Benzedrine in popular culture

Benzedrine pills, colloquially referred to as bennies, is the brand name of the first pharmaceutical drug that contained amphetamine. The drug contained the racemic mixture of amphetamine, which is an equal parts mixture of levoamphetamine and dextroamphetamine. It was first marketed in 1933 as a decongestant in the United States by Smith, Kline & French in the form of Benzedrine inhalers. Benzedrine sulfate was introduced three years later and was used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions, including narcolepsy, obesity, low blood pressure, low libido, and chronic pain, among others.

History and culture

See also: History and culture of substituted amphetamines

While the drug was initially used for medical purposes, as a decongestant, early users of the Benzedrine inhaler discovered it had a euphoric stimulant effect, resulting in its being one of the earliest synthetic stimulants to be widely used for recreational (i.e., nonmedical) purposes. Even though this drug was intended for inhalation, some people used Benzedrine recreationally by cracking the container open and swallowing the paper strip inside, which was covered in Benzedrine. The strips were often rolled into small balls and swallowed, or taken with coffee or alcohol. Because of the stimulant side effect, physicians discovered amphetamine could also be used to treat narcolepsy. This led to the production of Benzedrine in tablet form. Benzedrine was also used by doctors to perk up lethargic patients before breakfast.

In 1937, the effects of Benzedrine, and thus stimulant use, was studied in children with behavior and neurological disorders.

Benzedrine was supplied to combat troops in World War 2 for use in exceptional circumstances (e.g. to keep escort ship officers awake and alert in continuous pursuit of submarines for 24 hours or more, for fighter pilots to keep alert in the air despite multiple daily missions and for paratroopers to stay fighting longer) as is documented by some participants, e.g. Nicholas Monsarrat or Pierre Clostermann. In the 1940s and 1950s, reports began to emerge about the recreational use of Benzedrine inhalers, and in 1949, doctors began to move away from prescribing Benzedrine as a bronchodilator and appetite suppressant. In 1959, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made it a prescription drug. After its removal from open sale a black market continued in many large cities, to supply addicts and enthusiasts.

Benzedrine and derived amphetamines were used as a stimulant for armed forces during World War II and the Vietnam War. Benzedrine was extensively referenced in Beatnik culture and writings. It was referenced in the works of famous Beats, including Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road, Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar, William S. Burroughs's novel Junky, and Allen Ginsberg's memoir poem "Howl". Benzedrine is also mentioned in John Rechy's novel City of Night and several novels by Jacqueline Susann, in particular The Love Machine in which main character Robin Stone treats the drug as a staple of "a well balanced diet" inclusive of red meat and cigarettes. Benzedrine is frequently referenced in Hubert Selby Jr.'s novel Last Exit to Brooklyn.

When amphetamine became a controlled substance, it was replaced by propylhexedrine. Propylhexedrine was also manufactured by Smith, Kline and French and was marketed under the name Benzedrex. The Benzedrex inhaler is still available today, but is now manufactured by B.F. Ascher & Company, inc. In certain countries (e.g., the United States), levomethamphetamine is used as the active ingredient in certain brands of inhalers, such as Vicks VapoInhaler, which are sold over-the-counter. The active ingredient of Benzedrine in the form of a mixture of various salts and enriched in the dextro-enantiomer is currently prescribed (e.g. under the trade name Adderall) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Film

