13 ms·

I was getting increasingly confused so I just looked up the history. Adderall was invented to renew the approval of a weight loss drug which contained two salt

I was getting increasingly confused so I just looked up the history. Adderall was invented to renew the approval of a weight loss drug which contained two salts each of methamphetamine and amphetamine. They replaced the methsalts with 2 more amphetamine salts, for some reason. That's why the 4 salts. Adderall was introduced in 1997, which suprised me. I always assumed adderall was first because surely it would be easier to synthesize than enantiomerically pure d-amph. But apparently Dexedrine has been around as a treatment for narcolepsy and attention problems since 1937. So it's not so much that the world moved on to dex, more that the US moved on to adderall for historical reasons having to do with pharmaceutical patents, approval and marketing. And the rest of the world were just fine staying with dex, which makes perfect sense to me.

gtop3 4y ago
> I always assumed adderall was first because surely it would be easier to synthesize than enantiomerically pure d-amph. I am not a chemist/pharmacist, but I am under the impression that amphetamine synthesis is neither complicated nor recent. I am under this impression because a) References to different amphetamines are common place as early as the 40s and b) The United States has a rich criminal history of amateur methamphetamine production.
- loeg 4y ago
  Amphetamines were extremely common during and after WW2, for example.
  - sawjet 4y ago
    They were often included in WW2 military rations. The name of the German variant was Pervertin. Based on the side effects encountered when using it.
    - pseudalopex 4y ago
      Pervitin was a German methamphetamine brand. Do you have evidence it was named for side effects?
ZeroGravitas 4y ago
Random Trivia: the 80s band ”Dexys Midnight Runners" were named for the recreational use of Dexedrine which was apparently common in the UKs Northern Soul community.

gtop3 4y ago

> I always assumed adderall was first because surely it would be easier to synthesize than enantiomerically pure d-amph. I am not a chemist/pharmacist, but I am under the impression that amphetamine synthesis is neither complicated nor recent. I am under this impression because a) References to different amphetamines are common place as early as the 40s and b) The United States has a rich criminal history of amateur methamphetamine production.

loeg 4y ago
Amphetamines were extremely common during and after WW2, for example.
- sawjet 4y ago
  They were often included in WW2 military rations. The name of the German variant was Pervertin. Based on the side effects encountered when using it.
  - pseudalopex 4y ago
    Pervitin was a German methamphetamine brand. Do you have evidence it was named for side effects?

ZeroGravitas 4y ago

Random Trivia: the 80s band ”Dexys Midnight Runners" were named for the recreational use of Dexedrine which was apparently common in the UKs Northern Soul community.