United States, amphetamine consumption took off, with pharmaceutical companies manufacturing 3.5 billion tablets annually by the late 1950s.

e US military continued to use amphetamines heavily, with the drug becoming standard issue during the Korean War.

Germany did not experience the same post-war surge in stimulant use due to the dismantling of domestic production and tighter controls on Pervitin during the war.

Pharmaceutical companies sold the drug, marketed as "wake-a-mine," to the public, leading to widespread use and addiction.

The use of stimulants during World War II led to addiction problems among soldiers on all sides. In Japan, the problem was particularly severe, and the country experienced its first drug epidemic. Many soldiers and factory workers who had become hooked on the drug during the war continued to consume it into the postwar years.

he Japanese imperial government also used methamphetamine to enhance the performance of its soldiers and pilots. The drug, known as Philopon, was distributed to pilots for long flights and to soldiers for combat.

he British distributed 72 million standard-dose amphetamine tablets during the war, and the Americans used Benzedrine, a type of amphetamine, to help pilots stay awake during long flights.

Even then, the drug continued to be dispensed on both the western and eastern fronts, with 10 million methamphetamine tablets sent to the eastern front in the first half of 1942 alone.

use of Pervitin was instrumental in the success of the Blitzkrieg, allowing German troops to push ahead rapidly and catch their enemies off guard

drug was often dispensed in the form of chocolate bars, known as Fliegerschokolade (flyer's chocolate) and Panzerschokolade (tanker's chocolate), and was taken by a large proportion of officers

media portrayed Chinese and Korean individuals as suppliers of the drug, allowing the Japanese to cast themselves as victims of "pollution" by those they had wronged. This depiction implicitly absolved guilt for imperial opium operations on the Asian mainland. By 1954, 58.1% of suspects arrested for violating the Ban on Stimulant Drugs showed signs of hiropon addiction, and an estimated 1.5 million Japanese were stimulants users.

and its production and consumption remained legal until the late 1940s.

ver, Japan's defeat in 1945 led to the dismantling of its empire and the end of its drug economy.

After Japan's defeat in World War II, the country experienced a methamphetamine epidemic, which was eventually resolved through public campaigns against stimulant drugs.