• All About Eve (1950): There is an exchange between two of the main characters and it is mentioned, "So when you start judging an idealistic, dreamy-eyed kid by the barroom Benzedrine standards of this megalomaniac society, I won't have it."
• Decision Before Dawn (1951): The German double agent "Happy" is shown taking a pill from a pillbox labelled "Benzedrine 5 mg," with which the Americans supplied him.
• Sweet Bird of Youth (1962): Chance Wayne (Paul Newman), upon hearing of the death of his mother from Philip Abbott as Dr. George Scudder, Dr. Scudder asks "Do you even care that your Mother died?" Chance takes a tin from his pocket, removes a small white pill and places it in his mouth. The Dr. then asks "What is that you just took?" Chance replies "A pill." The Dr. asks "What kind of pill?" Chance replies "Benny, Benzedrine". The Dr. asks "On prescription?" Chance smirks; then nods, and replies "Yeah, sorta; Goofball makes the World keep its balance."
• Vanishing Point (1971): The main character, Kowalski, uses Benzedrine pills to keep himself awake as he races his iconic Dodge Challenger from Colorado to California.
• Deadhead Miles (1973): Alan Arkin stars as a truck driver who takes Benzedrine to stay awake for nearly a week, stating that he sometimes lets "Benny take the wheel."
• Sophie's Choice (1982): Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol, Benzedrine is mentioned. Larry Landau, the brother of Nathan Landau (Kevin Kline), tells Stingo (Peter MacNicol) that Nathan is taking benzedrine and cocaine.
• Bad Medicine (1985): A plastic surgeon's son (Steve Guttenberg) joins other cutups at a one-man (Alan Arkin) medical school in Central America. Referred as "my friend speedy Bennie"
• Robocop 2 (1990): While the main antagonist Cain is testing his new designer narcotic "Blue Velvet" he tells the scientist working on it, "The Benzedrine has my teeth wiggling."
• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992): In the film, directed by David Lynch, a young woman, Shelly Johnson, is married to an abusive husband (Leo Johnson). While in a cleaning frenzy and apparently under the influence, Leo aggressively admonishes Shelly's cleaning approach. She replies: "Lay off the bennies, Leo."
• W.E. (2011): Directed by Madonna, King Edward VIII livens up his sleeping guests with a Benzedrine pill added to every glass of champagne and announces "It's time to wake these people up" to Wallis Simpson. The party transforms a sleep cinema display of Charlie Chaplin to a raucous party with laughter and dancing and a much greater sense of euphoria.
• Life (2015): A film about James Dean and the photographer who took the famous photo of Dean at Times Square, Manhattan, NY. As the two sit with their company in a small bar in New York, a friend of Dean tells him he looks tired, Dean answers, "well I feel tired". As a response to Dean telling his friend that he is tired, a lady in the company says, "well I got something for that", picks up a brown glass container, shakes it around so that one can hear the pills as they hit the glass walls of the bottle, and says "you want a Benzedrine?".
• Trumbo (2015): The screenplay writer Dalton Trumbo was known to be dependent upon Benzedrine, which he often combined with hard liquor, as portrayed in the 2015 film Trumbo.

