Military use
One of the earliest uses of amphetamine and methamphetamine was during
World War II, when they were used by Axis and Allied forces.
[39]
As early as 1919, Akira Ogata synthesized methamphetamine via reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and iodine. Later, the chemists Hauschild and Dobke from the German pharmaceutical company
Temmler developed an easier method for converting ephedrine to methamphetamine. As a result, it was possible for Temmler to market it on a large scale as a nonprescription drug under the trade name
Pervitin (methamphetamine hydrochloride). It was not until 1986 that Pervitin became a controlled substance, requiring a special prescription to obtain.
[40] Pervitin was commonly used by the German and Finnish militaries.
[39][41]
It was widely distributed across German military ranks and divisions, from elite forces to tank crews and aircraft personnel, with many millions of tablets being distributed throughout the war for its performance enhancing stimulant effects and to induce extended
wakefulness.
[42] Its use by German
Tank (
Panzer) crews also led to it being known as
Panzerschokolade ("Tank-Chocolates").
[43][44] It was also colloquially known among German
Luftwaffe pilots as
Stuka-Tabletten ("
Stuka-Tablets") and
Hermann-Göring-Pillen ("
Herman-Göring-Pills").
[41] More than 35 million three-milligram doses of Pervitin were manufactured for the German army and air force between April and July 1940.
[45] From 1942 until his death in 1945,
Adolf Hitler was given intravenous injections of methamphetamine by his personal physician
Theodor Morell.
[45]