Shocking fact about METHADONE!

[Darkotic]

I just read that Methadone was created in WWII by the Nazis!!!!!!!



OMG!



It was created to replace their short and almost depleted supply of Morphine!



I will store this new info in the Darkotic archives of unless information to break the ice at a party.

[Citizen Kane]

Yes and no.

Methadone was, indeed, discovered in Germany – in the late 1930’s. Two scientists, Max Bockmühl and Gustav Ehrhart, working for the large German chemicals conglomerate IG Farben at Hoechst, were exploring synthetic compounds with a structure similar to Dolantin. This was an opioid analgesic discovered earlier at the same company (and later marketed as Pethidine, Demerol, and other brands).

There is no evidence, however, that the discovery of methadone was specifically part of a Nazi-ordered attempt to replace opium supplies disrupted by the war. Methadone was first called "Hoechst 10820" and Bockmühl and Ehrhart filed a patent application in September 1941. The agent was later named Polamidon in Germany, and much later generically called methadone. Methadone was not effectively used as an analgesic during the war years, allegedly because the very high initial doses typically administered at that time produced intolerable side effects.

There is also no truth to the myth that one of the early methadone brands – Dolophine – was named in honor of Adolf Hitler. In fact, the name, Dolophine, was originated at Eli Lilly & Co. in the U.S. long after the war, and was probably derived from the French dolor (pain) and fin (end). Although, some have claimed the "Dol-" portion came from dol, which is a unit measure of pain (derived from dolor), and "-ophine" was derived from morphine.

True is, however, that Hermann Göring was a Morphine/Heroin addict for more than 20 years. Like many German soldiers he became addicted to it while recovering from a severe injury during WW1. When he was arrested by the Allies in 1945, he still carried his personal Morphine supply with him.

Another famous Morphine/Heroin addict was Dietrich Eckart, head of the Thule society and besides Anton Drexler and Gottfried Feder co-founder of the DAP which later was renamed to NSDAP. He participated in the Bierhallenputsch of 1923 and was briefly imprisoned together with Adolf Hitler in Landsberg. Shortly thereafter, he died of a heart attack.