Know Your Amphetamines

A practical pharmacology tour of the amphetamine stimulants. Adderall is a rebranded 1950s diet pill (Obetrol) -- a near-random four-salt mix -- that won the ADHD market on timing and marketing, even though pure d-amphetamine (Dexedrine) is probably better (studies + patient-rating sites favour it; l-amphetamine mostly just dilutes). Vyvanse is essentially Dexedrine on a slow-release leash (lysine), so some of its edge over Adderall may just be that it's Dexedrine; Evekeo doubles down on l-amphetamine and is worse; Desoxyn (methamphetamine) tops every patient-rating site. On the meth-vs-amphetamine panic: the literature finds no large chemical gulf -- the real differences are route of administration and dose (abusers take ~25x clinical doses, injected/snorted). Ends with his own first-to-last prescribing ladder (Adderall -> Dexedrine -> Vyvanse -> Evekeo -> Desoxyn -> non-amphetamines).

Quality 70 · Strong. Strong. A knowledgeable, genuinely useful clinical explainer that debunks a couple of popular misconceptions (Adderall's pedigree; the meth/amphetamine gulf) with a practical upshot. Bounded -- a drug guide rather than a field-shaping essay -- so mid-Strong.

Claude’s paradigm shift 44 · Moderate. Moderate. Synthesises known pharmacology; the mild novelty is the framing (Adderall as a random diet-pill formulation, Vyvanse as disguised Dexedrine).

Real-world impact 2 · Minor. Minor. A practical clinical/psychopharmacology explainer with some prescribing relevance, but its reach is within the medical/discourse sphere. Within-niche.