Ariadne a lost chemical love story
Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin was a Biochemist major, one of the reasons why he didn’t call himself a chemist, he was often known as the “Grandfather of MDMA” from rediscovering and introducing the substance in the mid-’70s after learning the special effect caused by the compound. In the late 70’s he proceeded to give the substance to Leo Zeff who used it for psychotherapy purposes introducing MDMA in the psychotherapy field.
However, MDMA was only one grain of the many substances Shulgin had synthesized, after the discovery of Zectran, an insecticide that resulted in high profit for Dow, he was given the freedom to pursue research of his own. Sasha decided to research Psychedelic drugs and his fascination with the human mind.
In 1992, Alexander Shulgin together with his wife Ann Shulgin published the book PIHKAL- short for Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved and subsequently TIKHAL short for Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved. Within the books, 234 psychedelic substances (179 Phenethylamines and 55 Tryptamines) were studied, described, synthesized, and self-experimented.
In between them DOM (2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine), a bridge to the Chemistry of Shulgin’s “classic ladies”. Alexander Shulgin figured to systematically replacing each of the ten unique hydrogens of the molecule, one at a time, with a methyl group and name the resulting materials with famous ladies in Alphabetical order. ARIADNE, BEATRICE, CHARMIAN, DAPHNE, ELVIRA, FLORENCE, GANESHA, HECATE(DOET), IRIS and JUNO.
Ariadne was the first result of this experimentation the replacement of the methyl for a hydrogen atom on the methyl group of the amphetamine chain, named after the daughter of King Minos, Ariadne was who gave the long piece of thread to Theseus to guide him thru the mazes so he could escape and kill the Minotaur.
While experimenting with ARIADNE, Shulgin felt no stimulation and certainly no psychedelic states, it wasn’t until he gave a sample to a friend to explore it as a psychotherapeutical ally, it was certain that it had an effect in underlying depression and in senile dementia under the name Dimoxamine, that was it, Shulgin had synthetized what he decided to call an anti-depressant.
Unfortunately, some of these compounds were made illegal and never got to be scientifically explored, the human consumption reports are nearly thanks, sadly just like this compound, there are plenty of other Shulgin’s creations who barely got any recognition and we’re simply made illegal, 2C-N, the ALEPH family, are another great example.
This leads us to the question:
“How exactly do compounds get illegal?”
The truthful explanation is that there is no reason.
FDA and alike administrations can make a substance illegal without giving any reasoning. The list of substances is presented and as long as no one opposes against it, the substance becomes illegal.
The main reason why the list has gone as far as it did is mainly lack of awareness of the existence of these substances that may have serious therapeutic potential and it may be a big mistake outlawing them.
Generally, we are taught that drugs are inherently bad and dangerous, either by family values, or slaughter by the media. Unfortunately, when the substances get scheduled scientists cannot work with them as they are unwilling to break the law, they cannot develop analogs or even publish their studies. On the other hand, dealers keep on making profit by selling these substances illegally in the streets, meanwhile the scientific progress is stagnated.
Taking the example of Cannabis misconception of being a bridge to drugs like Heroin and Cocaine, its legality is growing in the United States, the alkaloid CBD (Cannabidiol) is being sold for Anxiety for both Humans and Pets, Hemp seeds are being sold for dietary purposes, the comeback of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD agreed by the FDA in 2019 which will be under phase 3 trials in 2022, Ketamine for depression, the use of Amphetamine(Evekeo) and Methamphetamine (Desoxyn)for ADHD, the LSD Micro dosing movement for Depression and the legalization of Psilocybin mushrooms.
The only way to fight this is to provide education about the designer drugs that are being produced, so people can join science advocated and oppose the scheduling of these substances.
Only that way researches can be made, published and potential therapeutic tools can be found, horizons can be expanded from the general discontent of prescription drugs leading to a psychedelic renaissance with substances like the ones once synthesized by Alexander Shulgin