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Captagon is not pseudoephedrine as this silly article says it. Captagon is fenethylline - it breaks down in the body into amphetamine and theophylline. In contr

Captagon is not pseudoephedrine as this silly article says it. Captagon is fenethylline - it breaks down in the body into amphetamine and theophylline. In contrast, pseudoephedrine is used in labs to produce methamphetamine which is too different. Immediate-release pseudoephedrine can in fact be very hard on the heart. Every country has its own favorite drug that fuels war. Back in the day, it was just nicotine via tobacco cigarettes. in WWII it was amphetamine and methamphetamine. In the Vietnam war it was heroin. In Southeast Asia it's meth. In Russia it is vodka. In South America it's coca leaves or cocaine. In Yemen and Somalia, it's khat. In Nigeria it's tramadol.

duskwuff 2y ago
The drug originally marketed as Captagon was an amphetamine prodrug, yes. What's actually being sold under that name in the Middle East is any number of things; it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of them contained pseudoephedrine.
- OutOfHere 2y ago
  There is no evidence I am aware of that Captagon is actually being sold as anything but fenethylline. By your standard, Captagon can be anything and it has no meaning. It can even be caffeine or B12. That would make the article and discussion a whole lot of nothing.
rightbyte 2y ago
Neither e.g. vodka nor tobacco give the explicit tactical advantage amphetamine do, though. Spirits, cannabis and opeoids arguable give tactical disadvantage. I would differ 'humans trying to cope' and 'mindless robot' drugs. The military might proactivly want to hand out amphetamine to increase 'stamina' at the cost of soldier health and some increased risk of war crimes. 'Cope drugs' is rather some sort of damage control.
- everforward 2y ago
  Opioids were allegedly effective as propaganda in Vietnam because users wouldn't stay down when shot until they were actually dead. It doesn't offset the downsides, but there are advantages. Amphetamines have kind of dubious advantages. The benefits of increased stamina and "courage" are heavily offset by the impact on critical thinking, especially with sustained use. Afaik, the only use by professional militaries is for pilots where the regimen is much easier to monitor and maintain. Russia allegedly used them during the invasion of Ukraine, but I'd be curious if they were given to professional soldiers or conscripts/shock troops. At the end of WWII, the Germans were messing with a tablet that was a compound of cocaine, methamphetamine and oxycodone. I cannot even imagine what the come down from all that plus a 90 km/day marching speed with 20kg of equipment was like.

duskwuff 2y ago

The drug originally marketed as Captagon was an amphetamine prodrug, yes. What's actually being sold under that name in the Middle East is any number of things; it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of them contained pseudoephedrine.

OutOfHere 2y ago
There is no evidence I am aware of that Captagon is actually being sold as anything but fenethylline. By your standard, Captagon can be anything and it has no meaning. It can even be caffeine or B12. That would make the article and discussion a whole lot of nothing.

rightbyte 2y ago

Neither e.g. vodka nor tobacco give the explicit tactical advantage amphetamine do, though. Spirits, cannabis and opeoids arguable give tactical disadvantage. I would differ 'humans trying to cope' and 'mindless robot' drugs. The military might proactivly want to hand out amphetamine to increase 'stamina' at the cost of soldier health and some increased risk of war crimes. 'Cope drugs' is rather some sort of damage control.

everforward 2y ago
Opioids were allegedly effective as propaganda in Vietnam because users wouldn't stay down when shot until they were actually dead. It doesn't offset the downsides, but there are advantages. Amphetamines have kind of dubious advantages. The benefits of increased stamina and "courage" are heavily offset by the impact on critical thinking, especially with sustained use. Afaik, the only use by professional militaries is for pilots where the regimen is much easier to monitor and maintain. Russia allegedly used them during the invasion of Ukraine, but I'd be curious if they were given to professional soldiers or conscripts/shock troops. At the end of WWII, the Germans were messing with a tablet that was a compound of cocaine, methamphetamine and oxycodone. I cannot even imagine what the come down from all that plus a 90 km/day marching speed with 20kg of equipment was like.