r/Drugs AMA series: Methamphetamine ("meth," "crystal meth")
The positions of specific drugs in our poll of redditors just keep jostling around. As such, we now come to a drug with a very seedy reputation often associated with the lower class and AMC. Taking a bit of a detour from our string of intensely mind-expanding drugs, today's AMA is about methamphetamine.
First synthesis: 1893 by Nagai Nagayoshi, though crystallized methamphetamine was first synthesized in 1919 by Akira Ogata.
Intended use: Originally FDA approved for use in treating narcolepsy, mild depression, a Parkinson's precursor, chronic alcoholism, cerebral arteriosclerosis (stiffening of the arteries in the brain) and hay fever, it is currently only approved for use in treating ADHD and obesity.
Current research into medical applications: None.
Legality: Legal as a prescription in the US, illegal essentially everywhere else.
Despite it's long history of abuse, meth appears on neither of these charts (though amphetamine may offer a reasonable approximation in the first chart).
Posted Aug 17, 2011, 7:32 PM UTC · edited