Amphetamines fundamentals

Amphetamines are definitely drugs which have been and are abused. Notice that the organic modifications in the fundamental amphetamine structure are to make the compound more lipophilic and so speed its delivery to the CNS as well as heighten the stimulant and euphoric effect. Therapeutic doses of amphetamines range from 5 to 10 mg for a maximum of 60 mg per day while abusive doses may be as high as 500-1000 mg every 2-3 hours. The side effects of abuse include tolerance, addiction, malnutrition, heart arrthymias, and... 

Evidence in favour of this concept could be provided by a comparison of enantiomeric potency ratios. If there was good agreement between the potency ratios of, for example (+)- and (—)-LSD, (+)- and (—)-a-methyl-tryptamine and (+)- and (—)-amphetamine, and if the fundamental molecular geometry of the (+ )-isomers was similar, the contention that these drugs act by a similar mechanism would be strengthened. 

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