Alexander Shulgin

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Alexander Shulgin
Shulgin (right) with his wife Ann in 2011
Born	Alexander Theodore Shulgin (1925-06-17)June 17, 1925[citation needed] Berkeley, California, U.S.[citation needed]
Died	June 2, 2014(2014-06-02) (aged 88) Lafayette, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvard University University of California, Berkeley (PhD)
Known for	Rediscovering MDMA 2C Family DOx Family PiHKAL TiHKAL Shulgin Rating Scale Shulgin Index Shulgin Research Institute Various phenethylamines and tryptamines
Spouses	Nina Gordon (deceased) Ann Gotlieb (deceased)
Children	1
Awards	DEA Awards (numerous)
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry, psychology, philosophy, biology
Institutions	MAPS Dow Chemical San Francisco State University San Francisco General Hospital Bio-Rad Laboratories Cognitive Liberty/Ethics Centre United States Navy
Thesis	The synthesis of several isotopically labelled amino acids (1955)
Doctoral advisor	David M. Greenberg

Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014)^[1] was an American biochemist, broad researcher of synthetic psychoactive compounds, and author of works regarding these, who independently explored the organic chemistry and pharmacology of such agents—in his mid-life and later, many through preparation in his home laboratory, and testing on himself.^[2] He is acknowledged to have introduced to broader use, in the late 1970s, the prior synthesized compound, MDMA ("ecstasy") in research psychopharmacology and in combination with conventional therapy, the latter through presentations and academic publications, including to psychologists; and for the rediscovery, occasional discovery, and regular synthesis and personal use and distribution, possibly of hundreds of psychoactive compounds (for their psychedelic and MDMA-like empathogenic bioactivities). As such, Shulgin is seen both as a pioneering and a controversial participant in the emergence of the broad use of psychedelics.^[2][3][1]

In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann Shulgin compiled the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved, likewise for Tryptamines),^[4][5] from notebooks that extensively described their work and personal experiences with these two classes of psychoactive drugs. Shulgin documented the chemical synthesis of many of these compounds. Some of the syntheses catalogued by Shulgin in his books include chemicals in the 2C family (such as 2C-B), compounds of the DOx family (such as DOM), and tryptamines (such as 4-HO-MET and 4-HO-MiPT).

In describing Shulgin's work in psychedelic research and his preparation and experimentation with psychedelic drugs, he has been dubbed the "godfather of ecstasy"^[1][6] (and to a much more limited extent, the "godfather of psychedelics"^{[7][better source needed]}).

Writing in 2005—in the decade before Shulgin's death—a retrospective by Drake Bennett of The New York Times Magazine noted that as a consequence of Shulgin's testing his various synthetic compounds "for activity by taking the chemicals himself... most of the scientific community consider[ed] Shulgin at best a curiosity and at worst a menace", but Bennett goes on to say that "near the end... [Shulgin's] faith in the potential of psychedelics ha[d] at least a chance at vindication", going on to note the various clinical trials underway on compounds of interest to Shulgin.^[3] The early 2000s also was a period where Shulgin was witness to a series of incidents in which young men overdosed on a novel psychoactive agent whose preparation was disclosed by Shulgin in one of his books. Before his death (and before the onset of his late life dementia), Shulgin expressed sadness over the deaths, but argued that all drugs, including aspirin, carry risks with incorrect use.^[2][8]

Shulgin was born in Berkeley, California,^[9] to Theodore Stevens Shulgin (1893–1978)^[10] and Henrietta D. (Aten) Shulgin (1894–1960).^[10][11] His father was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia; his mother was born in Illinois. Theodore and Henrietta were public school teachers in Alameda County.^[12]

Shulgin studied organic chemistry at Harvard University as a scholarship student, and was enrolled there at the age of 16.^[3] He dropped out to join the U.S. Navy,^[3][13] during his second year at Harvard.^[14] In 1944 a military nurse gave Shulgin a glass of orange juice prior to a surgery for a thumb infection,^[3] while serving on USS Pope during World War II;^[2] he drank the juice and, assuming that crystals at the bottom of the glass were a sedative, "fell unconscious".^[3] Upon waking he learned that the crystals were undissolved sugar, and that doctors had administered anesthesia after he was already unconscious—an experience Drake Bennett of The New York Times Magazine referred to as "revelatory", and a "tantalizing hint of the mind's odd strength",^[3] as "his collapse was caused entirely by the placebo effect".^[2][15]

