5. Germans Spent WWII Tweaking on Crystal Meth
In 1938, German pharmaceutical Temmler began to market methamphetamine pills under the brand name Pervitin. A high ranking army doctor, Otto Freidrich Ranke, saw the newly discovered drug’s potential as a means to keep tired troops and pilots alert, and to keep the entire German military euphoric. Ranke tested Temmler’s new product on university students, who exhibited a sudden spike in alertness and productivity, despite being short on sleep. Elated, and as ignorant as the rest of Germany’s medical community of narcotics’ harmful side effects, Ranke saw to it that Pervitin was approved for issue to the armed forces, and ordered into mass production.
During WWII, Germany’s military issued its men millions of packets of Pervitin – a pill whose effectiveness in keeping the troops alert was compared to drinking strong coffee by the gallon. On top of that, it made the worries of German soldiers disappear, and infused them with feelings of happiness and euphoria. Or at least it did so for a few hours, before the effects wore off or the soldiers popped more pills to maintain the high for as long as possible. Given the context that Pervitin is basically crystal meth, the German military spent WWII tweaking.
