The Amphetamine Years: a Study of the Medical Applications and Extramedical Consumption of Psychostimulant Drugs in the Postwar United States, 1945-1980
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THE AMPHETAMINE YEARS: A STUDY OF THE MEDICAL APPLICATIONS AND EXTRAMEDICAL CONSUMPTION OF PSYCHOSTIMULANT DRUGS IN THE POSTWAR UNITED STATES, 1945-1980 A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty By Nathan William Moon In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in History and Sociology of Technology and Science Georgia Institute of Technology December 2009 Copyright © Nathan William Moon 2009 THE AMPHETAMINE YEARS: A STUDY OF THE MEDICAL APPLICATIONS AND EXTRAMEDICAL CONSUMPTION OF PSYCHOSTIMULANT DRUGS IN THE POSTWAR UNITED STATES, 1945-1980 Approved by: Dr. Andrea Tone, Advisor Dr. Steven Usselman Social Studies of Medicine and School of History, Technology & Department of History Society McGill University Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Douglas Flamming Dr. John Krige School of History, Technology & School of History, Technology & Society Society Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Jonathan Metzl Date Approved: November 2, 2009 Women’s Studies Program and Department of Psychiatry University of Michigan For Michele ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Even if it has but a single author, a dissertation is the product of many people. This one is no exception, and I am extremely grateful to all of the people who made mine a reality. First, I wish to extend my sincere thanks to my advisor Andrea Tone. She has been a model mentor in every way imaginable. Andrea guided me through the scholarship and shepherded this dissertation project with the utmost diligence and care. Although she had many other responsibilities, Andrea never failed to make time for me. She read my chapters and conference paper proposals, attended my talks, and introduced me to leading scholars in our field. Even more astonishing is that she took it upon herself to advise me after her move to McGill University, and for her sustained mentorship, I remain humbled and most appreciative. When I first met Andrea, she gifted me a copy of her latest book Devices and Desires. The inscription read, in part, “With high hopes and expectations.” With the completion of this dissertation, I hope that I have fulfilled at least one of those expectations. In addition, I offer my deepest thanks to the other members of my dissertation committee. Steve Usselman has one of the most inquisitive minds of anyone I’ve met. He is the epitome of an intellectual, and I profited immensely from his willingness to share with me a fraction of his vast knowledge about the history of technology. Doug Flamming is a paragon of the gentleman and scholar, the type of person whom we don’t see enough. Doug’s understanding of American history is rivaled only by his humanism, and I’m proud to say that I’ve benefited enormously from both. John Krige is, in many ways, the “father figure” of HTS. It is no understatement to say that our graduate iv program owes its success to his guidance and wisdom. I owe John a debt of gratitude for ensuring that my years in the department have been great ones for me intellectually and socially. Finally, I express my appreciation to Jonathan Metzl, recognized in our field both for his scholarship and good nature. I greatly appreciated his willingness—no, enthusiasm—to serve on my committee, especially at such a late juncture. I would also like to thank the many professors at HTS who have served as mentors to me over the past seven years, especially Gus Giebelhaus (a first among equals), John Tone, Larry Foster, Bob McMath, Ron Bayor, Greg Nobles, Steve Vallas, Maren Klawiter, Hanchao Lu, Eleanor Alexander, Bill Winders, Laura Bier, Mike Allen, Amy D’Unger, Wenda Bauchspies, Willie Pearson, Jenny Smith, Amanda Damarin, Carla Gerona, Kristie Macrakis, and Carole Moore, as well as Ken Knoespel and Anne Pollock in the School of Language, Communication, and Culture. Perhaps an even greater debt is owed to LaDonna Bowen, not just by me, but also by countless graduate students who have gone ahead of me and those who will follow. LaDonna is the graduate program’s “secret weapon,” and she has been an invaluable resource administratively and personally during my years in HTS. I cannot thank her enough for all that she has done for the graduates in HTS. In addition, I offer my sincere appreciation to Denise Corum and Steven Henderson. During my years at Tech, I had the opportunity to work in a number of different capacities, as well as contribute to some fascinating projects. Early in my graduate career, I had the chance to serve as a teaching assistant to Doug, Gus, and Eleanor, and I thank them for introducing me to the world of pedagogy. Later, I had a rare opportunity to co- author a book