After serving in the armed forces, Shulgin returned to California, and earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley,^[16] Through the late 1950s, Shulgin completed post-doctoral work in the fields of psychiatry and pharmacology at University of California, San Francisco. After working at Bio-Rad Laboratories as a research director for a brief period, he began work at Dow Chemical Company,^[17] One of his early achievements at Dow was the invention of the first known biodegradable pesticide (mexacarbate).^[18]

At this time he had a series of psychedelic experiences that helped to shape his further goals and research, the first of which was brought on by mescaline.^[19] "I first explored mescaline in the late '50s ... Three-hundred-fifty to 400 milligrams. I learned there was a great deal inside me."^[19]

Shulgin later reported personal revelations that "had been brought about by a fraction of a gram of a white solid, but that in no way whatsoever could it be argued that these memories had been contained within the white solid ... I understood that our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit. We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can catalyze its availability."^[3]

Shulgin's professional activities continued to lean in the direction of psychopharmacology, furthered by his personal experiences with psychedelics. But during this period he was unable to do much independent research. His opportunity for further research came in 1961 after his development of Zectran, the first biodegradable pesticide, a highly profitable product. In his book PiHKAL, Shulgin limits his pesticide days at Dow Chemical to one sentence in 978 pages. Dow Chemical Company, in return for Zectran's valuable patent, gave Shulgin great freedom. During this time, he created and patented drugs when Dow asked, and published findings on other drugs in journals such as Nature and the Journal of Organic Chemistry. One of these patents, approved in 1970, involved phenethylamines.^[20] Eventually, Dow Chemical requested that he no longer use their name on his publications.^[3]

In late 1966, Shulgin left Dow in order to pursue his own interests. He first spent two years studying neurology at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, leaving to work on a consulting project. He set up a home-based lab on his property, known as "the Farm", and became a private consultant. He also taught classes in the local universities and at the San Francisco General Hospital. Through his friend Bob Sager, head of the U.S. DEA's Western Laboratories, Shulgin formed a relationship with the DEA and began holding pharmacology seminars for the agents, supplying the DEA with samples of various compounds, and occasionally serving as an expert witness in court. In 1988, he authored a then-definitive law enforcement reference book^[21] on controlled substances, and received several awards from the DEA.^[3]

In order to work with scheduled psychoactive chemicals, Shulgin obtained a DEA Schedule I license for an analytical laboratory, which allowed him to synthesize and possess any otherwise illicit drug.^[22] Shulgin set up a chemical synthesis laboratory in a small building behind his house, which gave him a great deal of career autonomy. Shulgin used this freedom to synthesize and test the effects of potentially psychoactive drugs.

In 1976, Shulgin was introduced to MDMA by a student in the medicinal chemistry group he advised at San Francisco State University.^[23] MDMA had been synthesized in 1912 by Merck and patented in 1913 as an intermediate of another synthesis in order to block competitors, but was never explored in its own right. Shulgin went on to develop a new synthesis method, and in 1976, introduced the chemical to Leo Zeff, a psychologist from Oakland, California. Zeff used the substance in his practice in small doses as an aid to talk therapy. Zeff introduced the substance to hundreds of psychologists and lay therapists around the nation, including Ann (born Laura Ann Gotlieb), whom Alexander Shulgin met in 1979, and married in 1981.^[3] It was her fourth marriage, and she had four children.^[24]

After judicious self-experiments, Shulgin enlisted a small group of friends with whom he regularly tested his creations, starting in 1960. They developed a systematic way of ranking the effects of the various drugs, known as the Shulgin Rating Scale, with a vocabulary to describe the visual, auditory and physical sensations. He personally tested hundreds of drugs, mainly analogues of various phenethylamines (family containing MDMA, mescaline, and the 2C* family), and tryptamines (family containing DMT and psilocin). There are a seemingly infinite number of slight chemical variations, which can produce variations in effect — some pleasant and some unpleasant, depending on the person, substance, and situation — all of which are meticulously recorded in Shulgin's lab notebooks. Shulgin published many of these objective and subjective reports in his books and papers.^[3] About 2C-B he said in 2003: "It is, in my opinion, one of the most graceful, erotic, sensual, introspective compounds I have ever invented. For most people, it is a short-lived and comfortable psychedelic, with neither toxic side-effects nor next-day hang-over."^[25]

In 1994, two years after the publication of PIHKAL, the DEA raided his lab. The agency requested that Shulgin turn over his license for violating the license's terms, and he was fined $25,000 for possession of anonymous samples sent to him for quality testing. In the 15 years preceding the publication of PIHKAL, two announced and scheduled reviews failed to find any irregularities.^[26] Richard Meyer, spokesman for DEA's San Francisco Field Division, has stated that, "It is our opinion that those books are pretty much cookbooks on how to make illegal drugs. Agents tell me that in clandestine labs that they have raided, they have found copies of those books."^[3]

Prior to his 2010 health issues, Shulgin had been working on a series of N-allylated tryptamines including 5-MeO-DALT and 5-MeO-MALT.^[27]

Shulgin was married to Nina Gordon until her death. He then married author Ann Gotlieb.^[28] He spent most of his later life at the Farm in Lafayette, California.

