Well as some of you know, (many of whom likely hang out in the "What's wrong with MDMA available today?" thread) it seems that people are reporting a change in the Marquis test kit reaction that seems to correlate with the change in feeling MDMA gives.
Right around 2010 when the drought was beginning to lift people reported a change from a Purple almost black reaction to just Straight Black.
Well curious enough this isn't the first time this has happened...
As I've talked about before there is essentially 4 different "eras" of MDMA, each one differentiated by the others by which synthesis route was most prevalent of the time.
Era 1- Anytime before 1990.
Era 2- 1990-1999
Era 3- 2000-2009
Era 4- 2010-Present
As we already know Eras 3-4 are signified with the change from Dark Purple to Black. But what people don't know is that Eras 2-3 were also signified by a color change too.
It appears that during "Era 2" "good" MDMA turned the Marquis Ez-Test a dark inky blue!
Here's some evidence to prove my point. Let's start with the EZ-Test color chart of the time, the first color chart to ever be produced. (Note: I can't get pics to work so if any mod could help I'd appreciate it!)
http://ecstasy.org/testing/images/e_testing.jpg
If you look, MDMA according to them at that particular time turned the Marquis a black to inky blue! No Purple whatsoever! They show MDEA as a Purple and MDA as a greenish grey to dark.
This chart became problematic once the main synthesis used changed and MDMA samples started testing Purple. Many people thought there was tons of MDEA floating around when it was just MDMA from a different synth route. Hence the eventual change of the color chart to just say "MDXX."
My theory on this is that the MDEA at the time was synthesized more closely with how MDMA was synthesized later on in Era 3. The color reaction they have for MDA is fairly spot on so it leaves me to this conclusion.
Now like most people I thought when I saw that color chart discrepancy, I just kinda wrote it off until this last week I saw two things that made me believe they weren't complete idiots back then.
Here's a quote from a member on this board from 2010... (Valkyrie)
"The best pills I had were very crumbly Mitzi Turbos around in 98-99. Coming up, body rushes, dancing like a nutter, total euphoria! We used to bulk buy cos they were so good. I haven't taken mdma for years cos nothing's ever come close to what was about then.
They were different in that they had a parma violet smell and they turned the E-Z Test a deep inky blue rather than the dark maroon/brown colour that you got with more recent pills.
I was told that the quality of pills declined after that cos Russia changed their laws regarding safrole. Not sure how true that is but something definitely happened about that time."
"No, there was definitely a change in the substance. When we had good pills we took 1 or 2 and danced all night. When the bad pills came we'd bosh 4 or 5 at a time thinking they were just weaker, but something was missing. They had an effect but it was different. For a while people were saying it was mda or mdea, but it wasn't. I could tell from the smell of the pills and the colour of the E-Z Test whether they were worth having or not. I used to annoy dealers cos I'd test before I bought. Dark blue = yes, dark maroon/brown = no."
"I don't know what causes the difference. All I know is the best pills I had always tested dark blue, while others tested brown, just like the examples you've pictured. The good ones were mainly 98-99, with the decline in quality happening in the lead up to the millenium. I used to take a test kit to the dealer and only buy if they turned blue.
I wouldn't mind trying one of those US ones. Just seeing that colour makes my heart beat a little bit faster!"
I find it interesting that this member swears up and down to get a dark blue with the old 90's pills. The only thing is that he then talks about maroon/brown reactions too.
To date I've seen a few batches go maroon/brown and they were always terrible, I never tried any of them myself but at the time didn't even believe it was MDMA until later on when I learned MDMA can turn Marquis maroon/brown. Maroon/brown is definitely different from the Purple to black or straight black that we are used to.
And finally this is a post from Reddit not long ago. The guy shows a Marquis test with MDMA that he also tested via MP. The reaction is a dark inky blue.. (Can't get pic in too big, any mod that can help?)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.re...tou/mdma_marquis_test_and_melting_point_147c/
So as you can see it's apparent that as the synthesis route changes so can the reagent reactions... Now to get my hands on some product that turns Marquis blue
-GC
Right around 2010 when the drought was beginning to lift people reported a change from a Purple almost black reaction to just Straight Black.
