In ww2 meth was given to huge amounts of soldiers in pill form from almost all the army’s, the US army, the Japanese army, and the German army, so they could fight for days with little sleep. Do you think all this drug use contributed to the widespread drug use in the 60’s?
I have difficulty with your question.
Accepting that meth was given to certain groups of combatants (eg Kamikaze pilots) and some other troops, I have never heard of it being given in huge amounts to anyone. Do you have a source for this? As an aside, I am not convinced you could fight for days without sleep (or little sleep) given the properties. Being in combat would give most people the capacity to fight until worn out.
Secondly, where is the linkage to “widespread” drug use in the 60’s? Again, how was drug use wide spread? It may have been well publicised and experimented with but I have doubts over the “widespread” angle. I see no connection with the combatants of WW 2 and their probable offspring 20 years later.
Finally, meth then was not the same potent meth as is available today.
And as a post note " almost all the army’s, the US army, the Japanese army, and the German army, " does not constitute almost all the armies of a World War. That is three armies.
I’ve read that the German army on the Eastern Front ran on Benzedrine and schnapps, but have seen no other references to amphetamine use during WW2. And I’ve read a lot of WW2 history.
There were stories of LURPs (Long Range Patrols) using amphetamines while on patrols in Nam. But there were LOTS of stories going around and there was a high bullshit to signal ratio. And LURPs were weird and kept to themselves anyway. They made the SF A-teams seem warm and welcoming.
I have seen several references to amphetamine use during WW2.
Methamphetamines were indeed handed out to WW2 German soldiers. One common brand name was Pervitin, known among the grunts as Panzerschokolade (“tank chocolate”). For more on the matter, see this German-language Wikipedia page - scroll down to “Verwendung im Zweiten Weltkrieg” - or this English-language article from The Atlantic. Meth was, of course, invented by the Japanese, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they used it, too.
I, too, fail to see the connection to the 1960’s, but would love to learn more.
I know that regular amphetamine is and has been given to certain soldiers, but I’m not aware that meth was. Keep in mind that methamphetamine is an approved drug for ADHD - and is available in an oral form (although it isn’t used very often). If used orally it isn’t like the meth you see on breaking bad and such.
This doesn’t mean you can’t get addicted, but the chance is lower - similar to the difference between taking oxycodone orally and injecting heroin. Plenty of people become addicted to taking oxycodone, but if taken as prescribed - for short periods of time - the chance is much lower.
How is it different? I know at least some people use illicit meth orally, supposedly it lasts longer than smoking it or IV even though it is less intense.
LRRP - ‘Long-range reconnaissance patrol’.
Yes it did. Of course many other drugs developed or made available during and after WWII also contributed to a new drug culture, so why highlight that one? They may not be true but there are plenty of stories of wounded soldiers becoming opiate addicts after receiving morphine for their injuries. IIRC until sometime in the 60s doctors could prescribe amphetamines for any reason, I would think their use as diet pills and hangover cures for pro-athletes would have contributed more to non-medical drug usage than their use to keep pilots awake on long missions.
The basic point is that the availability of drugs and a culture built around using those drugs for non-medical purposes was the reason for their more widespread usage.
A lot of 1940s-1960s fiction makes reference to casual use of uppers and downers among the nominally middle and upper class; I think this probably reflects more general attitudes. For the first time, fatigue or insomnia or tension or “low pep” could be handily and easily fixed by good ol’ Doc Brown. Since they were prescribed, they were of course safe and beneficial, too.
I’ve seen quite a few references in 1960s-1970s drug culture writings to arguments why pot was bad if Dad was a scotch belter and Mom had her bluies. Leaning on the anecdotal, here, but I think it’s clear that we were entranced with the magic of pharmaceuticals more widely and naively than any time since. The developments during WWII, and usage of miracle pep boosters during, might have contributed to that thinking but I don’t see any direct linkage to widespread drug use.
I mentioned it becasue a ton, maybe millions of soldiers were given meth daily for years, as opposed to some wounded solders getting morphine for a couple weeks after they were wounded.
Citation needed.
I don’t have it handy, but the book Methland makes the case that just this happened. That GIs came back from the war and because of their work ethic, used meth to work hard and long hours ad they had in the war. And because of that, meth wasn’t viewed at a bad thing initially in the mid-west.
I have heard many accounts of tranquilizer use by housewives in the 50’s and 60’s from a variety of sources but this thread is the only place I have heard of widespread meth use by men during the same time period. I’m not saying it didn’t happen but if it did it’s was hidden pretty well.
Agreed. That type of assertion demands some back-up, otherwise it’s bullshit.
If you have journal access this is interesting:
Rasmussen N. Medical science and the military: the Allies’ use of amphetamine
during World War II. J Interdiscip Hist. 2011;42(2):205-33. PubMed PMID:
22073434.
In 1968, the MD at the student clinic (Purdue) gave me script for di-amphetamine (sp?) for the mornings and a hideous sleeper named Doriden (subsequently withdrawn due to problems).
Because of insomnia and 07:30 classes.
Fortunately, I hate downers and the amphetamine scared me. Thank gawd for psychedelics…
Oh yes: if your research comes across a recreational drug of the 60’s-70’s called “Ciba”, it was Doriden (Ciba-Geigy likes to stamp “CIBA” on everything). It was embossed on the Doriden tablets.
That’s not really very many, given that there were nearly 21 million German soldiers. And that a single dose is effective for only a few hours.
So a hundred million doses would have lasted 5 days, out of the 2,075 days of WWII.
I’d still like a better, more detailed cite for this.