• 🇳🇿 🇲🇲 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇦🇺 🇦🇶 🇮🇳
    Australian & Asian
    Drug Discussion

    Welcome Guest!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
  • AADD Moderators: Tronica

Can methamphetamine be prescribed?

F

fuzzysun

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Messages
49
Everything I've read seems to suggest that meth is a Schedule 8 drug and not a Schedule 9 drug - Does anyone know for certain?

If it is an S8 does anyone know if its actually ever prescribed? I have a feeling that despite its technical legality under prescription (if I'm right about it being S8), it isn't actually produced by any pharm company. This is the situation in the UK. Again, anyone know for sure about Oz?
 
I know it can't be in QLD, as it is a Schedule I drug.

Desoxyn would be rarely if ever still prescribed or even in pharmacies.
 
Was it called Desoxyn when it was around? I was under the impression it was Methedrine. Maybe both brands were around
 
Splatt said:
I know it can't be in QLD, as it is a Schedule I drug.

Desoxyn would be rarely if ever still prescribed or even in pharmacies.
Click to expand...

Actually QLD would schedule its drugs like all other states, and according to my July 2005 edition of the SUSDP, methylamphetamine is under Schedule 8. These are drugs that have some perceived medical value but also have relatively potentional for abuse. Schedule 9 is the 'for medical experiment only' type catagory in Australia.

However, I doubt very much that it would be prescribed at all these days. It may be very occassionaly prescribed by specialist doctors where all other drugs have failed, but it would almost definently be in pharmacies only if it was specifically ordered.

Perhaps someone with a copy of the MIMS would be able to help?
 
tribesman said:
However, I doubt very much that it would be prescribed at all these days. It may be very occassionaly prescribed by specialist doctors where all other drugs have failed, but it would almost definently be in pharmacies only if it was specifically ordered.
Click to expand...

Yea, this is what I guessed. apparently in the UK in the event that you are prescribed it, you have to make special arrangements with a pharm company to cook you up a batch. Still if anyone can give any definite details it'd be appreciated as this is for a uni paper.

Out of interest where did you get the SUSDP from? Free copies arent available anywhere are they?
 
Most states have their own scheduling, even at the supreme court level.

In Queensland it is,

Sched I: Meth, Amphetamine, Cocaine and Heroin etc. gets you a max 25year sentence, but if you can prove you're addicted its 20 years.

Sched 2: LSD, Other Psychedelics, MDMA, MDA, MDEA etc.. I think Marijuana has its own section just under 2, 2a maybe, or that could be drug paraphernalia. But police can issue warnings for marijuana at their discretion, but not other drugsd until it gets to court, then they decide drug disversion, with upto two chances before a record could be given, or worse based on the case = 15 years max jail. (Dont know if they say 10 for addiction, book not handy atm)


tribesman said:
Actually QLD would schedule its drugs like all other states, and according to my July 2005 edition of the SUSDP, methylamphetamine is under Schedule 8. These are drugs that have some perceived medical value but also have relatively potentional for abuse. Schedule 9 is the 'for medical experiment only' type catagory in Australia.

However, I doubt very much that it would be prescribed at all these days. It may be very occassionaly prescribed by specialist doctors where all other drugs have failed, but it would almost definently be in pharmacies only if it was specifically ordered.

Perhaps someone with a copy of the MIMS would be able to help?
Click to expand...
 
Desoxyn is the brand for 5mg meth tablets in America.

Methedrine is another name for meth, aloing with desoxyephedrine, it called called Methedrine in the 60s and 70s mostly, maybe there was a brand called that. Either way it sure as hell breats the shit they put on the streets now mg for mg I've been told.

In america Desoxyn is very rarely I would say, if ever, prescribed for edexogenous obesity, narcolepsy and further ADD/ADHD treatment.
 
Yeh I guess that is in terms of law and policing that differs on a state level. I'm not too sure about that, I am only famliar with the regulation of pharmaceuticals. So there it is from both sides :)

Splatt said:
Most states have their own scheduling, even at the supreme court level.

