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'Godfather of Ecstasy,' Chemist Sasha Shulgin Dies Aged 88
EwanPalmer (2536690) writes "Alexander 'Sasha' Shulgin, the chemist, pharmacologist and author known for popularizing the drug MDMA as well as creating and synthesizing hundreds of psychoactive drugs, has died aged 88. Shulgin was known for discovering, creating and personally testing hundreds of psychoactive chemicals and documenting the results, along with his wife, in his books and papers. He is also known for introducing the positive aspects of MDMA to psychologists, which in term helped it become a popular recreational drug in the 1980s." With less irritation from auto-playing video sound, try the BBC.
How sad it is that psychoactive chemicals like this and LSD, which have been well demonstrated to have profoundly positive psychological effects (under responsible use) still cannot be used by responsible, grown adults? They can be the key to truly overcoming the psychological demons seem to be the human condition, and unlocked our true potential as self-aware, well-adjusted human beings.
He also wrote two books on these experiments, Pihkal and Tihkal, both of which are part fictional autobiography, part detailed instructions on how to synthesize a lot of what he discovered. They're interesting reads, at the least.
A friend of mine called me up and told me he was presenting a talk at MIT so we went. It was amazing to see a nearly 80 year old man bouncing around. He is the same age as my Grandmother, yet he had more energy and was more with it than she was at 60.
It was a really great talk; I could watch him talk about his "dirty pictures" all day long.
Very sad day but, it had to come someday.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
I'd post a comment in this thread, but my NSA file is getting heavy enough as it is. How sad that Sasha did not live to see a bit more sanity in this world.
can you imagine all the touchy-feeling-corpsey groping otherwise? dude...
This headline is terrible - Shulgin was WAY more than just some "godfather of ecstasy." He was a true scientist, pioneer, and explorer - a brilliant chemist and great writer. Everyone should at least read his book, PIHKaL. You'll get great insight into why he explored psychoactive chemicals, how he synthesized them, and (imo, most interestingly) how he went about exploring their effects.
He was much more than just the Godfather of Ecstasy. A brilliant chemist who wanted to unlock the secrets of the brain and the inner workings of the mind and soul. He was bigger than just one drug, his work was far more important than just the Rave culture. He won't be understood in his own time and his contributions will not be fully understood for hundreds of years. Once humanity has decided that chemical and substance research can be of great use to mankind, his contributions will finally be recognized.
Rest in Peace, Sasha.
Your brilliant mind and revolutionary work will be missed. And no doubt the world will be a little dimmer without your bright spirit glowing among us.
Better? Say, where is that magical land where the drugs are BETTER today?
If anything, you get more junk, more crap, more additives and less of the good stuff.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Shulgin's work had nothing to do with weed, addictive drugs or getting a body high.
He invented and classified an entire new spectrum of chemicals closely related to the brain's chemicals such as serotonine. He tried to synthesize every possible combination, moving the amino groups around, substituting existing compounds with allyl or methoxy groups, and experimented with all these chemicals on himself with precise procedures to ensure his safety. These chemicals have proven to be extremely powerful consciousness-altering drugs, active at just a few milligrams, producing profound mind-bending effects and providing an unparalleled insight in the inner workings of the mind and its chemical balance.
He has provided the public with detailed descriptions of these chemicals, both synthesis and their subjective effects. He never profited financially and risked his life and freedom many times just to chase this knowledge. (And have great sex, as he states in his books). Alexander Shulgin was a genius, and the way society is developing there will probably never be a man like him again.
Because it's inventor died 14 years older at 102. :-)
And seriously, the one time I tried ecstasy, I didn't like that it seemed to interfere with my emotions.
LSD modifies percepetions and paths of thought, which can be a fantastic experience (or just great fun) if you are in the right mood for it, but I don't remember it ever modifying my emotions.
Ecstasy gave me the impression of creating out of proportion artificial emotions in me. After the fact, I really didn't like that aspect. No wonder it was all the rage during the years of techno music. I guess people dancing to that cold techno music really needed something to still feel human.
But anyway, peace to "Godfather of Ecstasy" and all chemists experimenting with psychoactive drugs. When used right, these all give valuable experiences.
Too bad fear rules all. MDMA was highly effective in couples therapy, leading to years of progress in hours.
This is no longer 1999. Raves still exist, but pacifiers are far, far less common and the drugs are far better quality.
I think if the drugs were better the soothers would have increased since MDMA has a tendency of making you grind your teeth in a brutal way
But it didn't cause your psychosis. It exacerbated it. You had me until your 2nd to last sentence. ;)
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
Fortunately, you have no physical addiction to deal with. But if you do backslide, don't smoke one of the super powerful varieties. Find a more mellow one where the anti-psychotic cannabinoids are proportionally stronger.
Get back under your bridge.
Baaaaah...
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Better? Say, where is that magical land where the drugs are BETTER today?
If anything, you get more junk, more crap, more additives and less of the good stuff.
Weed is better today then it has been in the past.
Be seeing you...
No doubt that Shulgin was a definite genius, and made significant contributions to his field. The biggest issue with him among many professionals in the biomedical sciences is his rather unorthodox methods. He often tested compounds on himself, which is a major safety issue and generally frowned upon among professionals. If he followed common laboratory protocols and human subjects guidelines, he would be more accepted among his peers.
