History and Analysis of methamphetamine

The host discusses the history and analysis of methamphetamine, highlighting its addictive nature and potential for triggering emotional responses. Methamphetamine was first synthesized in 1893 and used by both Allied and Axis powers during World War II. It contains ephedra, a controversial substance with stimulant effects. Methamphetamine is chemically similar to amphetamine and is used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy. The host emphasizes the importance of not romanticizing the drug and provides information on its chemical structure and potential for addiction and abuse. The podcast aims to raise awareness and promote education on the science of methamphetamine. Hello honeys! And welcome to the third episode of Daydreaming Again. I am your host, Princess of Sez- bleh, I pronounced my surname wrong there. I am your host, Princess of Sezivore, and I'm back again with yet another podcast, and for today's topic, we are going to be going off topic. As per usual. No, but seriously, today we are going to be diving into some illegal shit. We are going to be diving into the history and analysis of methamphetamine. In fact, we are going to be breaking bad! Before I get started, I'm going to add in yet another content warning, because some of the topics we will be discussing today are quite sensitive, so stay tuned. The topic of methamphetamine can be sensitive and may trigger emotional responses for some listeners. The discussion may include descriptions of addiction, drug use and other related topics that may be unsettling or disturbing for some listeners. The aim of this podcast is to raise awareness and promote education around the science of this synthetic drug. The following content contains scientific research I did on my own and studied. I am not fully qualified to give pharmaceutical nor medical advice. And please remember, this does not replace your textbook or any knowledge you receive from a lecturer or a tutor or even your doctor. Your discretion is advised. I also want to put out there that please, and I mean it in the least disrespectful way, if you do know somebody who, and I know this is probably not very helpful, but if you do know someone who is struggling with an addiction to meth, it's obviously not easy to get help because this drug is very addictive and that's what we're going to dive into today. And hopefully, I hope this podcast promotes some understanding towards meth addicts. Please bear in mind that I'm going to be calling methamphetamine methamphetamine because that's her full name and she doesn't really like going by her nickname meth because it sounds illegal. And as I did say previously, we're not talking about crystal meth, we are talking about methamphetamine. What is methamphetamine? Methamphetamine, also known as meth, as I did say, is a central nervous system highly addictive stimulant. It is chemically similar to amphetamine, a drug which was used in the past to treat ADHD, also known as Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder, as you may know, and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder, as most people probably don't know. Where did methamphetamine come from, you may ask? Well, guess what? I'm actually asking the exact same question because I didn't know until I did research. And bear in mind, research isn't like, oh, just googling things. It also comes from talking to people, learning things, and also listening. So it's not just me sitting down, googling all this crap. It's me actually actively listening to different sources of information. Methamphetamine was actually first synthesized by a Japanese chemist known as Nagai Nagayoshi in 1893. Hopefully I pronounced that right. But you see the way we have, like, people of color in the group chat? I know it's not, like, black, but it's still Asian, and it's like, you know, we in the group chat, you know that we in the group, anyways. At this specific time, methamphetamine was used by both the Allies and Axis powers to keep troops awake during World War II. This could have been how methamphetamine was linked back to narcolepsy and keeping people awake, because narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes people to sleep. It was also discovered that methamphetamine contained a substance called ephedra, which also contained a stimulant called ephedrine. Ephedra, a traditional Chinese herb commonly used in herbal supplements and weight loss products, has been the subject of controversy due to its potential health risks. Which, I don't know how true that is, because I've never actually heard of this, so maybe it's not as controversial as I think it is. Ephedrine works by increasing heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to increased metabolism and energy epidentia. However, it can also have dangerous side effects, such as heart palpitations, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and sometimes even stroke. It was banned in many countries as a result of its side effects, which is not surprising. Because I mean, if it's having side effects such as heart palpitations, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, obviously it's going to be banned, so that's not surprising. American pharmaceutical companies started marketing amphetamine, not methamphetamine, but amphetamine inhalers for the use of asthma and nasal congestion in 1932. Their inhaler medication, called denzedrine, was actually available without a prescription, which is crazy, because with most drugs in that nature, they would need prescriptions. People soon discovered