another recipe for methamphetamine was rediscovered. Japanese researchers had invented it in 1919, synthesizing it from ephedrine, a natural substance from the ephedra plant—used for millennia as a stimulant and appetite suppressant that also clears the bronchial passages. During World War II methamphetamine was marketed in Japan as hiropon, a word that combines the Japanese terms for “fatigue” and “fly away.” Hiropon was given to Japanese soldiers and kamikaze pilots to help them over their fear of death.