Well curious enough this isn't the first time this has happened...
As I've talked about before there is essentially 4 different "eras" of MDMA, each one differentiated by the others by which synthesis route was most prevalent of the time.
Era 1- Anytime before 1990.
Era 2- 1990-1999
Era 3- 2000-2009
Era 4- 2010-Present
As we already know Eras 3-4 are signified with the change from Dark Purple to Black. But what people don't know is that Eras 2-3 were also signified by a color change too.
It appears that during "Era 2" "good" MDMA turned the Marquis Ez-Test a dark inky blue!
Here's some evidence to prove my point. Let's start with the EZ-Test color chart of the time, the first color chart to ever be produced. (Note: I can't get pics to work so if any mod could help I'd appreciate it!)
http://ecstasy.org/testing/images/e_testing.jpg
If you look, MDMA according to them at that particular time turned the Marquis a black to inky blue! No Purple whatsoever! They show MDEA as a Purple and MDA as a greenish grey to dark.
This chart became problematic once the main synthesis used changed and MDMA samples started testing Purple. Many people thought there was tons of MDEA floating around when it was just MDMA from a different synth route. Hence the eventual change of the color chart to just say "MDXX."
My theory on this is that the MDEA at the time was synthesized more closely with how MDMA was synthesized later on in Era 3. The color reaction they have for MDA is fairly spot on so it leaves me to this conclusion.
Now like most people I thought when I saw that color chart discrepancy, I just kinda wrote it off until this last week I saw two things that made me believe they weren't complete idiots back then.
Here's a quote from a member on this board from 2010... (Valkyrie)
"The best pills I had were very crumbly Mitzi Turbos around in 98-99. Coming up, body rushes, dancing like a nutter, total euphoria! We used to bulk buy cos they were so good. I haven't taken mdma for years cos nothing's ever come close to what was about then.
They were different in that they had a parma violet smell and they turned the E-Z Test a deep inky blue rather than the dark maroon/brown colour that you got with more recent pills.
I was told that the quality of pills declined after that cos Russia changed their laws regarding safrole. Not sure how true that is but something definitely happened about that time."
"No, there was definitely a change in the substance. When we had good pills we took 1 or 2 and danced all night. When the bad pills came we'd bosh 4 or 5 at a time thinking they were just weaker, but something was missing. They had an effect but it was different. For a while people were saying it was mda or mdea, but it wasn't. I could tell from the smell of the pills and the colour of the E-Z Test whether they were worth having or not. I used to annoy dealers cos I'd test before I bought. Dark blue = yes, dark maroon/brown = no."
"I don't know what causes the difference. All I know is the best pills I had always tested dark blue, while others tested brown, just like the examples you've pictured. The good ones were mainly 98-99, with the decline in quality happening in the lead up to the millenium. I used to take a test kit to the dealer and only buy if they turned blue.
I wouldn't mind trying one of those US ones. Just seeing that colour makes my heart beat a little bit faster!"
I find it interesting that this member swears up and down to get a dark blue with the old 90's pills. The only thing is that he then talks about maroon/brown reactions too.
To date I've seen a few batches go maroon/brown and they were always terrible, I never tried any of them myself but at the time didn't even believe it was MDMA until later on when I learned MDMA can turn Marquis maroon/brown. Maroon/brown is definitely different from the Purple to black or straight black that we are used to.
And finally this is a post from Reddit not long ago. The guy shows a Marquis test with MDMA that he also tested via MP. The reaction is a dark inky blue.. (Can't get pic in too big, any mod that can help?)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.re...tou/mdma_marquis_test_and_melting_point_147c/
So as you can see it's apparent that as the synthesis route changes so can the reagent reactions... Now to get my hands on some product that turns Marquis blue
-GC
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