Drug-caused Disease

A medical team in Los Angeles, California, has linked a potentially fatal disease of the arteries to drug abuse. The disease has appeared after as little as three months of drug use. Methamphetamine, also known as Methedrine, is suspected as being the drug that causes this disease. This finding, according to Dr. B. Philip Citron, who is head of the team, “was frightening, especially since amphetamine abuse in this country appears to be on the increase. . . . Perhaps 10 per cent of those who abuse amphetamines may fall victim to the disease, although the incidence in the hospital population runs as high as 30 to 40 per cent.”