that documented the history of the School of Chemical Engineering at v Tech. I wish to thank Ron Rousseau and Jenny Daley-Peterson for making the project possible, and I extend my deepest thanks to my collaborator and friend, the late Henderson Ward, for making it a reality. My foray into the history of Tech served me well as Gus Giebelhaus’s research assistant on a project to update Engineering the New South, the Institute’s official history. I appreciate Gus’s willingness to let me contribute to such an important project. Over the past four years, I’ve had the opportunity to carve out a second career as a researcher in the area of disability and technology policy. I want to thank my colleagues at the Center for Advanced Communications Policy for sustaining me during these years, and for their boundless patience and understanding as I finished this dissertation. In particular, thanks to the “Dream Team” of Paul M.A. Baker, Helena Mitchell, Jackie Herndon, Salimah Major, Nichole Moore, Ken Bernard, and James White. This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of the librarians and archivists who were most attentive to my research needs. I wish to express my gratitude to Bruce Henson at the staff of the Georgia Tech Library (particularly for their forgiveness of countless overdue books), as well as Christian Noble and the staff of the Emory Health Sciences Library. Archival research for this project was supported by a Sonnedecker Grant from the American Institute for the History of Pharmacy (AIHP) in Madison, Wisconsin. My thanks to Greg Higby, Elaine Stroud, and the staff of the AIHP for their assistance. This dissertation also benefitted enormously from a grant to conduct research at the International Neuropsychopharmacology Archives of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) at Vanderbilt University. In particular, I want to thank the late Oakley Ray and archivist Jeremy Nordmoe for their help in vi accessing and using the archives. Finally, I wish to thank the librarians and archivists at the University of California, Los Angeles, particularly Russell Johnson, and the Osler Library and Archives at McGill University. Seven years is a mighty long time. And I could not have made it without the collegiality of my fellow graduate students in HTS. Angelina Long and Ashok Maharaj, in particular, deserve special mention for their steadfast friendship and intellectual fellowship over the years. My thanks also go to Raul “El Presidente” Necochea, my fellow dissertator at McGill who was kind enough to give me a place to crash during my visits to Montreal. In addition, I was fortunate to make the company of fellow scholars within the American Association for the History of Medicine and the Joint Atlantic Seminar for the History of Medicine who lent their encouragement and enthusiasm to my project. In particular, I wish to extend my thanks to Todd Olszewski, Dominique Tobbell, Matthew Gambino, Susan Lamb, Erika Dyck, Deborah Levine, Deborah Doroshow, Kristen Ehrenberger, Marie Reinholdt, David Schuster and the many other graduate students active within the Association. Quite a few of them have moved on to bigger and better things, and they serve as inspirations to the rest of us. In addition, I would like to thank those more established scholars who also expressed interest in my work and occasionally provided me with valuable leads or ideas, particularly David Courtwright, Howard Kushner, Joel Braslow, Jonathan Metzl, David Healy, Edward Shorter, David Herzberg, Ilina Singh, Gerald Grob, John Burnham, Leon Eisenberg, Jonathan Sadowsky, Mical Raz, and Laura Hirshbein. In particular, I’d like to express an extra debt of gratitude to vii Nicolas Rasmussen, whose study on the history of amphetamines greatly informed my work. Finally, I’d like to thank the friends and family whose encouragement, if somewhat more ineffable, meant the most to me during my time of study. In particular, I want to thank my mother Nancy and my father Harvey, for their unwavering support and patience. My father, in particular, always reminded me to simply “do my best.” Heartfelt thanks are also owed to my two grandmothers, Annie Summerour Moon and the late Juanita Beck for their steadfast love and devotion to their grandson, and their shared belief in the importance of education. My younger sister, Melanie, has always been there for me, too. Thanks, also, to my many other uncles, aunts, cousins, and other family members. But my greatest appreciation is reserved for my fiancée and partner of 10 years, Leslie Michele Evans, to whom this dissertation is dedicated. Without her support, patience, and, most of all, love, during my last seven years in graduate school, I would have never made it through. Thank you, Michele, for sharing the good times with me and seeing me through the difficult ones. And may we have many more times together.