In Queensland it is,

Sched I: Meth, Amphetamine, Cocaine and Heroin etc. gets you a max 25year sentence, but if you can prove you're addicted its 20 years.

Sched 2: LSD, Other Psychedelics, MDMA, MDA, MDEA etc.. I think Marijuana has its own section just under 2, 2a maybe, or that could be drug paraphernalia. But police can issue warnings for marijuana at their discretion, but not other drugsd until it gets to court, then they decide drug disversion, with upto two chances before a record could be given, or worse based on the case = 15 years max jail. (Dont know if they say 10 for addiction, book not handy atm)
Click to expand...

fuzzysun said:
Out of interest where did you get the SUSDP from? Free copies arent available anywhere are they?
Click to expand...

The SUSDP (Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons) is available from Australian government suppliers. Not 100% sure, but you may be able to get some information online here. There should be a copy at your university library, if not it will definently be in the library of the university that has the Bachelor of Pharmacy course in your state.
 
Last edited:
Splatt said:
Most states have their own scheduling, even at the supreme court level.

In Queensland it is,

Sched I: Meth, Amphetamine, Cocaine and Heroin etc. gets you a max 25year sentence, but if you can prove you're addicted its 20 years.

Sched 2: LSD, Other Psychedelics, MDMA, MDA, MDEA etc.. I think Marijuana has its own section just under 2, 2a maybe, or that could be drug paraphernalia. But police can issue warnings for marijuana at their discretion, but not other drugsd until it gets to court, then they decide drug disversion, with upto two chances before a record could be given, or worse based on the case = 15 years max jail. (Dont know if they say 10 for addiction, book not handy atm)
Click to expand...


That sucks ive already been arrested twice for bud the judge assures me should i be caught again I will be going to jail

Thats soo bullshit
 
So what's the difference between phentermine and methamphetamine? Doesn't that mean phentermine won't come up in a drug test?
 
Its 2-methylamphetamine so it probably would show as an amphetamine on a standard urine test, until further analyzed at a proper lab.

Its a "methamphetamine" but it doesn't mean its anything like meth, look at L-methamphetamine (used to be in Vicks Inhalers, believe it still may be in some countries), it's not an enjoyable or abusable stimulant, it would be much like that.
 
Methamphetamine is an S8, but like phase dancer said, it's not prescribed for anything in Aus. Much like hydrocodone, which they get in America, but it's not approved for anything here.

I'm not sure of the specifics - whether the fact that it is S8 means that it is legal to prescribe but it is never done because there are no manufacturers, or whether being S8 is not enough and the drug must be approved for a specific indication before it can be prescribed. I would imagine that legally a diagnosis indicating the use of methamphetamine would be needed and there is no mention of methamphetamine in the AMH or TGs, so I don't think that currently there would be any way of having it prescribed, even if the doctor was your brother or something.

I get the impression that its scheduling as an S8 medicine is more for completeness' sake rather than actually authorising any medical use.
 
thinkpink said:
So what's the difference between phentermine and methamphetamine? Doesn't that mean phentermine won't come up in a drug test?
Click to expand...

This is like asking what's difference between you and your brother.

The answer: lots.
How did you get phentermine from a search for methamphetamine anyway? I thought Wikipedia's content relied on unreferenced material, now apparently the search engine is doing the same to keep us Wiki-watchers on our toes. Bless you Wikipedia.
The skeleton structure of an amphetamine is the phenylisopropylamine backbone http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...keletal.png/220px-Amphetamine-2D-skeletal.png

The first discoverer of amphetamine named it phenylisopropylamine, where:

phenyl = 6 sided ring wwhich attaches at the neck to isopropyl
isopropyl = isomer of propanol (3 carbon chain), shaped like a T intersection, the left hand grans the phenyl, the right hand grabs the amine group
amine = NH2 group

Amphetamine is short for alpha-methyl-phnethylamine

Methamphetamine (MA) has a meth (CH3) group attached on the nitrogen atom of the amine group. The addition of this METHyl group increases the potency of MA compared with amphetamine (A).

