Fairnymph: I think that's probably incorrect. Ephedrine is very similar to a methamphetamine high when taken in sufficient quantities.
I disagree. The difference is much more substantial. In stimulus generalization studies [1] amphetamine has been shown to be as comparable to ephedrine as it is to caffeine -- and I'm sure that you would agree with me that there is GREAT difference between the recreational effects of amphetamine and the caffeine.
If ephedrine is so great, how come there aren't more ephedrine addicts? If 'just taking a high enough dose' of ephedrine were really THAT similar to the amphetamine high, then how come all the tweakers are still scavenging for prescription and illegal amphetamines? Practically speaking, it can be concluded that the enjoyable effects of amphetamine are far superior to the those of ephedrine.
Also, observe the following:
Multiple doses of either ephedrine or amphetamine caused severe hyperthermia (>/= 41.3 degrees C) but
striatal tissue levels of dopamine 7 days after dosing were reduced only 25% or less by ephedrine compared to the 75% reductions produced by amphetamine.
...elevation of dopamine levels by d-amphetamine were over 2-fold times the level caused by l-ephedrine.
[2]
From the findings (a) that (-)
ephedrine is approximately 10 times less potent than (+)amphetamine in (+)amphetamine-trained rats, whereas it is only half as potent as (+)amphetamine in (-)ephedrine-trained animals; (b) that the
(-)ephedrine stimulus failed to generalize to (+)methamphetamine; and (c) that the (-)ephedrine stimulus generalized to (+)ephedrine, it is concluded that the stimulus effects of (+)amphetamine and (-)ephedrine as training drugs, while similar, are not identical. [3]
A random interesting fact:
Males and females differed in their response to ephedrine--males chose ephedrine more frequently than females and showed a more positive mood response to the drug. [4]
[1]Glennon RA, Young R. (+)Amphetamine-stimulus generalization to an herbal ephedrine product. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2000 Apr;65(4):655-8.
[2]Bowyer JF, Newport GD, Slikker W Jr, Gough B, Ferguson SA, Tor-Agbidye J. An evaluation of l-ephedrine neurotoxicity with respect to hyperthermia and caudate/putamen microdialysate levels of ephedrine, dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate. Toxicol Sci. 2000 May;55(1):133-42.
[3]Young R, Glennon RA. Discriminative stimulus properties of (-)ephedrine. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1998 Jul;60(3):771-5.
[4] Chait LD. Factors influencing the reinforcing and subjective effects of ephedrine in humans. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1994 Jan;113(3-4):381-7.
