What Are Amphetamines and Ecstasy?

Amphetamines raise the level of certain chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the brain. These neurotransmitters, in turn, affect a number of physical and psychological processes, including movement, cognition (things like concentration, attention, perception, learning and memory), motivation, mood, appetite, sleep and the ‘flight or fight’ response.

It is these chemical changes that produce the stimulant effects such as euphoria and alertness that are sought after by amphetamine users. However, because the drug alters the natural balance of chemicals in the brain, there are also negative short and long-term consequences of use. There are a number of potential negative consequences, but dehydrationand fatigue are among the most common.

The stimulant properties of amphetamines are desired for recreational purposes, but are also sought to enhance performance (e.g. by drivers, students and sports people). Using stimulants to enhance performance is not new. People have used stimulants from coffee to guarana for thousands of years. Roman gladiators used a stimulant called chat to overcome fatigue when fighting. People in China have been drinking Ma Hung, a stimulant drink made from the herb Ephedra vulgaris, for over 5,000 years. Pre-Columbian civilizations such as the Inca chewed coca leaves for stamina.

Amphetamine was first synthesized by German chemist L. Edeleano in 1887. It was developed without a specific purpose and there was no understanding of the physiological or psychological effects. It was not tested on humans until the 1920s and by 1927 was known to stimulate the central nervous system and raise blood pressure. In the 1930s, amphetamine was found to dilate the alveoli (small sacs of the lungs), thereby easing breathing difficulties. Smith, Kline and French first manufactured the Benzedrine® inhaler in 1932. People used the inhaler to treat illnesses involving breathing difficulties such as asthma and hay fever. It was not until later that the psychostimulant properties of amphetamines were recognized. Doctors routinely prescribed ‘pep pills’ from 1937 onwards to treat a range of conditions including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, obesity, depression and impotence. It was even used to treat weariness in older people. In the 1930s it was found that amphetamines could awaken dogs under anaesthesia, and subsequently amphetamine pills were developed to treat narcolepsy (a sleep disorder). In 1937 Charles Bradley discovered the contradictory effects amphetamines have on hyperactive children. Rather than stimulating hyperactive children, amphetamines produce a calming effect. Licit (legal) forms of amphetamine are still used in Australia today to treat Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Amphetamines have been prescribed as appetite suppressants to combat obesity and encourage weight loss, particularly in women. Though uncommon, legal forms of amphetamine such as Dexedrine® are also prescribed for depression, particularly in the United States of America.

Methamphetamine, a potent and easier to manufacture form of amphetamine, was first synthesized from ephedrine in Japan in 1919 by Akira Ogata. In 1940, Burroughs Wellcome began marketing methamphetamine in the US under the trade name Methederine®. It continues to be legally produced in the US under the name Desoxyn®.

Concern with large-scale non-medical use of amphetamines began to surface in health literature around the 1940s. The first published reports about amphetamine use and dependence, as well as amphetamine abuse, appeared in the US in 1938. The growing body of research about the deleterious effects of amphetamines led to restrictions in the US, the United Kingdom and Australia by the late 1950s and 1960s. Only a few forms are legally available in Australia today.