Assessment of the Abuse Potentiality of Amphetamines and LSD-Like Hallucinogens in Man and its Relationship to Basic Animal Assessment Programs

Abstract

Amphetamine-like stimulants and LSD-like hallucinogens have been adjudged both nationally and internationally to have a significant abuse potentiality. In making a decision about whether a drug has an abuse potentiality similar to that of amphetamine or LSD, the following types of data are helpful: 1. An estimate of the habituating or reinforcing properties of the drug, 2. a characterization of the actions of the drug on the central nervous system and the demonstration of its similarity to the prototype drug, 3. the demonstration of direct tolerance to the drug and cross tolerance to the prototype, as well as cross tolerance to the drug in subjects tolerant to the prototype, and 4. the demonstration of physical dependence and of cross dependence.