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ISIS-linked stimulant Captagon more dangerous than previously thought, scientists say
Source: ABC News
ISIS-linked stimulant Captagon more dangerous than previously thought, scientists say
By MORGAN WINSOR • Aug 18, 2017, 1:25 PM ET
A banned amphetamine-type stimulant linked to substance abuse in the Middle East and said to be favored by ISIS is more potent than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday.
Fenethylline, also known by its brand name Captagon, is a combination of amphetamine, a stimulant, and theophylline, a drug traditionally used to treat respiratory diseases such as asthma. The latter greatly enhances the former's psychoactive properties, making the codrug a powerful amphetamine, according to scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who published their findings in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
“It boosts the overall stimulant activity,” Cody Wenthur, the study's co-author and a postdoctoral research associate at the Scripps Research Institute, said in a statement. “You get a faster onset than other amphetamine drugs and a stronger effect than just amphetamine alone.”
Captagon has been around for a while, Wenthur noted. It was used therapeutically before it became illegal in the United States and most countries in the 1980s. But the study's findings may explain why the illicit stimulant has gained popularity in recent years and is abused by young people in the Middle East.
-snip-
By MORGAN WINSOR • Aug 18, 2017, 1:25 PM ET
A banned amphetamine-type stimulant linked to substance abuse in the Middle East and said to be favored by ISIS is more potent than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday.
Fenethylline, also known by its brand name Captagon, is a combination of amphetamine, a stimulant, and theophylline, a drug traditionally used to treat respiratory diseases such as asthma. The latter greatly enhances the former's psychoactive properties, making the codrug a powerful amphetamine, according to scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who published their findings in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
“It boosts the overall stimulant activity,” Cody Wenthur, the study's co-author and a postdoctoral research associate at the Scripps Research Institute, said in a statement. “You get a faster onset than other amphetamine drugs and a stronger effect than just amphetamine alone.”
Captagon has been around for a while, Wenthur noted. It was used therapeutically before it became illegal in the United States and most countries in the 1980s. But the study's findings may explain why the illicit stimulant has gained popularity in recent years and is abused by young people in the Middle East.
-snip-
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-linked-stimulant-captagon-dangerous-previously-thought-scientists/story?id=49269992
