An Unseen Amphetamine Epidemic in West Africa, 1960–1980.

The article focuses on the large-scale trade of dexamphetamine sulphate ("speed") from the United Kingdom to Nigeria between the 1960s and 1970s, which fueled a largely unnoticed epidemic of amphetamine addiction in Nigeria. British manufacturers exported hundreds of millions of doses to West African pharmacists, while the British government’s attempts to regulate the trade were limited and largely ineffective. In Nigeria, dexamphetamine was used by students to study and by cattle herders to endure long treks amid drought, with addiction becoming widespread but remaining under-recognized due to cultural attitudes and limited medical resources. This stimulant trade contrasts with the later cocaine trade flowing from Nigeria to Europe, highlighting complex postcolonial economic relationships and differing drug policies shaped by geopolitical and social factors. The article underscores how addiction crises can be both manufactured and invisible, shaped by legal frameworks, economic interests, and societal perceptions.