The BBC obituary on Shulgin[1] calls him the "Godfather of Ecstasy"[2], but he was far more than that.
He synthesized and carefully chronicled the effects of hundreds of psychoactive compounds on himself and a small, dedicated core group of explorers of human consciousness.
His efforts were published in two massive, definitive tomes called PiHKAL[3][4] and TiKHAL[5][6], the titles of which stand for "Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved" and "Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved", respectively.
These volumes contained detailed chemical synthesis instructions for the compounds he created, along with "trip reports" and ratings[7] of the compounds' psychoactivity, ranging from:
PLUS / MINUS (+/-) "The level of effectiveness of a drug that indicates a threshold action. If a higher dosage produces a greater response, then the plus/minus (+/-) was valid. If a higher dosage produces nothing, then this was a false positive."
to
PLUS FOUR (++++) "A rare and precious transcendental state, which has been called a 'peak experience', a 'religious experience,' 'divine transformation,' a 'state of Samadhi' and many other names in other cultures. It is not connected to the +1, +2, and +3 of the measuring of a drug's intensity. It is a state of bliss, a participation mystique, a connectedness with both the interior and exterior universes, which has come about after the ingestion of a psychedelic drug, but which is not necessarily repeatable with a subsequent ingestion of that same drug. If a drug (or technique or process) were ever to be discovered which would consistently produce a plus four experience in all human beings, it is conceivable that it would signal the ultimate evolution, and perhaps the end of, the human experiment."
His chemistry lab was DEA-licensed to handle "illegal" (scheduled) compounds, though he often synthesized entirely novel compounds which were not scheduled because neither the compounds nor the laws scheduling them existed yet.
Shulgin tirelessly educated the public and the law-enforcement community on the effects and value of psychedelic and psychoactive compounds, and wrote a highly informative Q&A column.[7]
Shulgin's pioneering work inspired generations of chemists, self-experimenters, and explorers. He was well known, loved, and respected as one of the most highly accomplished psychedelic chemists in history. His presence and guidance will be deeply missed.
I'm glad i'm getting the news through a mutual friend like Erowid, and not the media. The BBC is responsible for labeling his empathogenic 2c-b as one of the most dangerous drugs there is. [1]
While 2C-B has actually been one of the most loveliest, caring and care-free drugs I've ever used in a responsible dose and many of Shulgins trials will undoubtedly confirm.
Shulgin has thaught us that we should have freedom inside our body and mind, and that there are responsible ways of exploring the depths.
BBC has taught me to never pay attention to U.K. news when it comes to the things they are obviously clueless about and don't care of getting their facts straight, just some tabloudish headlines..
It always annoys me how drugs are blamed by the news outlets whenever ignorant people use them irresponsibly. (Is it a news item when someone drives their car recklessly and injures themselves? Almost never, unless they're of some notoriety.)
I grew up in the UK, the media loved sensationalizing a drug death. 1 pretty white girl dies from water toxicity while on ecstacy (AKA not a drug overdose, a death due to lack of information on safe usage), whilst organizations like MADD are fighting like crazy to reduce the daily manslaughter caused by people knowingly and irresponsibly using alcohol.
When one of the big scandals was going on I remember there was an advert on TV warning against binge drinking. The advert was this girl saying how her and her friend were out at a club, her friend was staggering about so they went back to her apartment because she was closest. They laid on the bed and went to sleep, she woke up the next morning and her friend was ice cold. Dead, choked on her vomit in her sleep. The UK has almost 9000 deaths a year related to alcohol.
The UK in 2011 had 6 deaths where ecstacy was a possible contributing factor. Drugscope is an interesting if skewed view.
There is a huge problem currently with xtc-pills containing PMMA[1] in Europe.
Also a lot of the deaths are during festival peak season. Overheating and as often a response drinking too much can cause critical health issues.
This just shows how providing free tests at party's, more honest and thorough education etc can safe lives.
He synthesized and carefully chronicled the effects of hundreds of psychoactive compounds on himself and a small, dedicated core group of explorers of human consciousness.
His efforts were published in two massive, definitive tomes called PiHKAL[3][4] and TiKHAL[5][6], the titles of which stand for "Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved" and "Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved", respectively.
These volumes contained detailed chemical synthesis instructions for the compounds he created, along with "trip reports" and ratings[7] of the compounds' psychoactivity, ranging from:
PLUS / MINUS (+/-) "The level of effectiveness of a drug that indicates a threshold action. If a higher dosage produces a greater response, then the plus/minus (+/-) was valid. If a higher dosage produces nothing, then this was a false positive."
to
PLUS FOUR (++++) "A rare and precious transcendental state, which has been called a 'peak experience', a 'religious experience,' 'divine transformation,' a 'state of Samadhi' and many other names in other cultures. It is not connected to the +1, +2, and +3 of the measuring of a drug's intensity. It is a state of bliss, a participation mystique, a connectedness with both the interior and exterior universes, which has come about after the ingestion of a psychedelic drug, but which is not necessarily repeatable with a subsequent ingestion of that same drug. If a drug (or technique or process) were ever to be discovered which would consistently produce a plus four experience in all human beings, it is conceivable that it would signal the ultimate evolution, and perhaps the end of, the human experiment."
His chemistry lab was DEA-licensed to handle "illegal" (scheduled) compounds, though he often synthesized entirely novel compounds which were not scheduled because neither the compounds nor the laws scheduling them existed yet.
Shulgin tirelessly educated the public and the law-enforcement community on the effects and value of psychedelic and psychoactive compounds, and wrote a highly informative Q&A column.[7]
Shulgin's pioneering work inspired generations of chemists, self-experimenters, and explorers. He was well known, loved, and respected as one of the most highly accomplished psychedelic chemists in history. His presence and guidance will be deeply missed.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin
[2] - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27676669
[3] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIHKAL
[4] - http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/pihkal/pihkal.sht...
[5] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIHKAL
[6] - http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/tihkal/tihkal.sht...
[7] - http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/shulgin/blg/index.html