Stimulants Flashcards
what are stimulants
drugs that tend to increase alertness, physical activity resulting increased heart, respiration rates, blood pressure, dilated pupils and decreased appetite.
The more widely abused stimulants are amphetamines and cocaine.
amphetamines
- Amphetamines is the general class of chemicals which share structural similarities
- The most well-known members are amphetamines (speed), methamphetamine (meth, ice) 3,4- methylenedioxy-amphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethyl-amphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy)
amphetamines timeline
• 1887 - Amphetamine was first synthesized
• 1912 - MDMA first synthesized
• 1919 - Methamphetamine was first synthesized
• 1930s - Amphetamines was used as over-the-counter
decongestant
• World War II- Amphetamine and Methamphetamine were distributed to soldiers to help improve performance.
Addiction problems after the war.
• 1977 - UK list MDMA as well as other compounds structurally derived from MDMA as Class A drug
amphetamines facts
- Synthetic stimulants
- Available as powder, tablet, capsule. Colour ranges from white to yellow to red and brown
- Smoked, snorted, orally ingested and injected
- All amphetamines cause significant tolerance, physical and psychological dependence
street amphetamine appearance
- Various but typically a white or off-white powder or tablet
- May smell chemically
- Submissions- street deal approx. 0.5-1g, middle man- up to 120g or more, purity 1-15%, commonly cut with caffeine and glucose etc
- Amphetamine’s m.p is 11.3 degrees Celsius
amphetamine manufacture
- Starting material is standard benzyl methyl ketone (BMK)
- Fully synthetic
- Leuckart method
methamphetamine
- Methamphetamine hydrochloride (common form)
Significantly more potent than amphetamine - Illicit use and administration
Methods generally similar to amphetamine - Smoking
Freebase
Can be smoked as a hydrochloride salt - Methamphetamine is a liquid at room temperature
methamphetamine appearance
- Varies according to purity
- Typically a white or off white powder
- May smell of ‘chemicals’
- Submissions
Variable purity
Crystal meth often >80% - Methamphetamine’s m.p. is 3 degrees Celsius
methamphetamine manufacture
- Fully synthetic
- Manufacture remarkably easy depending upon method chosen
- Synthesis from pseudoephedrine a common method
- Two paths
Hydrogen Iodide/Red Phosphorus methods – Common
‘Nazi’ method using ammonia and Lithium
iodine/phosphorous method
- Method simple • Red phosphorus, iodine and filtered pseudoephedrine (aq) mixed • Heat of reaction initially fuels conversion • Boil for 4+ hrs • Filter - Separation and purification Make basic (pH 11+) Add non-polar solvent and separate non polar layer Bubble through HCl gas and reclaim precipitate - Impurities Various
nazi method
- Method simple • Ground pseudoephedrine mixed with Li and anhydrous ammonia added • Ammonia produced from fertiliser + NaOH • Add water to complete lithium reaction • Oil collects on surface - Separation and purification Add non-polar solvent and separate non polar layer Bubble through HCl gas and reclaim precipitate - Impurities Various from solvents etc.
ecstasy (MDMA)
MDMA – 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine - A purely synthetic drug first produced in 1912 Illicit use and administration - Consumption Ecstasy is invariably in tablet form Most illicit tablet contain MDMA
testing of amphetamines
Presumptive test
- Marquis test for amphetamines is a yellow to orange colour
- Marquis test 3,4-methyleldioxy compounds a purple-blue colour (be aware the colour of marquis test for opiates is indigo)
TLC
- Same procedure as other drugs
cocaine
- Alkaloid from coco plant
- White-ish powder with a bitter numbing taste
- Street cocaine is divide in to two forms, the well-known cocaine which is the HCL salt form and the crack, which is smokable free base form
- Cocaine has both painkilling properties, similar to novocaine, and stimulant properties like adrenalin
- Was used as a local anaesthetic. Blocks the transmission of pain impulses from the nerves to the brain
- At higher dosages it can block nerve impulses from the brain to the lungs, so that breathing stops resulting in a coma
- Cocaine gives all well recognised physical reaction of stimulants
- Cocaine is addictive and tolerance is often developed quickly
cocaine timeline
- 1580 Coca leaves brought to Europe;
- 1855 Cocaine first extracted from Coca leaves.
- 1859 Cocaine was first isolated as the active ingredient of the Coca plant
- 1884 Cocaine’s use as a local anesthetic in eye surgery is popularized
- 1886 Coca-Cola is first introduced containing cocaine (which was removed in 1901).
- 1976 Freebase cocaine first developed.
