methedrine

English

Etymology

Trade name.

Noun

methedrine (countable and uncountable, plural methedrines)

A brand name for methamphetamine.
Synonyms: speed; see also Thesaurus:methamphetamine
- 1966, Donovan (lyrics and music), “The Trip”, in Sunshine Superman:
  And-a all in all, the seagull said / "As I look to where I've been / The whole wide human race / Has a-taken far too much Methedrine"
- 1970, William S. Burroughs Jr., Speed, Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, published 1984, →ISBN, page 157:
  After three weeks high on methedrine the comedown isn’t necessarily that bad, but the participant’s frame of mind can steer it anywhere from mere exhaustion to suicidal desperation, with hundreds of nefarious variations in between.
- 1990, Julian Chomet, Speed and Amphetamines, New York: F. Watts, →ISBN, page 20:
  The initial availability of injectable amphetamines (in the form of Methedrine) was a result of the belief of many doctors that it was a safer alternative for intravenous heroin and cocaine users. Inevitably, supplies of injectable Methedrine found their way onto the street market. Around 1968, intravenous Methedrine was widely used in New York and on the West Coast.
- 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 1053:
  A crude and cheap form of combustible methedrine, favored by the same sort of addictive class that sniffs gasoline fumes or coats the inside of a paper bag with airplane glue and puts the bag over their face and breathes until they fall down and start to convulse.
- 2007 May 6, Toni Bentley, “Secrets and Lies”, in New York Times‎^[1]:
  Back in the States, Geng is soon on the lam in San Francisco for hot-wiring and crashing a car with a friend while high on methedrine.