STIMULANT
DRUGS
Amphetamines-stimulants for the central nervous system-were first
introduced in the 1920's. Best known for their ability to combat fatigue and
sleepiness, they have many medical uses.
Under some
circumstances, they may be employed as an aid in weight reduction because of
their appetite-suppressing effect. They are sometimes used in the treatment of
mild mental depression. In some children-who tend to be overactive and
irritable, behavior problems in school and at home--the amphetamines have what
seems to be a paradoxical effect: though basically stimulants, in these
children they have a valuable calmative effect.
Stimulants have been widely
abused. There has been a heavy illegal traffic in such agents as Benzedrine,
Dexedrine, and Methedrine, commonly called pep pills, bennies, and speed.
While these
drugs produce no physical dependence, a tolerance to them does develop and
increasingly large doses are required to achieve the same results. Their
effects are many: increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, palpitations,
dilation of the pupils, dry mouth, sweating, headache, diarrhea, paleness.
The
drugs stimulate the release of norepinephrine, a neurohormone ordinarily stored
in nerve endings. Norepinephrine be- comes concentrated in higher brain
centers. When seriously abused, the stimulants can produce exhaustion and
temporary psychosis which may require hospitalization.
When used for long periods for
"kicks" or for staying awake, the drugs have another danger: they may
lead people to try to do things beyond their physical capacity, leaving them
seriously exhausted at best and, at worst, leading them into serious and even
fatal accidents. "Speeding," the injection of Methedrine into a vein,
has still other dangers. An unaccustomed high dose can kill.
And injections may
lead to critical serum hepatitis. Heavy chronic users of stimulant drugs tend
to become irritable and unstable and, like other chronic drug users, may suffer
social, intellectual, and emotional breakdown. In our heavily medicated
society, the abuse of stimulants is not limited to young people and thrill
seekers.
Many otherwise intelligent persons get on a kind of pill-go-round,
using sedatives to calm themselves down and fall asleep and stimulants to wake
themselves up and keep going.
