Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Amped Up For War
Going to war can be a very exhausting thing. For hours and even days, your body will be depleted of food, sleep and energy. But, what if there was a quick fix? What if doctors had a drug that could make the user feel wide awake, more alert, and a more positive person? These were the common side effects from the use of amphetamines in time of war. A couple times throughout history the drug has been given to soldiers to help them. The most renown time is WWII; Japanese, American, and even Nazi soldiers were having amphetamines pumped into there veins. The Nazis used a slightly different formula though, they used a tablet with cocaine, amphetamine, and morphine. The use of drugs in this war solved much of the short term consequences for soldiers, but it also led to a huge number of soldiers that became addicted, and this, in my opinion, wasnt worth the risk of using drugs in war. Im sure that a lot of soldiers experienced serious paranoia, and of course we already know the effects of amphetamines on the heart. In short, amphetamines were a quick fix to some of the tough components of war, but how could we addict our soldiers to a drug we knew so little about at the time?
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Interesting post. The book Black Hawk Down describes Somalians that use khat to get high and the effects it had on them during war. The drug made the feel invincible and experience little pain.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, do you think this has any applications in the commercial world? I read one of Roald Hoffmann's books called "The Same and Not the Same" and he mentioned that before it was required that drugs be rigourously tested before going on the market, doctors were doing exactly as you said the army was doing. Prescribing drugs when they weren't completely sure of their effects.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind. It's more a flaw of the time than a flaw of the military.
Unless this kind of thing is still going on today. In that case, further examination of the issue is needed.