The Amphetamine Debate by Elaine A. Moore

Author:Elaine A. Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2012-06-27T16:00:00+00:00

Amphetamine’s Effects on Creativity

The regular use of amphetamines by Bob Fosse described at the beginning of this chapter is not unique. Since the late 1930s artists, writers, dancers, musicians, photographers and other individuals with careers in the arts have relied on amphetamines to provide more energy and enhance creativity. Although the chronic use of amphetamines to mask fatigue can have potentially serious effects, the use of amphetamines to enhance creativity is thought to have more to do with the focus and drive amphetamine provides than with any true effect on the creative process.

Jack Kerouac and Hunter Thompson credited amphetamines for some of their most creative writing. Kerouac is reported to have written On The Road in three weeks with the assistance of amphetamines. Andy Warhol and his entourage at the Factory used amphetamines as their drug of choice (Menand 2010). Warhol’s first major film, Sleep, made in 1963, reflected his concern that, with everyone staying awake with amphetamines, sleep would soon become obsolete. Warhol began using a low dose of prescription amphetamines to keep weight off and became enamored of the drug. His favorite amphetamine was Obetrol, a powerful diet pill in its time containing 10 mg methamphetamine, 5 mg dextroamphetamine, and 5 mg of Benzedrine, although he also liked taking Dexamyl. On the morning in 1968 that Warhol was shot by one the Factory’s former actors, he was filling his Obetrol prescription. Warhol continued to take amphetamines until he died in 1987, and they became as much a part of his public persona as his art (Rasmussen 2008a, 172).

W. Eugene Smith, reported to be the greatest photojournalist of mid-century America, relied on amphetamines to fuel the obsessive flair in which he shot his photos. Hired for a three-week assignment taking photographs of Pittsburgh for a book celebrating the city, Smith wound up snapping 22,000 pictures and never finished the assignment. Afterwards, no one wanted to hire him and a shadow of amphetamine psychosis tainted his legacy (Kaplan 2010).

In an article describing his use of Adderall, the novelist Joshua Foer mentions that W.H. Auden began every morning with a fix of Benzedrine. Other writers who were regular amphetamine users include John-Paul Sartre, James Agee, Graham Greene, and Philip K. Dick. Foer conjectured that if it could help other writers, perhaps it could help increase his productivity. He consulted with several psychiatrists regarding the use of Adderall to enhance writing. They agreed that, used orally at low doses, amphetamines are safe as long as one doesn’t have schizophrenia, hypertension or are using other drugs that would contraindicate its use.

Foer describes his initial impressions on the Slate web site, writing, “As an experiment, I decided to take Adderall for a week. The results were miraculous. On a recent Tuesday, after whipping my brother in two out of three games of ping pong—a triumph that has occurred exactly once before in the history of our rivalry—I proceeded to best my previous high score by almost 10 percent in the online anagrams game that has been my recent procrastination tool of choice.

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