Remember this? Don’t be cruel

Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in 1941. Ellen lived with her parents – her father was an entrepreneur, and her mother was a nurse – in Virginia and later Baltimore, Maryland. Her grandparents were European Jewish immigrants who came to America in search of a better life. When she was 7 years old, Ellen’s parents sent her to live with her grandparents while Ellen’s mother gave birth to Ellen’s little sister. Ellen said later that this “aroused some insecurities in me.” Ellen felt as if her parents had abandoned her in favor of the new baby. Ellen calmed herself by overeating. Ellen moved back in with her parents soon after the baby was born, but the insecurities remained. By the time she became a teenager, she weighed approximately 180 pounds, almost double the weight of the other kids in her class. Her weight became the subject of many cruel jokes by her classmates, which fueled her insecurities. She ate to calm her anxieties about her weight. Ellen was trapped in a vicious cycle. Ellen’s parents recognized the problem and took her to a doctor. The doctor put her on diet pills, which were amphetamines. At the time, amphetamine pills were prescribed to combat “mental and emotional distress” and as a “weight-loss remedy striking at the emotional causes of overeating.” The amphetamine pills contained a potent stimulant and were highly addictive. Upon taking one of the pills the user felt a sudden “flash” of joy abusers nicknamed a “rush.” Inhibitions were lowered. The user felt more self-confident, had more energy, was more social, and felt that they were thinking more clearly. Ellen was a part of America’s first amphetamine epidemic.

In the 1950s and 1960s, doctors prescribed amphetamine pills without restraint. Pharmaceutical companies gave kickbacks to doctors who prescribed their amphetamine pills. Doctors had not yet learned the side effects of amphetamines such as high body temperature, memory loss, stroke, heart problems and possible damage to young, developing brains. Amphetamines quickly became a recreational drug.