• Life Advice & Visual Arts Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    🌌 Share Your Dreams! 🌌
    📸 15 Years of Photo Contests 📸
  • LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

MEGA - Courses and Careers related to Drugs

My passion is drugs

Hello. I'm right now a freshman in college. my major currently is anthropology, and i realized recently that my interests lay elsewhere.


My passion is drugs, and how they interact with the body. What major should I take to pursue a career in researching psychedelics and learning about psychoactives?
 
A good friend of mine is now getting (or maybe he already obtained it...?) his PhD in Neuroscience and basically spent most of his studies working with exactly the subject you're interested in.

From what I learned from him it seem in terms of degrees Bio & Neuroscience are the first steps in getting to where your passion lies.

Also, if you're really serious it might be smart to look into transferring to a university which has a good program allowing you to do some work as a research assistant with a professor who is known for his work in the particular field you're interested in. I personally don't know the flagged schools/professors with this reputation but I know they're out there.

From there you'll probably have doors opened due to your experience with research in the specialized field of effects of drugs on the mind/body/etc.

You're not opposed to cutting open mice's brains right? ;) That was the big "NO WAY" for me personally but I was never particularly impassioned. Good luck.
 
Before you make this mistake (I made this mistake and 'wasted' 2 years as a bio major) ask yourself this one big, important question:

DO I TAKE DRUGS MORE OFTEN THAN I READ MEDICAL JOURNALS / HARD SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE?

If the answer is yes, then you are passionate about taking drugs. Even if they are hallucinogens and your trip dreams revolve around your mind and how it works!

I spent two years in biology, not including my perfect 5 ap bio test which netted me 8 credit hours. After my fourth semester it hit me, memorizing huge quantities of shit about the mesolimbic pathway and blah blah blah is NOT INTERESTING. The only reason to do that is if you're obsessed and love it (you read it for pleasure already) or to suffer your way to a career in medicine. It is all memorizing shit and taking books at face value until you're a grad student. Then you get to tediously explore the smallest section of some biochemical pathway under the dictatorship of some research professor or whatever. Plus you don't ever have prospects for making money.

but don't let me stop you, college isn't that expensive, waste a few years on it to see if you like it. Even take one or two bio classes. LOL I don't know why I post.
 
poobread said:
Hello. I'm right now a freshman in college. my major currently is anthropology, and i realized recently that my interests lay elsewhere.


My passion is drugs, and how they interact with the body. What major should I take to pursue a career in researching psychedelics and learning about psychoactives?
Click to expand...


funny, my situation was exactly the same. toxicology was my premier choice. though... psychology is closer to anthropology (insofar as you don't require such a great aptitude in maths and sciences) and you're far more likely to get a chance to work closely with psychedelics and their effects since their therapeutic uses are becoming a hot topic these days.
 
The Is said:
Before you make this mistake (I made this mistake and 'wasted' 2 years as a bio major) ask yourself this one big, important question:

DO I TAKE DRUGS MORE OFTEN THAN I READ MEDICAL JOURNALS / HARD SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE?

If the answer is yes, then you are passionate about taking drugs. Even if they are hallucinogens and your trip dreams revolve around your mind and how it works!

I spent two years in biology, not including my perfect 5 ap bio test which netted me 8 credit hours. After my fourth semester it hit me, memorizing huge quantities of shit about the mesolimbic pathway and blah blah blah is NOT INTERESTING. The only reason to do that is if you're obsessed and love it (you read it for pleasure already) or to suffer your way to a career in medicine. It is all memorizing shit and taking books at face value until you're a grad student. Then you get to tediously explore the smallest section of some biochemical pathway under the dictatorship of some research professor or whatever. Plus you don't ever have prospects for making money.

but don't let me stop you, college isn't that expensive, waste a few years on it to see if you like it. Even take one or two bio classes. LOL I don't know why I post.
Click to expand...
This is invaluable advice.

Oh, and...

portillo said:
Mycology.
Click to expand...

This is shitty advice.
 
^ first of LOL jamshyd... LOL. thank you for that.

anyway, you're a freshman probably about to change your major 2 more times statistically.

try it out then, go take those bio and chem classes.

I, personaly started taking drugs at an early age. didn't develope any other real interests. So i thought my passion was drugs (still do)... but thats where my passion is... I could never realistically EVER provide any breakthroughs in the drug community. in fact i would be a worthless druggie that knew alot about drugs. I understood these facts after i took a chem class. But im not good at science, try ur luck
 
OP: it could help some of us if we knew where you were (states, UK, australia, etc.)

if you're in the states, i would suggest taking some general studies classes for a few semesters to make sure this is something you really want to do.
 
The subfields most concerned with drugs, psychopharmacology or molecular psychiatry, are usually a branch of psychology programs, and deal with the molecular basis of the behavioral aspects of drugs.
But be advised, all the interesting courses aren't until graduate school usually; you need to choose an undergraduate program that prepares you for it. Neuroscience/psychobiology if your school has it, if not in most schools, there's a BA psychology side (which is what most people think of when they hear psychology), and the BS side, which is oriented to the molecular side of things. A biochemistry minor is also useful. If you're really serious about this as a career, you should consider transferring to a school that offers a neuroscience program (not many do). I majored in neuroscience with a subtrack of psychobiology (@University of Miami), which only had 2 courses really relevant to psychopharmacology-- but it provides the background you need for studying psychoactives at the degree-earning level. Fortunately I was allowed to audit several graduate level courses to keep my interest going; but I wouldn't recommend this unless you're really that far ahead of the class on all the background subjects (undergrad neurobiology/psychobiology, genetics, cellular biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, calculus-- things you need to know before entering a psychopharmacology program). I plan on studying psychopharmacology in grad school next year as soon as I'm off house arrest (hooray for adjudication withheld). Pharacology/Pharmacy programs are more oriented towards drug development and molecular mechanisms of action, and far less concerned with psychoactives and cognitive effects.