Better? Say, where is that magical land where the drugs are BETTER today?
If anything, you get more junk, more crap, more additives and less of the good stuff.
Actually, it's gone in a circle. Things were all mixed up and still are if you are getting "X", but if you are buying "Molly", then you should be getting the pure MDMA. There is a market for it so somebody is fulfilling it, but it says something when things have gotten such as a new name has to be come up with to describe the pure form of what you always thought you were buying to begin with.
They were charging $5 for a bottle of water and people left and did their own things.
*should* is the key word. Have you ever tested the molly you buy or are offered? 75% of the stuff I see passed off as molly doesn't even have any MDMA. And even the stuff that tests for MDMA is likely to be cut. At least that's how it is here in the midwest.
I think if the drugs were better the soothers would have increased since MDMA has a tendency of making you grind your teeth in a brutal way
When I grew up, it was common practice for a Raver/recreation drug user to look up everything about a drug before using it. There were many sources on the internet even back then (e.g. erowid), and BBS' before that. It was very common knowledge back then, that if you were grinding your teeth, it meant a large amount of the pseudoephedrine was stuck in the ephedrine stage (or it was cut), tl;dr not pure MDMA; pure MDMA has nognawing side-effect. Again, back in the day everyone knew this. Nowadays people are just like "yay molly! I heard it on a Miley Cyrus song! wooo!"
Can you be more specific about that last bit? I know cynacism runs deep within the Slashdot community (a lot of it justified) but it's not as if we won't have geniuses in the future able to make contributions to the world. Maybe the US will have some problems but not everyone is bound to America's way of doing things (or being prevented from doing).
I've never so much as tried marijuana or any other illegal drugs, any painkillers, nicotine, etc. The only drug I have experience with is alcohol.
Now, in my later years, my thoughts regarding intoxicants have changed. It's very interesting to m to read conversations like this--the experiences are so very far from my own. Even coming across these situations (e.g., talking about different kind of MDMA you see on a regular basis!) is far outside my ken. I had thought the Silk Road might be interesting to try--good thing I missed out, given what went down there.
I wonder if LSD will ever been legal within my lifetime. I kind of doubt it.
Visit Washington or Colorado. Worth the field trip.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
That just means that we have too many regulations due to too lax liability suits.
Current drug research precludes development of drugs that have "getting high" as a predominant effect, because the medical establishment considers any such effects "side effects" even if it was the intended effect!
One cannot develop an antidepressant drug, if it actually makes someone feel good!
Basically we are still in the midst of an inquisition against pleasure, thanks to you know who, dating back to the Opium Wars.
This just in: Legalizing a drug improves its quality due to competition.
Can I get a "duh"?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I don't expect that you will be allowed to have such a laboratory in your house anymore.
"Shulgin was known for discovering, creating and personally testing hundreds of psychoactive chemicals and documenting the results, along with his wife, in his books and papers." He documented the results AND he documented his wife? -- C.
Wait, Silk Road 1.0, or one of the 2.0's?
Yes.
I've never so much as tried marijuana or any other illegal drugs, any painkillers, nicotine, etc. The only drug I have experience with is alcohol.
Now, in my later years, my thoughts regarding intoxicants have changed. It's very interesting to m to read conversations like this--the experiences are so very far from my own. Even coming across these situations (e.g., talking about different kind of MDMA you see on a regular basis!) is far outside my ken. I had thought the Silk Road might be interesting to try--good thing I missed out, given what went down there.
I wonder if LSD will ever been legal within my lifetime. I kind of doubt it.
there is a fair bit of legitimacy coming back to LSD. I always considered it a potential ground breaking area of therapeutics. The whole street drug thing, Tim Leary and all the rest of that nonsense got a knee jerk reaction which led to it being dropped for therapeutic evaluation and Sandoz wouldn't touch it anymore with all the publicity and so on. It's more complex than this but still I feel we threw out a VERY promising class of therapeutic agents/method AND assistance in deep insights into cognition and so on.
Things are changing now and big inroads into an area of therapeutics are possible with human studies being authorised recently. MDMA is already producing good results in otherwise untreatable battle related PTSD as well as other things. LSD has so much to offer us I hope to see it legitimized for therapeutic use in my life if we get the research on how to use it effectively.
My biggest doubt is more the funding since developing therapeutics isn't where the money is, oncology gets more of the cash and other areas just left dry. That is the way the global pharma industry is I am afraid.
Not actually true. This is DEA propaganda. It is based on the DEA pulverizing some crappy Mexican sun cured brick weed loaded with stems, leaf, and seed all mixed together and measuring the THC in the past and then measuring properly grown hydroponic bud today.
It is true that higher quality weed is more commonly available today but it existed all along. When the DEA was measuring that brick there was already plenty of commonly available Skunk (~12%) as the mainstay in the US. Haze (remember Jimi Hendrix) which is ~20% and lots of other strains every bit as strong as they are today. People knew how to grow marijuana properly then, even more people know how to do it now.
Stop buying from the streets. The dark web is where you find consistently good quality drugs these days.