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This article, reprinted from the Spring 1969 issue of the Journal (vol. 2, issue 2)–when it was still the Journal of Psychedelic Drugs—is among the first to describe high-dose, intravenous methamphetamine abuse in the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco. Methamphetamine use was increasing in 1967 and 1968, sometimes orally as an adulterant of psychedelic drugs or as a primary drug of abuse, but it was increasingly being abused in an intravenous, high-dose binge pattern that proved pernicious, not only to the users, but to the hippies and other members of the Haight-Ashbury community. Even among drug-using Haight-Ashbury subcultures, the high-dose methamphetamine abuser was marginalized, but became increasingly visible and unavoidable because of violence associated with dealing methamphetamine and because of the users' hyperactivity and paranoia. Methamphetamine was not a new drug. Oral methamphetamine, under the pharmaceutical trade name of Desoxyn®, and methamphetamine, in oral tablets and in ampoules for intravenous administration under the trade name of Methedrine®, had been available for years. Injectable Methedrine was prescribed for treatment of heroin addiction by a few San Francisco physicians and that created concern among San Francisco's medical community and law enforcement. Clearly, prescribing a stimulant for treatment of heroin dependence was not a good idea, repeating Sigmund Freud's misadventure treating his friend's morphine addiction with cocaine. But there was little evidence that prescription methamphetamine use was creating a major public health problem. Increasing restrictions on methamphetamine's medical use and eventual withdrawal of Methedrine from the pharmaceutical market decreased availability of prescription methamphetamine and increased the market for illicit methamphetamine, known variously as "meth," "crank" or "speed." In the late '60s, Dr. Roger Smith, a criminologist who was the Director of the Amphetamine Research Project at the University of California Medical Center, led a team of researchers who conducted interviews with drug users in the Haight-Ashbury. In this important early paper, he clearly describes the social contexts of intravenous methamphetamine use and the recruitment of new users by friends. This presages later waves of methamphetamine abuse within the gay community and the otherwise inexplicable continued abuse of methamphetamine to the present despite its obvious destructiveness to users. The article is being reprinted here because of its historic importance. —Donald R. Wesson, M.D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of a symposium about The Outlook for Productivity Growth, which appeared in the March 20, 2009 issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter in California. Held November 14, 2008, the conference highlights research papers concerning productivity growth.

The article presents a reprint of the "Economic Letter 2010-08" by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF), which appeared in the March 15, 2010 issue. It summarizes the papers presented at the "Asia and the Global Financial Crisis" conference which was held last October 19-20, 2009 at the FRBSF in San Francisco, California. It discusses the national experiences of the financial crisis and the policy responses to the crisis.

The article presents a reprint of the "Economic Letter 2009-2023" by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF), which appeared in the July 20, 2009 issue. It summarizes the papers presented at the "Macroeconomic Models for Monetary Policy" conference which was held last March 6, 2009 at the FRBSF in San Francisco, California. It discusses the factors that made prices slow to adjust, the factors that made the markets sluggish, and financial market frictions.

The article presents a reprint of a symposium about the Research on the Effects of Fiscal Stimulus, which appeared in the July 3, 2008 issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) Economic Letter in California. Held May 9, 2008 at the FRBSF, the conference featured research papers on countercyclical fiscal policy and the impact of the most recent economic stimulus package.

The article presents a reprint of the article "Summer Reading: New Research in Applied Microeconomics," which appeared in the September 5, 2008 issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter in California. It provides information on the Applied Micro Summer Conference held June 25-27, 2008. The conference featured papers on several topics, such as the analyses of the impacts of government programs and insights into the behavior of businesses.

The article presents a reprint of the 2008 Annual Pacific Basin Conference which appeared in the March 13, 2009 issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter in California. The conference featured research papers on international topics, including trade and growth in Asia, global current account imbalances, and international investment patterns.

The article presents a reprint of a conference on Monetary Policy and Asset Markets which appeared in the July 11, 2008 issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter. It provides information on the conference discussing five research papers that address the role of asset markets in the U.S. economy and their importance for the conduct and implementation of monetary policy.