Television

• Fargo: In the fourth season, Josto Fadda, new Boss of a crime family after his father's sudden death, is addicted to amphetamines. In the second episode he asks nurse Oraetta Mayflower for "bennies, zoomers, chicken powder", which she provides and we find out she is also addicted. She is seen snorting white powder many times throughout the season. Every time Josto and Oraetta meet they have sex and snort benzedrine, though it is called many humorous euphemisms/slang terms, like "fluffy whizzbang".
• Fawlty Towers: In "The Psychiatrist" episode, Season 2, Episode 2, Sybil calls Basil a "Benzedrined puff adder" in reaction to him fawning over the two Doctors who have just arrived, yet in contrast to him spitting bile at the 'low-class' playboy guest he despises. The full line she says is "You never get it right, do you? You're either crawling all over them, licking their boots, or spitting poison at them like some Benzedrined puff adder." The particular irony of John Cleese and Connie Booth including this reference to Benzedrine in the script of this episode is notable as psychiatrists once flirted with Benzedrine as a possible treatment for behavioral and neurological disorders, until much more effective drugs were discovered. Furthermore, Sybil's reference to it is in context to the 'fuelling' of Basil's behaviour, rather than being a 'cure' for it, which better describes the effects of Benzedrine, and all amphetamines.
• The Last Tycoon: In season 1 episode 3 of the Amazon original series, a woman named Carol gives a Benzedrine inhaler to a Shirley Temple-esque child actress named Sally while on a movie set, after Sally repeatedly complains about being too tired to dance or rehearse. Later in the episode, Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer) tells the child star that she needs to stop acting so badly if she wants to be a "big star like Margo Taft someday..." Then, while walking away, Monroe speaks to Carol (her handler/mother), advising her to back-off the usage of the "Benzedrine" because the child is only seven years old. An ironic plotline is the child actress indeed sees the Margo Taft character as an icon and role model, and later we get to see Margo Taft (played by Jennifer Beals) judiciously using the same type of Benzedrine inhaler in her dressing room, earning herself a disapproving look of recognition from her maid/assistant. This subtle but important plot point has many implications, including the idea of pervasive drug use in the industry beginning in childhood. In another episode, we are shown to the use of heroin amongst the writing staff, as well as numerous references to the heavy use of alcohol amongst the general staff and spouses.
• The Man in the High Castle: In the first episode of season one, Joe Blake is handed a package containing Benzedrine to aid him in making the journey from New York City to Cañon City.
• M*A*S*H: In the Season 6 episode "Dr Winchester and Mr. Hyde", as MASH doctor Charles Emerson Winchester struggles with the effects of long hours in the operating room, he develops a dependency on benzedrine pills. At first they provide him with a much-needed energy boost, but he increases the dosage rapidly and becomes increasingly hyperactive; in one instance, he writes a 27-page paper for the American Medical Association that is entirely composed of one run-on sentence. Company clerk Radar O'Reilly is preparing his pet mouse for a race against a mouse owned by some Marines, and on the morning of the race, Winchester slips Radar's mouse a dose of benzedrine; she easily wins the race. As the MASH officers leave to celebrate, fellow doctors Hawkeye Pierce and B.J. Hunnicutt find Winchester in severe distress: pale, sweating profusely, and an abnormally high pulse. Hawkeye and B.J. find the benzedrine in Charles' footlocker. Charles protests that he has his use under control, but they put a mirror up to his face, revealing to Charles his true state. Radar finds out about Charles' interference in the race and tells him to never do that again, regardless of Charles' superior rank. Charles agrees, gives Hawkeye and B.J. the equivalent of the camp's winnings in the mouse race to give to the Marines before they also discover the cheating, then leaves the tent to vomit. Within a few days of detoxification, Charles is back to his normal self.
• Taxi: In the episode "Men Are Such Beasts", Tony Danza's character dates a woman who books more jobs driving her cab than anyone else because she abuses "bennies" and "black beauties."
• True Detective: In Season 3 Episode 2, Wayne "Purple" Hays, a Vietnam War veteran and now detective, says to his partner Roland West, "We should get bennies. Stayin' up all night." To which Roland replies, "Glove box. Red-and-blue ones." The two stressed, pressured detectives are on night patrol in West Finger, Arkansas, and are preparing for a very important investigation the following morning. Being a Vietnam War veteran, Detective Wayne "Purple" Hays is familiar with recreational use of the stimulant 'bennies.'

