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increased use, a black market in amphetamines, the rise of an
amphetamine-centered subculture, and the appearance of the
"speed freak."
"In the middle of the 1940s, [Professor Inghe continues,] it
became obvious that misuse of central stimulants was now taking
shape in gangs on [a] collective basis, at first especially among
Bohemians, writers, actors, musicians and other artists and their
sycophants and admirers. At first there was only oral
administration. Among the misusers there were however a few
morphinists, and probably in the early fifties subcutaneous and
later intravenous injection of central stimulants started spreading
among asocial and criminal groups, among whom it can be said to have
become endemic. In the middle of the fifties instances of breaking
into chemists' shops, forging of prescriptions, etc. became common,
the number of narcotic gangs increased and the seizing of smuggled
tablets started." [5]
Each of these incidents, of course, was accompanied by widespread
publicity; indeed, the antiamphetamine publicity in effect took the
place of paid advertising in maintaining a booming sale of black-
market amphetamines year after year.
The drive against smuggled amphetamine tablets no doubt helped
raise prices and attract more smugglers, as in the United States.
High prices also encouraged the switch from oral use to mainlining.
In addition, however - as in the United States - repression and high
prices led to the popularization of amphetamine substitutes: cocaine
in the United States, phenmetrazine (sold under the trade name
Preludin) in Sweden.
Preludin was introduced into Sweden in 1955. [*] "It was observed at
once," Professor Inghe reports, "that this drug produced euphoria.
It became rapidly popular in addict circles in preference to other
central stimulants which it replaced." [6] The parallel between
Swedish and American policies and results is thus complete. The
only difference is that the Swedes were far ahead of the Americans.
The Swedes instituted antiamphetamine measures somewhat earlier -
and thus popularized both the amphetamines and the amphetamine
substitutes somewhat earlier.
In 1959 the Swedes took the next obvious step. They subjected
Preludin to the same strict legal controls as amphetamine,
morphine, and heroin. A special prosecuting attorney was also
appointed to concentrate on drug-law enforcement. "Since then,
however," Professor Inghe reports sadly, "illegal import of
Preludin has increased steadily." Originally "it came from the
Boehringer factories in Germany." When the Swedes put economic
and diplomatic pressure on the German government - much as the
United States has been pressuring the Turks and the French to
cut off opium and heroin trafficking - the smugglers switched
their source of supply from Germany to Spain. Pressure on Spain
was also effective. "Next came the smuggling of Preludin tablets
from Belgium and various other countries, notably Italy," [7]
Professor Inghe states. Other amphetamine substitutes also became
popular. "Phenmetrazine [Preludin] is still the most in demand,"
Professor Inghe reported in November 1968, "but amphetamine,
methamphetamine, dexamphetamine, methylphenidate, and other drugs
are used as well. Recent reports tell of an increasing abuse of
weight-reducing preparations, which include diethylpropion
[Tenuate, Tepanil] . . . . The misusers themselves have an
incredible capacity for rapidly progressing to new euphoria-
producing preparations, which apparently without exception can
prove both habit-forming and dependence-forming." [8]
By November 1968, as smuggling controls over amphetamines and
amphetamine substitutes became somewhat more effective, the
Swedish black market, like the American black market a few years
earlier, took the next obvious counterstep. As noted above, the
raw materials out of which the amphetamines are made are common
industrial chemicals, used in great quantity in ordinary
manufacturing processes. Sweden imports these raw materials. A
slight increase in such imports is very hard to detect - yet
sufficient to produce vast amounts of amphetamines. This,
Professor Inghe told an international amphetamine conference in
November 1968, was beginning to occur in Sweden. [*] "This means
that some part of the market now, as far as one can judge, is
covered by illegal factories, at least partly situated in
Sweden." [10] The Swedes had belatedly discovered the "speed
labs" which had begun flourishing in the United States six years
earlier.
The Swedish response to this 1968 development was to ban
altogether - except for a few uncommon conditions - the prescribing
of amphetamines and related drugs. Special permission was required
from the National Board of Health and Welfare for each patient
receiving amphetamines; during the second half of 1968, only 343
such permissions were granted for the entire country.
The sensible and occasional use of amphetamines under medical
supervision was thus effectively curbed - but a visit paid
Stockholm in November 1970, in the course of research for this
Consumers Union Report, indicated that the black market still
flourished. Amphetamines and other stimulants were freely on sale
in the city's large black market behind the Central Station - a
region of impressive new skyscrapers roughly comparable to New
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