During the Second World War Allied soldiers and pilots, like the Germans, were also issued amphetamines. This was not without controversy. The Luftwaffe soon gave up on the drugs because amphetamines seemed to make pilots overconfident and less attentive to details. A Canadian study found no distinction in performance on obstacle courses or on long marches between drugged and non-drugged soldiers, although the amphetamine takers performed the tasks with greater exuberance. It seemed that amphetamines boosted morale even if they did not improve performance.
But there were problems. If a little amphetamine was good, some thought, more should be better. But that was not necessarily the case. One officer who had plied himself with a rather large dose of amphetamine reported seeing enemy aircraft and submarines that didn’t actually exist. Amphetamines could cause hallucinations! They could also encourage soldiers to carry on duties without rest, often giving them the illusion of performing well while they were actually making mistakes. Still, amphetamines made men more cheerful, more optimistic and more determined to fight.
After the war, amphetamines were widely prescribed as anti-depressants, undoubtedly welcomed by many former soldiers who had become dependent on the pills. As Americans began to fatten up after the lean war years, the appetite-suppressant effect of amphetamines also became marketable. By the 1960s over ten million North Americans were using amphetamines one way or another. President Kennedy was one of them.
Dr. Max Jacobson, also known as “Dr. Feelgood,” repeatedly injected the President to help him cope with severe back problems. Amphetamines were cruising through Kennedy’s blood during the classic TV debate with Nixon, the famous meeting with Khruschev as well as during the Cuban missile crisis. When his associates became concerned, Kennedy retorted, “I don’t care if it’s horse urine, it’s the only thing that works!”
But evidence about the sinister effects of amphetamines on society was mounting. Even Ginsburg finally declared that “speed is anti-social, paranoid making, it’s a drag, bad for your body, bad for your mind.” Regulatory authorities stepped in and by the end of the 60s amphetamine use had declined dramatically.
