A 40-year-old man, who had regularly taken illicit amphetamine by intra-nasal inhalation for several years without ill effects, was admitted to hospital with signs of massive adrenergic overstimulation shortly after inhaling material which he had purchased in the belief that it was amphetamine. The administration of the beta-blocker practolol produced a paradoxical increase in blood pressure. After his discharge from hospital he suffered disabling feelings of anxiety for several weeks. Analysis of a sample of the material showed it to contain p-methyl amphetamine and N, p-dimethyl amphetamine.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaileyK.BecksteadH.D.LegaultD.VernerD. (1974) Identification of 2-, 3- and 4-methoxyamphetamines and 2-, 3- and 4-methyl amphetamines. J. Ass. Off. Anal. Chem.57, 1134–43.
2.
BeatonJ.M.SmythiesJ.R.BeningtonF.MorinR.D.ClarkL.C. (1968) Behavioral effects of some 4-substituted amphetamines. Nature, 220, 800–1.
3.
MarshD.F.HerringD.A. (1950) The pharmacological activity of the ring methyl substituted phenisopropylamines. J. Pharm. Exp. Ther.197, 298–308.
4.
SoineW.H. (1986) Clandestine drug synthesis. Med. Res. Rev.6, 41–74.
5.
van der SchootJ. B.AriënsE. J.van RossumJ. M.HurkmansJ. A. (1961) Phenylisopropylamine derivatives, structure and action. Arzneim Forschung9, 902–7.