But science majors are hard. Especially multidisciplinary ones that require upper level courses in the subjects I listed. Be sure you're really up for the kind of time commitment studying for all those things takes, and the years of background preparation before you get to the good stuff. I have to agree with The Is on this one; if you don't read science journals (and make that technical stuff like Nature Neuropsychopharmacology/Molecular Psychiatry; not simplified summaries of research like New Scientist) for fun, you should really have a hard look at whether this field is for you.

Edit: Check out ocw.mit.edu, the have online lecture notes; in the Health Sciences section there's lots of good material for neuroscience, pharmacology, and drug development.
 
Last edited:
If you're really interested in how drugs interact with the body, you should look into getting a ph.D in pharmacy. Sure it doesn't involve psychedelics, but it does pretty much revolve around drugs and how they interact with the body. If you think that sounds good, then chemistry or biology would be the smartest subjects to major in. I should also add that you would want to get a ph.D, because that is how you get into research, as opposed to getting a pharm.D where your options are pretty much limited to being a pharmacist (which isn't so bad of a profession itself)
 
I would defiantely work towards either a BS in Biochemistry or Molecular Biology. Then apply to Pharmacy schools for their Medicinal Chemitry Ph.D program. This is the best way to go about it, this was straight from a conversation I had with David Nichols. I believe if you want to get into research and not retail, straight through a Pharm D is a waste of time, it can be had through Biochem or Molecular Biology.

If this does not suit you, the next best way is to get a degree in either Psychology or Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, then get an MD. And choose Psychiatry as your specialty.

What Kzorro is saying is pretty much the same thing. A PHd in Pharmacy can be had in specialized areas of the field. You can get a PhD in Pharmacy, this is great for research in a broad realm of Pharmacy. Or Pharmacokinetics, Medicinal Chemistry, and Pharmacology. Med Chem and Pharmacology are much more suited to Psychedelic Research.
 
I have a background in physiology, I must warn you that if chemistry is not a strong suit that pick a different field because that is what discouraged me. Best of luck.
 
The Is said:
Before you make this mistake (I made this mistake and 'wasted' 2 years as a bio major) ask yourself this one big, important question:

DO I TAKE DRUGS MORE OFTEN THAN I READ MEDICAL JOURNALS / HARD SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE?

If the answer is yes, then you are passionate about taking drugs. Even if they are hallucinogens and your trip dreams revolve around your mind and how it works!

I spent two years in biology, not including my perfect 5 ap bio test which netted me 8 credit hours. After my fourth semester it hit me, memorizing huge quantities of shit about the mesolimbic pathway and blah blah blah is NOT INTERESTING. The only reason to do that is if you're obsessed and love it (you read it for pleasure already) or to suffer your way to a career in medicine. It is all memorizing shit and taking books at face value until you're a grad student. Then you get to tediously explore the smallest section of some biochemical pathway under the dictatorship of some research professor or whatever. Plus you don't ever have prospects for making money.

but don't let me stop you, college isn't that expensive, waste a few years on it to see if you like it. Even take one or two bio classes. LOL I don't know why I post.
Click to expand...

I actually saw this post ages ago but coming across it again I just wanted to say I thought it was worth quoting. I actually disagree with large parts of it but what you've emphasised about the difference between liking drug consumption vs actually wanting to study them is important.
 
drop out after another year or so (halfway through is a good point once you've fulfilled a bunch of basic classes) and travel around the world for a year or so then come back and finish when you have a real good idea what you want your degree in.
 
pharmocology:the branch of medicine concerned with the uses, effects, and modes of action of drugs.

this seems like the most obvious answer
 
The Is said:
Before you make this mistake (I made this mistake and 'wasted' 2 years as a bio major) ask yourself this one big, important question:

DO I TAKE DRUGS MORE OFTEN THAN I READ MEDICAL JOURNALS / HARD SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE?

If the answer is yes, then you are passionate about taking drugs. Even if they are hallucinogens and your trip dreams revolve around your mind and how it works!

I spent two years in biology, not including my perfect 5 ap bio test which netted me 8 credit hours. After my fourth semester it hit me, memorizing huge quantities of shit about the mesolimbic pathway and blah blah blah is NOT INTERESTING. The only reason to do that is if you're obsessed and love it (you read it for pleasure already) or to suffer your way to a career in medicine. It is all memorizing shit and taking books at face value until you're a grad student. Then you get to tediously explore the smallest section of some biochemical pathway under the dictatorship of some research professor or whatever. Plus you don't ever have prospects for making money.

but don't let me stop you, college isn't that expensive, waste a few years on it to see if you like it. Even take one or two bio classes. LOL I don't know why I post.
Click to expand...

I definitely agree with the sentiment here. I am currently doing a Neuroscience degree with a minor in Pharmacology, mainly because of the whole drugs angle. Certainly if just researching drugs is your passion then you need to be prepared for a long hard slog before you get there.

Fortunately for myself I actually find the entirety of the degree interesting and now that my interest in drugs has waned I am quite enjoying 'suffering my way to a career in medicine' ;)
 
A really very interesting subject i did as an elective was drugs across cultures. It utilises anthropological and sociological approaches but theres sum physiology in there. Carreer wise i dont no but the content is like watching a different drug documentary each week. I cud do a degree in it with my eyes closed its that interesting
 
Gaian Planes said:
drop out after another year or so (halfway through is a good point once you've fulfilled a bunch of basic classes) and travel around the world for a year or so then come back and finish when you have a real good idea what you want your degree in.
Click to expand...

best idea in this thread.... in hind sight I wish that I had done that!
*tickles s_s with a feather* <3
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top