Literature

• The Last Tycoon (1941) by F. Scott Fitzgerald: In Chapter 4, Monroe Stahr, the workaholic Hollywood motion picture producer, betrays his Benzedrine addiction. After swallowing Benzedrine pills to prevent himself from blacking out, "He sat down in a big chair, waiting for the benzedrine to take effect before he went to dinner."
• James Bond (1953–) by Ian Fleming: In the series of books, the character James Bond repeatedly makes use of Benzedrine in times of peak stress and typically during the climax of various books, as does another character. In the first book, Casino Royale written in 1953, soviet agent Le Chiffre is depicted making use of a Benzedrine inhaler as he plays Baccarat. James Bond's first use of Benzedrine is in the form of tablets in the book Live and Let Die "...He still felt perfectly fresh and the elation and clarity of mind produced by the Benzedrine were still with him..." This scene occurs as James Bond is maneuvering through an underwater coral reef toward the island of Surprise off the coast of Jamaica. The second instance of James Bond using Benzedrine is in Moonraker where early in the book he uses a champagne and Benzedrine mixed drink, of which he says "Never Again," to stay alert enough to beat the villain Hugo Drax at a game of high-stakes contract bridge. The third use is when James Bond is about to deal with two gangsters in The Spy Who Loved Me over a long night at the Dreamy Pines Motor Court. The book says Bond, "...took out two and when I gave him the coffee he swallowed them down. 'Benzedrine. That'll keep me awake for tonight.'"
• On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac: In Part 1, Chapter 7, Sal receives a call from Carlo Marx, who describes his life in Denver. Part of this description mentions how Carlo and Dean Moriarty would take Benzedrine. After doing so they'd "sit on the beds, crosslegged, facing each other."
• Last Exit to Brooklyn (1962) by Hubert Selby Jr.: Throughout the entire book characters within the chapters take Benzedrine (bennies) excessively. Characters like Goldie, Georgette, Rosie, Malfie, Freddie, Harry Black, etc. take Benzedrine with alcohol to enter a drunken and high state.
• The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath: The main character Esther Greenwood dreams up a list of unrealistic expectations for herself in the midst of her depression. "I thought I would spend the summer reading Finnegans Wake and writing my thesis. Then I would be way ahead when college started at the end of September, and able to enjoy my last year, instead of swotting away with no makeup and stringy hair, on a diet of coffee and Benzedrine, the way most of the seniors taking honors did, until they finish their thesis."
• "Fritz Bugs Out" (1968) of the comic strip Fritz the Cat by Robert Crumb: Fritz the Cat complains of his college roommates that "take some bennies an' stay up all night with [their faces] in a bunch of books."
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976) by Tom Robbins: "It was a cloudless night with only moderate smog. A furry northeaster was blowing in over Coney Island and Brooklyn, bringing to the upper East Side a teasing sniff of the ocean. Trembling with energy, unable to contain itself, Manhattan was popping wheelies beneath her. In every direction, her tired eyes saw flashing lights, lights that caromed off the horizons and joined with the stars in the sky. The city seemed to be inhaling Benzedrine and exhaling light; a neon-lunged Buddha chanting and vibrating in a temple of filth."
• We Who Are About To... (1977) by Joanna Russ: The unnamed protagonist is unable to bond with the establishment figures with whom she has been marooned. She jokes to the bureaucrat Ude that the meagre first aid kit they have is "Benzedrine and bobby-pins!" but regrets that her joke is "too vulgar, base and popular" to be understood.
• Filth (1998) by Irvine Welsh: The protagonist, Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson is offered Benzedrines by his colleague Ray Lennox, who claims that "They keep you going when you are a bit fucked."
• The Lovely Bones (2002) by Alice Sebold: In Chapter 9 of the novel, Susie recalls that her grandmother and mother "had fought about whether I was old enough for Benzedrine — her own personal savior, she called it." Grandma Lynn had told Susie that "'You need to get yourself starved down, honey, before you keep fat on for too long. Baby fat is just another way to say ugly.'" Benzedrine was Grandma Lynn's "personal savior" because it helped her achieve a "starved down" appearance; to Susie, her grandmother looked "rail thin."

