Ephedrine
by Solomon H Snyder
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My excellent book: "Drugs and the Brain" by Solomon H Snyder (a fellow tripper)
contains the following factoids about Ephedrine
Ephedrine was discovered by K. K. Chen, who was looking for a substitute for
Adrenalin as an antiathsmatic (sp?). Chen was curious about chinese herbal
medicine, in particular ma huang. He and other Lilly chemists quickly isolated
ephedrine, and verified that it widened bronchial passages. Since Adrenalin
couldn't be taken orally, and had a hell of a side-effect :-) ephedrine
seemed vastly preferable. The rarity of ma huang quickly sent chemists
scrambling for a synthetic ephedrine, and sometime in the 30's, one of them
stumbled on Amphetamine.
Amphetamine was also a bronchiodilator, and could be inhaled directly,
delivering the relief within seconds. It was marketed under the name
Benzedrine and quickly became a legal, over the counter, recreational drug.
..from a 1937 Journal of the American Medical Association
"Benzedrine Tablets were used at the department for Psychology at the
University of Minnesota to study ... effects on human thought. It was
found that the substance increased alertness... Apparently, the effect
iveness of the drug in delaying the onset of sleep has induced many
University of Minnesota students so seek the drug in local Pharmacies."
Anyhoo. Ephedrine is structurally similar to the family of Amphetamines,
so it's concievable that it could serve as a precursor. this is probably
reason enough for the Feds to clamp down on it....Stock up now.
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