Fenfluramine is a totally different chemical. Whilst the proprtions initially appear to be correct, we notice the NH2 group is not methylated, so at best, we only have amphetamine, not MA, if the other structure match. The phenyl group is present, so we go on to the isopropyl structure, which is not present. The amine would be in its right hand if it were, so the location of key structures differs.

Such small variations translate to huge differences in function. Seach ephedrine and then pseudoephedrine in Wikipedia, and note the structures side by side. Even when the same structure is present, but the orientation of the OH group differs in whether its facing toward or away from the reader. This makes it an entirely different class of chemical.

In chemistry a chemical is either equivalent or not. Close is not good enough. Now compare phenylephrine (PE)with pseudoephedrine (PSE). PE only differs from PSE by the phenyl -OH group and a CH3 group, yet as you may know, chemists can manufacture meth (MA) from PSE, but not from PE.

Hopefully this wasnt too confusing. You really just need to understand that changing subsituent positions (stereochemistry) and/or changing the chemical structure when comparing two chemicals causes big differences in function. If in doubt, compare the IUPAC names
eg.
amphetamine IUPAC name = 1-phenylpropan-2-amine
phentermine IUPAC name = 2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-2-amine

Learn something new here every day, don't we? =D
 
Fenfluramine is a totally different chemical. Whilst the proprtions initially appear to be correct, we notice the NH2 group is not methylated, so at best, we only have amphetamine, not MA, if the other structure match. The phenyl group is present, so we go on to the isopropyl structure, which is not present. The amine would be in its right hand if it were, so the location of key structures differs.
Click to expand...

Fenfluramine contains an alpha carbon, making it comply with the amphetamine 'backbone' as you've described; the isopropyl group. It differs from meth or amphetmaine by both the 4th position trifluoromethyl substitution, and the N-alkyl group which is ethyl as opposed to methyl for meth.

In chemistry a chemical is either equivalent or not.
Click to expand...

That's true, but pharmacologically speaking it can be a bit different, as structure activity can be more appropriate in describing the actions of different compounds then comparing chemical similarities. In other words, two structurally different compounds my have a similar pharmacophore with a particular receptor which results in simlar actions between the two substances.

Edit: Also in relation to pseudoephedrine and ephedrine; there are for possible isomers. Two are enantiomers relating to the spacial orientation of the substitutes on the chiral carbon, and two are diastereomers, relating to the orientation of the OH group. Two isomers (+)-ephedrine and (-)-pseudo differ greatly in their pharmacology from (-)-epehdrine and (+)-pseudo, which both do much the same thing to the beta-adrenergic system.
 
Last edited:
Doesnt LSD have an amphetamine "backbone"

I think amphetamine backbones mean nothing really.. Since LSD binds to serotonin receoptors mostly, and amphets to dopamine mostly, and theyre different class of drugs.

Not so sure bout the LSD thing, just remember someone talking about it years back.
 
I think amphetamine backbones mean nothing really.. Since LSD binds to serotonin receoptors mostly, and amphets to dopamine mostly, and theyre different class of drugs.
Click to expand...

The alpha methyl carbon on the amphetamine 'backbone' or alkyl chain is significant, as it reduces binding affinity with MAO and explains why amphetamines generally have longer half lives than the corresponding phenethylamines. Compare 1/2 lives of DOI with 2CI or DOB with 2CB.

Affects on dopamine are secondary actions with amphetamine, which primarily acts on noradrenaline (NA) through an indirect mechanism; amphetaime binds to the NA transporter and enters presynaptic terminals where it replaces NA which builds up in the cell before either being metabolised by MAO or being released. Reuptake is also affected, so extracellular levels of noradrenaline increase significantly.

Splatt; you might have thinking about a thread started by fastandbulbous Acid, dragonflies and the 5HT2A receptor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top