Phenethylamines Shulgin's motivation for making mescaline derivatives

[red22]

Is this true? Obviously it wasn't his only motivation …

Because [mescaline] was so weak and so upsetting to the subject's gastrointestinal tract, Alexander Shulgin modified the molecule in the 1960s, resulting in a whole family of popular street drugs that are still making the rounds of the U.S. underground. These include TMA, the amphetamine derivatives of mescaline, MDMA (Ecstasy), DOET, and DOM (see figure 12.1). As with the amphetamines themselves, these agents could (in low doses) enhance self-awareness and euphoria and produce visual distortions or hallucinations, or (in higher doses) blow the top off the mind. The increased potency of these synthetic drugs was due to the addition of the methyl group, which impedes enzymatic attack on the molecules. In fact, DOM's popularity among the California hippies was due to its extremely long-lasting action. They called it STP, for serenity, tranquillity, and peace.

J. Allan Hobson. The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness. 2001. Chapter 15. From Cult to Laboratory: Mushrooms, Cactus Buttons, and Coca Leaves

 

[tuppingtoncity]

Perhaps true in a roundabout way; Shulgin certainly appreciated potent compounds, and particularly liked finding more potent compounds as a means of perhaps avoiding peripheral toxicity/side effects. But discussing 'weakness and stomach-upsetting nature of mescaline' as a means for initially starting off into the TMAs and beyond, is not entirely accurate - at best, its a super reductive way to talk about Shulgin's work and completely ignores his overwhelmingly positive and enjoyable experience with mescaline on his first use.

 

[PsychedelicSummer]

It's obviously a very ignorant author. Shulgin was motivated by curiosity, though he did appreciate potency. DOM wasn't popular as it was overdosed, so the authors general lack of understanding is very high. Book for the garbage bin IMO.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

They called it STP, for serenity, tranquillity, and peace.

DOM / STP or as the USA Cops called it during the 1960's STP (Too Stupid to Puke) as the dose range was huge, a strong dose is in the very low mg range & the first pills pressed were around 10mg which is enough to keep 3 people tripping for a whole day. People were blowing their mind & having full on freak outs in public.

Anyone who's tried 3C-E (4-ethoxy-3,5-dimethoxyamphetamine) AKA Escaline will know how tough the bodyload is on that stuff & how damn long it lasts, the 2 times I did it were trips at the very least of 12-14 hours actual tripping then you add on 2-3 hours of coming up & coming down too.

Key Details About 3C-E:

• Effects & Classification: Users report a strong body high with, at times, weak visual effects. As part of the 3C family of substituted amphetamines, it is an analog of 3,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA).