offices, with the drug being widely prescribed because doctors were assured the drug was safe. Once people start losing their teeth and dying, doctors start shying away from prescribing Pervitin by the early 50s. But that doesn't mean people can't go to a doctor who will prescribe it, and Pervitin pill mills would crop up across the United States. Meanwhile, the demand for Pervitin would start to be greater than supply and clandestine synthesis would begin. It is not a difficult drug to make, and the chemistry of the 1950s is fully capable of making it easily.

Put another way, once people have access to methamphetamine an epidemic of abuse is probably almost inevitable. The real question is, how does government tackle the problem? In OTL the dangerous drugs of abuse were mostly used by the American underclasses. The meth problem would be affecting that which the Americans call the middle class, that is, people with jobs and families. I suspect that drug policy would be much gentler than we saw OTL. Meth manufacturers would still be imprisoned but ordinary users would be funneled into treatment programs instead of jails. (That begs a second question -- what does a 1950s drug rehabilitation program look like? Electric shocks, perhaps? Or would the AA model with its views of Higher Powers be preferred?)

It's an interesting what-if, and one that I think almost unfolds by itself. If you provide people with easy access to methamphetamine some fraction of the population will abuse it, and the result is a meth epidemic. Your WI simply makes the epidemic happen earlier. And, unfortunately, it would remain in some form to the present day.
 

Deleted member 1487

Supposing German Pervitin is marketed in the US by Temmler, people would prefer it over American Benzedrine, and the naivete of the time would have seen doctors prescribing it left and right for obesity and fatigue. (Actually, the German company would set up an American branch, as German pharmaceutical companies always do. They wouldn't be making the stuff in Germany.)
It was an over the counter drug in Germany, couldn't it be sold as such in the US as well for a time?

AA was started in the 1930s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholics_Anonymous#Oxford_Group_origins
 
1. During the late 1960s, hippies in the U.S. spread the slogan "speed kills." That is, the hippies kind of took care of themselves (more or less successfully).

2. In the 2000s and 2010s, with declining economic prospects, opioid and meth use increased. Which I take to mean that drug addiction is to a large extent a disease of hopelessness. and yes, all kinds of exceptions, of course
 

Deleted member 1487

2. In the 2000s and 2010s, with declining economic prospects, drug use increased. Which I take to mean that drug addiction is to a large extent a disease of hopelessness.
That is a popular theory now, but some people just have addictive personalities that become psychologically dependent on a drug as much as physically, so some would just be succeptible in any economic situation and perhaps the boredom of life in middle class success would also facilitate it as well, as drinking to excess was pretty popular among the 'straight laced' middle class (as were things like xanax and the like).
 
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