THE DRUG BENZEDRINE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4043, 4 May 1938, Page 3

THE DRUG BENZEDRINE

“Give a dog a bad name and hang him” is a maxim that holds good in regard to drugs as well as living crea tures, judging by the publicity given the “confidence drug,” benzedrine, of late, writes a Sydney correspondent, who adds that the N.S.W. Pharmacy Board is collecting data' concerning the drug with a possible view to its control, but this does not mean that it is being used as a “dope” in Sydney, or that a habit can be formed for it as for cocaine or heroin. Actually benzedrine has been known for thirty years. Recently it came into use in America as an application to the nose in hay fever; a curious physician tried its effect by mouth, found it gave him a mental “kick,’ and the boom began. The mental effect of benzedrine is much like that of a big dose of black coffee. The taker gets the same wakeful flow of spirits and confidence. The wakeful effect, is exploited by physicians in narcolepsy, an after effect of “sleepy sickness” (encephalitis leth argica), in which the patient falls asleep at all hours of the day. But in certain people even a small dose of the drug sets up distressing symptoms dizziness, palpitation, "shivers,” dry mouth, insomnia, and loss of appetite. Hence as a remedy in nerve cases it needs careful watching by a medical man; this is one reason why its restriction is suggested. In Sydney doctors are prescribing it fairly frequently, and it is in use at the chief mental hospitals. At the latter mild mental depressions (“anxiety states”) benefit from it, but true melancholia is not relieved. Naturally a drug which can set up prolonged insomnia is dangerous in the hands of nervy or suicidal individuals. Otherwise benzedrine (except for the over-susceptibles) seems harmless.