Comment by tcj_phx | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tcj_phx | Hacker News Reader

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Stimulants -- amphetamines, cocaine, etc -- have physiological effects sort-of similar to Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOI). MAOIs were sold as the first generation of anti-depressant drugs. These substances have mood-elevating benefits sort-of similar to cocaine and amphetamine, but without the euphoria and crash.

Later generations of anti-depressants are less effective that the MAOIs, but MAOIs fell out use because doctors of that era tended to think newer==better, some MAOIs caused side effects when combined with fermented foods (fine cheese, etc), and patents allowed for a marketing budget for the pharmaceutical companies to promote their latest FDA-approved prescriptions to physicians.

Stimulants do their harm by shredding the mitochondria [0]. My observations are that Cocaine is a much safer stimulant than meth amphetamine.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18211048

Emotional stress is a very important driver of substance abuse. Anything that restores the mitochondria/metabolism helps with stimulant abuse. Most important is helping the person find meaning.

How’s does ADHD medication compare to Meth? Is it the higher dosage with Meth? When I took Aderall it said methamphetamine salt.

As prescribed, it's at a much lower dosage. Adderall is tuned in 10mg increments, and meth is sold by the gram. Moreover, you absolutely can get addicted to and have serious health problems from prescribed medication -- it's a balance of risk versus reward. A handful of people prescribed stimulants have suffered sudden cardiac death.

The main difference here is modality of use -- taking something, once per day, in controlled doses, is very very different from taking something until you feel good. With a prescription, you also have a steady supply and no need to commit crimes to keep up your supply. So the societal problems from drug abuse, like overdose, increased criminality, and breakdown of relations don't happen with prescription drugs to the same extent, even if it's the same substance. Look at when the opoid crisis became a crisis -- it was when cheap, easy opioids stopped being available.

> With a prescription, you also have a steady supply and no need to commit crimes to keep up your supply.

It's almost like addicts are self-medicating and we should give them a legal, prescribed supply of medication.

> Look at when the opoid crisis became a crisis -- it was when cheap, easy opioids stopped being available.

What? In high school (20 years ago, Central PA) I knew zero people who used opiates. A few years later I knew people who made trips to Philadelphia. Now they're available everywhere. Perhaps the flow of pill scripts slowed, but fentanyl filled that gap.

When was drug abuse present, versus, when was drug abuse a societal problem?

Ok but when did “cheap, east opioids” go away?

Adderall is amphetamine salts not methamphetamine. While methamphetamine can be prescribed for ADHD/occasionally weight loss, it's pretty rare in the US. That said, the mechanism of action is very similar

Thanks for the clarification it was a long time ago.

Methamphetamine is an effective ADHD medication (brand name Desoxyn). Adderall contains amphetamine (not methamphetamine). Although as far as how it compares to amphetamine, I would say they are nearly identical on a dose equivalent basis.

Here is an interesting look at the differences between ADHD medications: https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/know-your-amphetamines

They're basically the same thing. Difference is ADHD meds are 5-10mg Meth, or similar drug at a lowish dose, and orally. But you can take meth a low dose and achieve the same effect.

Taking more doesn't help your performance, it makes it worse, and you get way more side effects, especially mental side effects. These build up with time.

I don’t know where this myth comes from or why it’s so prevalent but it’s completely false. Methamphetamine and amphetamine salts (e.g. Adderall) are not at all the same drug. One clear distinction is that methamphetamine is serotonergic while amphetamines are not.

ADHD meds are definitely not methamphetamines. They are amphetamine salts. Methamphetamine can be prescribed in rare cases but that isn’t the typical treatment at all.

Or in layman’s terms, some people prefer uppers as opposed to downers.

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