its euphoric, energising side effects, and they decided that because of the stimulant type of effects, pharmaceutical companies began to manufacture denzedrine in pill form for narcolepsy. Again, with the narcolepsy. Unfortunately, at some point, methamphetamine was marketed as over-the-counter during World War II, so it was an over-the-counter drug. So as I said, the problem wasn't already bad. I mean, failure and death and problems were already set in stone from the very beginning that this drug was made. I don't know how they didn't see it. Of course, back then, it was just like, okay, you see a chemical on the table, oh yeah, just pick it up with your tongue. You know, you don't even need to be careful, because that's just the way it is. But I can't believe that there was literally no prescription for meth. I think next up, I'm just going to talk about the medicinal and chemistry part of methamphetamine. The IUPAC ID name for methamphetamine is N-Methyl-1-Phenyl-Propan-2-Amine. It's obviously not going to be like methamphetamine, because the IUPAC ID names are used for chemists and pharmacists from around the world to kind of interact with each other so they can all know what drug specifically they're talking about. However, methamphetamine does have a molecular formula of C10H15N. But who knows, this could be similar to another compound, it could be other compounds found that may have this molecular formula and the same molecular mass of 149.2337 grams per mole. If we take a look at the actual chemical structure of methamphetamine, we can see that methamphetamine is a chiral compound, which means that it has two mirror image forms that are not superimposable on each other. The active form of the drug is actually known as the dextroisomer, also known as D-methamphetamine, while levoisomer, the levo side of the isomer, which is known as the left hand side, which I'm going to also explain after this, is also known as L-methamphetamine, is an active and has no significant stimulant effects. So you're probably wondering what I meant when I said dextro and levo. Levo, you can remember that as L, which is to the left and dextro is to the right. Methamphetamine also consists of a phenol ring, which is a derivative of the benzene ring in chemistry. So the phenol ring will consist of six carbons and five hydrogens, where one of the hydrogens are lost. So the molecular formula for phenol is C6H5. This is what makes up the phenol ethylamine backbone in methamphetamine. This consists of three carbon groups attached to an amine group, which is an NH2. Hence the name B-tyl set amine, because there's an amine group in methamphetamine. Phenol, of course, is attached at the end because it's the right side of the chiral group, the dextro form. As I said, we're talking about the stimulated form of methamphetamine, not the non-stimulated form. So we're not talking about the L conformation. We are talking about the D conformation. For those of you that are curious about how methamphetamine got its name, meth, well, I mean, it has a methyl group that was substituted at some point and also an adoxy group that's also substituted. The methyl group is CH3. That's what it looks like. And the adoxy group is basically the exact same thing as the methyl group, but this time it has oxygen. There you go. Additionally, methamphetamine has another amine group, which is a secondary amine group attached onto the second carbon. Hence, second carbon, secondary, you know. This makes methamphetamine a bit more longer lasting and a bit more potent than other amphetamine derivatives. In other words, it's a bit more longer. It's a bit better than its other sisters. But I guess with the side effects of methamphetamine, it's not too great either. So that's something you should bear in mind. This drug should not be romanticized. I don't think so. Methamphetamine itself can also be used to synthesize other drugs such as MDMA, which is known by its scientific name, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, there again with the oxygen. At least we know now that the full name of MDMA is definitely not Yolks, Ecstasy or MOLIE, which is an innocent cute girl name, as the media has given it. It's clearly something a bit more scientific, unfortunately, because that one is harder to remember. So we learned that methamphetamine is a derivative of amphetamine, but now MDMA is also a derivative of methamphetamine. So you see the chain where it's all leading up to one synthetic drug is used to make another and then another. That's something to bear in mind because all these drugs are synthetic and aren't naturally occurring, but were originally derived from naturally occurring products. So it's good to take that into consideration in the future and realize what is natural and what isn't. Overall, the chemical structure of methamphetamine plays a significant role in its pharmacological effects on the brain and the body, as well as its potential for addiction and abuse in our society. Thank you guys for tuning in today for the third episode of Daydreaming Again. I will make sure to list down all the references and resources that helped me educate myself today on this episode. If you would like to see more content of me going off topic, going on a tangent and talking shit, you can subscribe to me on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And if you're not interested in listening to me, then you know what? No biggie. However, as I said in my first two episodes, I am willing to listen to you. Once again, I am your host, Princess Asezabur, and I'll see y'all next time. Bye honey!