Music

• "On the Beam" (1942) by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer: Written by Kern and Mercer for the 1942 film You Were Never Lovelier but was not included in the film's final release. It was composed for Fred Astaire and his rendition of the song was issued on the Decca 78 rpm record as the B side to his singing of the main title song.
• "Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine" (1947) by Harry Gibson.
• "Bright College Days" (1959) by Tom Lehrer: Benzedrine is featured in the song. It appeared on the album More of Tom Lehrer.
• "I Took Three Bennies and My Semi Truck Won't Start" (1972) by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen: The drug is referred to by the slang name "Benny" in the song. The song makes reference to the alleged tendency for long-distance truck drivers to use amphetamines and other stimulants to make long-distance deliveries on a tight schedule.
• "Sister Josephine" (1972) by Jake Thackray: Appears on his album Bantam Cock.
• "Bennie and the Jets" (1973) by Elton John: The song's titular character "Bennie" is an allusion to Benzedrine. Similarly, the titular "Jets" is an allusion to "speed" (a popular street name for amphetamines).
• "Caffeine, Nicotine, Benzedrine (and Wish Me Luck)" (1975): RCA country music performers Bud Brewer and Gary Stewart both released versions of the song "Caffeine, Nicotine, Benzedrine (and Wish Me Luck)" in 1975. Brewer's version appears on his album Big Bertha, The Truck Driving Queen while Stewart's rendition appears on his album You're Not the Woman You Used to Be. The song, written by Bill Hayes, Betty Mackey and Bill Howard, is sung from the perspective of a truck driver struggling to stay awake on the road. Jerry Reed, also a country artist signed to RCA, covered the song on his 1980 album Texas Bound and Flyin'.
• "Committed to Parkview" (1976) by Johnny Cash: On his album One Piece at a Time, the song chronicled his struggles with Benzedrine. The song was later covered by The Highwaymen
• "Swordfishtrombone" (1983) by Tom Waits: The song is about an unnamed character, who is mentioned using Benzedrine. The song is the third track on the second side of his similarly-titled album Swordfishtrombones.
• "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" (1994) by R.E.M.: The song uses the term in the opening line "'What's the frequency, Kenneth?' is your Benzedrine, uh-huh." The song was written in reflection of the 1986 incident in which CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather was beaten on the streets of New York City by a then-unknown assailant, William Tager. The year the song was released by R.E.M. (1994), Tager shot and murdered NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside of the stage of the Today Show. Dan Rather didn't identify Tager until 1997.
• "Benzedrine" (2001) by Thea Gilmore: Appears on her album Rules for Jokers.
• "Old College Try" (2002) by The Mountain Goats: The song reflects on a failing marriage and the various struggles the couple has endured, including escalating pharmaceutical usage. A common street-name for Benzedrine, "cross-tops" is listed.
• "Wet Sand" (2006) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Benzedrine is mentioned in a verse of the song. The song appeared on the album Stadium Arcadium.
• "20 Dollar Nose Bleed" (2008) by Fall Out Boy: The song, from their fourth studio album Folie à Deux, is about the recreational use of Benzedrine. The song's chorus contains the lyrics "give me a pen / call me Mr. Benzedrine / but don't let the doctor in / I wanna blow off steam." Benzedrine is referenced once again in the music video of the album's second single, "America's Suitehearts." Each of the band members is given a name referencing one of the album's songs, and lead singer Patrick Stump's is Dr. Benzedrine.
• "Carl Solomon Blues" (2008) by Dear and the Headlights: The drug is mentioned in the pre-chorus of the song, from their second album Drunk Like Bible Times.
• "Trucker Speed" (2012) by Fred Eaglesmith.
• "Black John" (2013) by Stone Sour: Featured on House of Gold & Bones, Pt. II, it references the drug by name.

Video games

• Metal Gear Solid (1998): The PlayStation game features protagonist Solid Snake making mention of benzedrine to Dr. Naomi Hunter. Snake states that Dr. Hunter "can leave out the benzedrine. That stuff makes me too frisky.", when discussing his nanomachines and overall health while imprisoned on Shadow Moses Island.
• L.A. Noire (2011): The fictional 1940s adventure game sees the protagonist, Cole Phelps, interrogate a doctor who prescribed the drug to a new deceased character. There is also a side mission about arresting a Benzedrine addict that has broken into a pharmacy in search of the drug.

See also

• Adderall
• Benzedrex

References

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