On April 8, 2008, at the age of 82, he underwent surgery to replace a defective aortic valve.^[29] On November 16, 2010, he suffered a stroke, from which he largely recovered.^[30] Also at the close of 2010, a skin-grafting surgery saved his left foot from being amputated. Around this time, Shulgin began showing early signs of dementia, mostly severe loss of short-term memory. With progression of the dementia since 2010, his wife, Ann Shulgin, had been trying to sell part of their property to raise more money to cover care costs.

On April 17, 2014, Ann Shulgin reported on Facebook that her husband had developed liver cancer, and in a May 31 update on Facebook she said that, although appearing frail, he seemed to be experiencing his last moments in peace and without pain.^[31] Shulgin died at his home on June 2, 2014, at the age of 88.^[6]

In a 2014 review of the synthesis of designer drugs, the effects of Shulgin's work were described as "by far the most far-reaching" effects associated with the cultural climate of interest at the time in hallucinogenic compounds generally and mescaline in particular, with which various artists and writers had experimented. Shulgin said that mescaline made him aware of a world submerged in human spirit, whose "availability" was "catalyzed" by such chemicals; the consequences of his insights were called "devastating" by the reviewers. In the same review, an example of his insights was given by his description of MDMA as "his low-calorie Martini".^[32]

Shulgin was a member of Mensa International and frequently attended Mensa events in California.^[33]

Alexander was a Bohemian Club member.^[34][35][36] The Bohemian club is located in California where Alexander lived. Alexander refers to "The Owl Club" in chapter 11 of PiHKAL:

One evening in the late 1950s, I was invited to a musical soiree at an old comfortable home in the Berkeley Hills. I brought my viola with me... The only person I can remember from that evening was a handsome, proper gentleman with a small grey moustache and the residues of an English accent. During coffee, after the music was over, he struck up a conversation. He asked me if I had ever heard of The Owl Club in San Francisco? I had not, so he began painting a picture of a rather fascinating group, with many interests in all sorts of art, drama and music. He mentioned that there was need for a viola player, and would I be interested in sitting in for a couple of evenings? ... The Club proved to be a group of gentlemen from a broad array of political and professional backgrounds, leaning somewhat toward the political right and the well-to-do. ... At my first evening at the Club... Andrew was appointed my Pater Familias ..."

— PiHKAL, First Printing, Eleventh Edition, Chapter 11, pp. 60–65^[37]

• Controlled Substances: Chemical & Legal Guide to Federal Drug Laws. Berkeley, Calif.: Ronin Publishing (1988). ISBN 091417150X.
• PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story, with Ann Shulgin. Berkeley, Calif.: Transform Press (1991). ISBN 0963009605.
• TiHKAL: The Continuation, with Ann Shulgin. Berkeley, Calif.: Transform Press (1997). ISBN 0963009699.
• The Simple Plant Isoquinolines , with Wendy Perry. Berkeley, Calif.: Transform Press (2002). ISBN 0963009621.
• The Shulgin Index, vol. 1: Psychedelic Phenethylamines and Related Compounds, with Tania Manning and Paul Daley. Berkeley, Calif.: Transform Press (2011). ISBN 978-0963009630.
  • Appendix B: Web Addresses for State Statutes on Phenethylamine Psychedelics.
• Alexander Shulgin (2021). The Nature of Drugs. Berkeley, California: Transform Press. ISBN 9780999547212.

• "A New Vocabulary," with Ann Shulgin. In: Entheogens and the Future of Religion, edited by Robert Forte. Berkeley, Calif.: Council on Spiritual Practices (1997). ISBN 1889725013.
• Foreword to Chemical Warfare Secrets Almost Forgotten: A Personal Story of Medical Testing of Army Volunteers with Incapacitating Chemical Agents During the Cold War (1955–1975), by James S. Ketchum. Santa Rosa, California: ChemBooks (2006), pp. 331–333. ISBN 978-1424300808. OCLC 702214684.

• Pharmacology Notes.

• Antonio Escohotado

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Shulgin.

• Alexander Shulgin Research Institute (ASRI)
• "Dirty Pictures". Documentary. 2010.
• Erowid's Alexander Shulgin Vault
• Transform Press – publisher of Alexander Shulgin's books