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Alexander Shulgin, 'Godfather of ecstasy', dies aged 88
BBC News ^ | 3 June 2014 Last updated at 08:51 ET | By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online

Posted on 06/04/2014 1:59:59 PM PDT by a fool in paradise

Alexander Shulgin earned his nickname, the Godfather of ecstasy, after honing a way to make the drug - and testing it out on himself to check it had worked.

A Facebook post by his wife and research partner, Ann, said he died "surrounded by family and caretakers and Buddhist meditation music".

He lived out his final years at his home in Northern California.

Shulgin began his study of organic chemistry at Harvard University in his teens and, after a stint in the US Navy during World War Two, returned to Berkeley to get his PhD in biochemistry at the University of California.

In his early working career, he joined Dow Chemical Company and, while there, developed the world's first biodegradable pesticide.

But it was while he was pursuing his own research that he began experimenting with psychoactive compounds.

He tested out his new creations on himself, inviting small groups of friends to join him in the tasting sessions.

During the swinging '60s, he says he made and tested hundreds of concoctions.

In 1965, he parted company with Dow, but continued his studies and began teaching classes at local universities.

Nearly a decade later, he came across a compound closely related to what we now call ecstasy or MDMA.

MDMA had been previously synthesised and patented in 1912 by the pharmaceutical company Merck, but was never fully explored within humans.

Shulgin decided to start human trials - again, starting with himself...

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; History; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: 2014obituaries; drugs; ecstasy; harvard; obituary; organfailure
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1 posted on 06/04/2014 1:59:59 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
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To: a fool in paradise

Hope he had an enjoyable visit here on Planet Earth.


2 posted on 06/04/2014 2:01:35 PM PDT by Resettozero
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To: a fool in paradise

Every a-frame had his number on the wall.


3 posted on 06/04/2014 2:04:08 PM PDT by Steely Tom (How do you feel about robbing Peter's robot?)
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To: a fool in paradise

Just lovely


4 posted on 06/04/2014 2:07:00 PM PDT by CARTOUCHE (9999 EOM)
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To: a fool in paradise

I’m ecstatic.


5 posted on 06/04/2014 2:07:34 PM PDT by Dr. Thorne ("How long, O Lord, holy and true?" - Rev. 6:10)
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To: Resettozero

Moving on to that very very warm tropical paradise maintained by Lucifer


6 posted on 06/04/2014 2:08:38 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: a fool in paradise

I always thought this was an animal tranquilizer coopted by druggies.


7 posted on 06/04/2014 2:10:51 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard Lives Yet!)
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To: a fool in paradise

Was he ever aware of the real planet Earth?


8 posted on 06/04/2014 2:11:30 PM PDT by Dallas59 ("Remember me as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I, As I am now, so you will be")
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To: a fool in paradise

A friend of mine met him once. He told him that MDMA was something to take once a year with careful attention to “set and setting.” He was appalled that people were eating them like candy as a party drug or at raves.


9 posted on 06/04/2014 2:12:05 PM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep ("The rat always knows when he's in with weasels"-- Tom Waits)
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To: miss marmelstein

I thought that it was created by someone in the illegal drug trade during the 80s for raves.


10 posted on 06/04/2014 2:14:23 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: miss marmelstein

You’re thinking of ketamine.


11 posted on 06/04/2014 2:14:40 PM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep ("The rat always knows when he's in with weasels"-- Tom Waits)
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep

Or datura....


12 posted on 06/04/2014 2:21:42 PM PDT by datura (We have a 2 party system. Conservatives vs Uniparty)
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To: a fool in paradise

“The chemist who reinvented the popular party drug ecstasy has died at the age of 88 from liver cancer.” You can put only so much filth in the body before it kills some organ or other. This guy’s picture reminds me of that freaking insane poet, Ginsburg.


13 posted on 06/04/2014 2:26:20 PM PDT by MHGinTN
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep
“A friend of mine met him once. He told him that MDMA was something to take once a year with careful attention to “set and setting.” He was appalled that people were eating them like candy as a party drug or at raves.”

MDMA was originally used to ease psychotherapy and helped countless people move through difficult situations. The original brand name was “Empathy”. People later began abusing it and it was banned.

Sasha was one of the foremost DEA experts on psychoactive drugs and had a license to possess anything for research.

He got in trouble after releasing a book (Pihkhal) explaining how to make all known drugs. He also personally tried most of them and gave reviews in his book.

I met the guy a while ago and like you said he sees them as serious tools and is opposed to their indiscriminate use for partying:

“Use them with care, and use them with respect as to the transformations they can achieve, and you have an extraordinary research tool. Go banging about with a psychedelic drug for a Saturday night turn-on, and you can get into a really bad place, psychologically. Know what you're using, decide just why you're using it, and you can have a rich experience. They're not addictive, and they're certainly not escapist, either, but they're exceptionally valuable tools for understanding the human mind, and how it works.”

14 posted on 06/04/2014 2:36:13 PM PDT by varyouga
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To: Resettozero
Hope he had an enjoyable visit here on Planet Earth.

Legend says he did. In his way, he was a pioneer--he experimented on himself first.

15 posted on 06/04/2014 2:40:41 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Pearls Before Swine

Perhaps I’m confusing the good doctor with Zefram Cochran.


16 posted on 06/04/2014 2:43:25 PM PDT by Resettozero
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To: Resettozero

An obscure StarTrek reference, indeed.


17 posted on 06/04/2014 2:58:21 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Resettozero

Is he related to the distinguished, soon to be former, senator from Mississippi?


18 posted on 06/04/2014 3:08:29 PM PDT by John Galt's cousin (WTF? We couldn't rescue four men in Benghazi? Is our military IMPOTENT? ( /s ))
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To: John Galt's cousin
Is he related to the distinguished, soon to be former, senator from Mississippi?

Not sure how to convert stardates to Eastern Daylight Time, but Zefram could be Thaddeus' great-great-great-great grandson. Or not related at all ever.

Hope you're correct about the soon-to-be-former part. Mississippians, remain vigilant.
19 posted on 06/04/2014 3:57:20 PM PDT by Resettozero
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To: GeronL

Why?

A friend of ours was writing a book and interviewed Dr. Shulgin about ecstasy. According to Shulgin himself, he initially began using MDMA for married couples as a counseling measure. It enabled couples with deep rooted trust issues (such as dealing with the after effects of adultery) or trauma (like loss of a child) to bond.

Ecstasy was also beneficial in helping soldiers with PTSD. People may abuse ecstasy or use it in a manner that was not intended, but that alone does not make him worthy of Hell. Shulgin even talked about how unfortunate it was that ecstasy has been co-opted as merely a party drug, when it was intended to help people. The misuse of ecstasy does not invalidate its valuable properties.

Would the first person who developed wine or beer be burning in Hell because of all the alcoholics and debauchery that followed? I’m a social conservative, and I think wine and beer a have a place in society.


20 posted on 06/05/2014 8:57:22 AM PDT by two134711
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