alternatehistory.com

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?
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