It was not until several decades later that the addictive properties and psychiatric complications of amphetamines were fully recognized by the medical community.
U.s. Patterns and TrendsIn the 1940s and 1950s amphetamines were prescribed liberally and soon surpassed cocaine as an illicit stimulant widely available on the street. The increase in the popularity of amphetamines was influenced by easy availability, low cost, and long duration of effect (eight to twelve hours). Between the 1930s and the 1970s the public could obtain amphetamines, such as Benzedrine, in a variety of over-the-counter (OTC) nasal inhaler preparations. Abuse involved breaking open the inhalers and ingesting directly or soaking the fillers in alcohol orcoffee. Although inhaleruse may have introduced hundreds of thousands of Americans to amphetamine abuse, this type of abuse was most prevalent in prison populations and among deviant groups. The ability to cause euphoria, dysphoria, and psychic stimulation resulted in removal of amphetamine-like drugs from OTC inhaler preparations in 1971.
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