Pentagon Hooked Vietnam Soldiers on Amphetamines, Painkillers, Steroids

SPUTNIK NEWS – The US military pushed drugs on troops ‘like candy,’ contributing to astronomical rates of post-service substance abuse, PTSD, and homelessness while also factoring into many of the war’s worst atrocities.

New research has led historians to consider America’s war in Vietnam as the first “pharmacological war,” with the level of psychoactive substances distributed to military personnel reaching unprecedented, nearly ubiquitous levels.

Today, many of the country’s Vietnam-era veterans struggle with addiction, more so than from any preceding war, leading to calls for the government to take steps to right a wrong.

Despite the lack of research at the time on the implications of long-term amphetamine use, “pep pills” were routinely distributed to men leaving for long-range reconnaissance ambush missions. Standard Army use was 20 mg of dextroamphetamine, an amphetamine derivative twice as strong as common ADHD medicine Adderall, to provide 48 hours of combat readiness.

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