Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: nelson@udel.edu (Mark Nelson) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Drugs in War Message-ID: <12428@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 19 Dec 89 04:22:44 GMT References: <12395@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: University of Delaware Lines: 28 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Mark Nelson In article <12395@cbnews.ATT.COM> carl@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Carl Noseworthy) writes: > >Have governments ever condoned the use of drugs by their soldiers? Have >any governments even encouraged it? I could see some sort of physical >advantage if a whole army was on steroids. What other types of drugs >might be used to enhance performance in soldiers? For example, were Japanese >Kamikaze pilots given some sort of drug before their final flights? > According to a TV news report on ice (smoked amphetamine crystals) that I saw (and I don't remember on what network), amphetamines were originally invented by the Japanese in the 1930s. They were given to Japanese troops during the war, as a stimulant. The report went on to say that amphetamines were legal in Japan until some time in the 1950s, and that there was a large addict population, consisting mainly of veterans. After they were made illegal, most of the amphetamine production moved to Korea, I assume after the end of the Korean war. -- Mark Nelson ...!rutgers!udel!nelson or nelson@udel.edu This function is occasionally useful as an argument to other functions that require functions as arguments. -- Guy Steele