Bennys and other go-fast stuff

[SobrietyBinge]

Ok this isn't even about opiates so if this is totally OT just kick me in the sack and be done with it.

does the drug benzedrine still exist? There used to be benzedrine inhalers long ago, supposedly the first amphetamine marketed as a pharmaceutical. Then people started taking the benzedrine sheets out of the inhalers and disolving them in coffee and the like. apparently Charlie Parker and Judy Garland were both dependent upon them for much of their lives. Burroughs was into benzedrine too. has anyone tried it?

[jacky]

well, I think it has been replaced with propylhexidrine, and levmetamfetamine....I dont think I got the spelling on the first one right.

levmetamfetamine is not as strong as meth of course, but it is active, and just like the old inhalers or sticks the contents can be consumed as a tea. each inhalation of the nasal decongestant inhaler can deliver up to 1/10 of a milligram of the drug, so it would take alot of inhales to get the full dose. youve got menthol, camphor and lavender oils in there to deal with as well

there are various reports out there from people doing this, probably would feel better than getting stacked on ephedra...

[Duckfeet]

Ok this isn't even about opiates so if this is totally OT just kick me in the sack and be done with it.

does the drug benzedrine still exist? There used to be benzedrine inhalers long ago, supposedly the first amphetamine marketed as a pharmaceutical. Then people started taking the benzedrine sheets out of the inhalers and disolving them in coffee and the like. apparently Charlie Parker and Judy Garland were both dependent upon them for much of their lives. Burroughs was into benzedrine too. has anyone tried it?

Long before I read Burroughs, or did heroin, or even smoked pot...very *first* pharmaceutical I ever did, I was seventeen, I was living in Managua, Nicaragua--before the earthquake, before the revolution. Anyway, there was this bar that the "older" guys hung out at, a lot of gringos, and better Rock and Roll band than the one I played in. Some other guy I hung out with said you could get something at the drugstore, to take with the beer.

We go in pharmacia, he asks for 2 "benzadrinas", and this guy brings out a little bottle, and gives us a teeny little pill each. About an hour later I was on the dancefloor and all excited. Later me and my pal walked miles backed to where we lived, talking the whole time.....

So that was my first drug experience. They also sold dexadrine, I think triangular looking shitbirds, but either one would keep me up for *days*. I mean, once I hitchhiked across the country, just on a benny buzz. Later I read how cool they were with the beats, but at the the time I didn't know that. Also, later I would get "white crosses" in this country, but they never *ever* hit me like those little pills did. Mostly fake, what I saw here.

Haven't seen even the fake ones in over twenty years, so can't answer, but unless it's an old drugstore that hasn't been hit in years, I doubt they're still around....

[elegua]

Hey...just wondering in regards to those who had tried both, which is more 'interesting,' the levometamfetamine inhalers or the propylhexidrene inhalers (assuming both prepared the same way -- two commercial inhalers, cotton insides either boiled or soaked in warm water & a little lemon juice)? I've tried the levometamfetamine inhalers (funny they spell it that way, I wonder if it's so middle-America doesn't get freaked out), and it's an amusing occasional distraction -- better than ephedrine, good for occasional late-night studying, but you get used to it soooo quickly that I can only use it once, at most twice, per week.


Regarding Duckfeet's experience, from what it sounds like, especially regarding the period of time you're presenting, it may well have been real benzedrine, a pleasant little amphetamine most frequently taken in pill form -- and before the anti-drug mania in American government, I'd argue that benzedrine was the most common amphetamine prescribed to Americans in the 50's and 60's. It was a favorite of american housewives as a 'pep pill' to keep your figure slim, work around the house without getting tired, and still being ready for red-hot sex later that night!

It's pretty damned hard to get it nowadays in the USA. Though one could argue that Diderex is a fair substitute, I'm not sure if any other prescription diet pills are that amphetamine-like. So the best you can get are the ADD-related stimulants...which aren't bad by any means, but it's harder to convince a doc that you have ADD compared to requesting a diet pill.

[Duckfeet]

Yep, since they called them "benzadrina" and it had a little white cross, I figured that it was benzadrine. I had already read kerouac and some other beat stuff, and thought it was super cool that I could get it down there. Never did bump into any real benzadrine here. And these bennys were actually the first drugs I ever did, before pot, and well before heroin.

When a friend was hitting drugstores, of all the pharmies, I always thought Preludin "BI62" was the one had the best rush, but there was quite a bit of scraping and other esoteric cooking that went into the preperation of this form of speed. You could buy them on some street corners in Louisiana around Lafayette, at one time, when a lot of them were prescribed for dieters. I wasn't ever too much of an avid speed freak, but the rush on these was unbelievable, and then a mellow speedy high.

(I went ahead and moved this old topic to the correct forum)

[Paregoric Kid]

benzedrex inhalers contain propylhexedrine, vicks inhalers contain l-methamphetamine. propylhexedrine is methamphetamine with a cyclohexyl group instead of a phenyl group. benzedrine lives on today as adderall (dl-amphetamine). tried all of the above, adderall is by far the best and I can see why it was so popular; its a shame it isn't still OTC! I think propylhexedrine is better than l-methamphetamine but both propylhexedrine and levomethamphetamine are better than ephedrine.