Bupropion: clinical assay for amphetamine-like abuse potential.

Bupropion hydrochloride (100, 200, and 400 mg), d-amphetamine sulfate (15 and 30 mg), and placebo were compared in 13 volunteers who had histories of amphetamine abuse. Each dose was given orally at intervals of 3 or more days according to a double-blind, randomized crossover design. Bupropion had little or no effect on blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration, body temperature, pupil diameter, subjective appetite, food intake, sleep, or selected subscales of the Addiction Research Center Inventory and Single Dose Questionnaire. Conversely, d-amphetamine was active on most measures. It is concluded that, despite bupropion's reinforcing properties in animals, the compound is not amphetamine-like and is unlikely to give rise to such abuse in humans.