Origins: ephedra, Nagai, and early synthesis

The use of stimulants during WWII is no secret, but in the last decade, there has been a lot of discussion and analysis of it. Just how significant was drug use in Nazi Germany, and how did the Allies compare?

Research:

• Ackermann, Paul. “Les soldats nazis dopés à la méthamphétamine pour rester concentrés.” HuffPost France. June 4, 2013. https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/actualites/article/les-soldats-nazis-dopes-a-la-methamphetamine-pour-rester-concentres_19714.html
• Andreas, Peter. “How Methamphetamine Became a Key Part of Nazi Military Strategy.” Time. Jan. 7, 2020. https://time.com/5752114/nazi-military-drugs/
• Blakemore, Erin. “A Speedy History of America’s Addiction to Amphetamine.” Smithsonian. Oct. 27, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/speedy-history-americas-addiction-amphetamine-180966989/
• Boeck, Gisela, and Vera Koester. “Who Was the First to Synthesize Methamphetamine?” Chemistry Views. https://www.chemistryviews.org/9-who-first-synthesized-methamphetamine/ “Ephedra.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.” https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/ephedra
• Eghigian, Greg, PhD. “A Methamphetamine Dictatorship? Hitler, Nazi Germany, and Drug Abuse.” Psychiatric Times. June 23, 2016. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/methamphetamine-dictatorship-hitler-nazi-germany-and-drug-abuse
• Garber, Megan, “‘Pilot’s Salt’: The Third Reich Kept Its Soldiers Alert With Meth.” The Atlantic. May 31, 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/pilots-salt-the-third-reich-kept-its-soldiers-alert-with-meth/276429/
• Gifford, Bill. “The Scientific AmericanGuide to Cheating in the Olympics.” Scientific American. August 5, 2016. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-scientific-american-guide-to-cheating-in-the-olympics/
• Gorvett, Zaria. “The Drug Pilots Take to Stay Awake.” BBC. March 14, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240314-the-drug-pilots-take-to-stay-awake
• Grinspoon, Lester. “The speed culture : amphetamine use and abuse in America.” Harvard University Press. 1975. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/speedcultureamph0000grin_n3i0/mode/1up
• Gupta, Raghav et al. “Understanding the Influence of Parkinson Disease on Adolf Hitler's Decision-Making during World War II.” World Neurosurgery. Volume 84, Issue 5. 2015. Pages 1447-1452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2015.06.014.
• Hurst, Fabienne. “The German Granddaddy of Crystal Meth.” Spiegel. Dec. 23, 2013. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/crystal-meth-origins-link-back-to-nazi-germany-and-world-war-ii-a-901755.html
• Isenberg, Madison. “Volksdrogen: The Third Reich Powered by Methamphetamine.” The Macksey Journal. University of Texas at Tyler. Volume 4, Article 21. 2023. https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=senior_projects
• Laskow, Sarah. “Brewing Bad: The All-Natural Origins of Meth.” The Atlantic. Oct. 3, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/brewing-bad-the-all-natural-origins-of-meth/381045/
• Lee, Ella. “Fact check: Cocaine in Coke? Soda once contained drug but likely much less than post claims.” USA Today. July 25, 2021. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/07/25/fact-check-coke-once-contained-cocaine-but-likely-less-than-claimed/8008325002/
• Leite, Fagner Carvalho et al. “Curine, an alkaloid isolated from Chondrodendron platyphyllum inhibits prostaglandin E2 in experimental models of inflammation and pain.” Planta medica 80,13 (2014): 1072-8. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1382997
• Meyer, Ulrich. “Fritz hauschild (1908-1974) and drug research in the 'German Democratic Republic' (GDR).” Die Pharmazie 60 6 (2005): 468-72.
• Natale, Fabian. “Pervitin: how drugs transformed warfare in 1939-45.” Security Distillery. May 6, 2020. https://thesecuritydistillery.org/all-articles/pervitin-how-drugs-transformed-warfare-in-1939-45
• Ohler, Norman. “Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich.” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017.
• Rasmussen, Nicolas. “Medical Science and the Military: The Allies’ Use of Amphetamine during World War II.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 42, no. 2, 2011, pp. 205–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41291190
• “Reich Minister of Health Dr. Leonardo Conti Speaks with Hitler’s Personal Physician, Dr. Karl Brandt (August 1, 1942).” German History in Documents and Images. https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi-germany-1933-1945/reich-minister-of-health-dr-leonardo-conti-speaks-with-hitler-s-personal-physician-dr-karl-brandt-august-1-1942
• Schwarcz, Joe. “The Right Chemistry: Once a weapon, methamphetamine is now a target.” Oct. 1, 2021. https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-once-a-weapon-methamphetamine-is-now-a-target
• Snelders, Stephen and Toine Pieters. “Speed in the Third Reich: Metamphetamine (Pervitin) Use and a Drug History From Below.” Social History of Medicine. Volume 24, Issue 3. December 2011. Pages 686–699. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkq101
• “Stimulant Pervitin.” Deutschland Museum. https://www.deutschlandmuseum.de/en/collection/stimulant-pervitin/
• Tinsley, Grant. “Ephedra (Ma Huang): Weight Loss, Dangers, and Legal Status.” Helthline. March 14, 2019. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ephedra-sinica

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