On Speed: The Many Lives of Amphetamine

Acknowledgments; Introduction 1; 1. The New Sensation 7; 2. Benzedrine: The Making Of A Modern Medicine 32; 3. Speed And Total War 69; 4. Bootleggers, Beatniks, And Benzedrine Benders 113; 5. A Bromide For The Atomic Age 149; 6. Amphetamine And The Go-Go Years 195; 7. Amphetamine's Decline, From Mental Medicine To Social Disease 239; 8. Fast Forward: Still On Speed, 1971 To Today 293; Conclusion: The Lessons Of History 337; Notes 345; List of Archival Sources 387; Index

University of New South Wales

"Brilliant." The Guardian "Fascinating and thoroughly researched... The history of amphetamines over the past years shows the iron fisted grasp the drug industry has had and continues to have over the medical industry." British Medical Association "Rasmussen blends science, medical history, and social history with fresh archival research. He fills the narrative with telling details and cultural insights... This is a superb book." Journal of American History "On Speed, a fascinating history of the use and abuse of amphetamines, is full of hair-raising detail... Even more compelling than the historical perspective - which allows for visits to Harlem Jazz clubs, the haunts of Greenwich Village beatniks and Andy Warhol's Factory - is Mr. Rasmussen's withering survey of the current scene, with speed, in the form of Ritalin and Adderall, prescribed to millions of American children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, and millions more using it recreationally. Add a dash of theorizing about the medicalization of social problems, and you have a book that is, well, addictive." Adam Begley (aka Begley the Bookie), The New York Observer "It's hard to believe that amphetamine, a drug of questionable medical utility and extreme addiction hazard, was once considered among the twentieth century's pharmaceutical triumphs, on a par with penicillin and insulin. How it attained and lost that status is the subject of this perceptive book." Washington Post Book World "Rasmussen ... examines amphetamine as a case study on the place drugs occupy in our culture and our fantasies (of miracle cures and elixirs)... At the book's core is an outstanding chapter, Bootleggers, Beatniks and Benzedrine Benders, describing how Benzedrine inhalers, available without a prescription, could be cracked open for a totally new kind of amphetamine experience, exerting a potent influence on music and literature, from Charlie Parker to Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg." Publishers Weekly