Very interested in Psychoactive substances?

[OTGee]

Hello, I am very interested in Psychoactive substances and drugs in general. To a point were I am no longer that interested in 'getting high' but I really am just interested in the changes they make to peoples conscious and their realitys. I am interested in just having knowledge on drugs and even in the chemistry. I have a general interest in chemistry and how everything is put together and works but nothing that is very serious. Of course I love the highs as well

Anyway, I would like to do something with all this. I already have a decent sized knowledge on many substances in general and there effects but I want more. I could learn some organic chemistry but I would have to go back to normal chemistry and remember some of it from my high school days and then move onto the harder stuff. Without doing it in a lab with a proper teacher I couldn't imagine I would pick it up that fast so I am unsure if this would be anything more then a waste of my time.

I am interested in harm reduction and being involved in harm reduction. I am already working with organizations on topics to do with synthetic cannabinoids as I feel quite strongly (negatively) towards them and for the first time believe a drug should be made illegal. I think that there definatley needs to be more info on this stuff in schools and harm reduction organizations as one small info sheet on the effects of the brand black mamba is not enough. I tried to get into a Youth Work aprenticheship but it seemed to not be anything like the side of Youth Work I was interested in and more kiddy stuff like youth clubs and I didn't get a call back after the interview anyway

I am also interested in philosophy and spirtuality and especially drug related topics to these topics. I always philosphies in my head when I am walking or on my own and often find myself wondering about topics of great importance and search actively for 'the meaning of life', if thats what you want to call it.

I am not looking for career advice, im looking for either career, learning and hobby advice? Seriously, I just dont know what to do with this huge interest only growing inside me on drugs in general. I just want to learn, I want to know everything. Seriously it is excitting to be this interested in a subject again, I havent been like this since early high school. Anyway, any help would be amazing, thanks in advance you guys

 

[Cyc]

It's great that you've found a multi-disciplinary interest focused around such an interesting subject. On the professional level, neurochemistry is a relatively exclusive field that you wouldn't really be delving into until you got a 4yr degree and got into graduate studies.

That doesn't mean you can't learn a lot from places like this and various other online resources - but since you did (sort of) mention career options, I thought I'd throw that in there.

Maybe someone can drop some better online resources. My chemistry knowledge does not extend past the undergraduate level, but I do know enough that you should be careful if you're thinking of acquiring precursors or trying some DIY work at home. You seem to have a genuine interest, so I'll leave it at that. Maybe someone else can come in and give better insight.

 

[OTGee]

Well I think before I do anything about any form of chemistry im going to have to go right back to the basics as I really cant remember anything they taught me in high school now I haven't used it in so long haha. Khans something or over seemed good to learn chemistry and it had some stuff on organic chemistry as well.

Also my main fields of interest are in psychedelics and research chemicals

 

[Josair]

Well, I must admit I did not really understood the question. If it was about undergrad/grad courses, resources to study or whatelse.
Anyway, the topic (as Cyc said) is multidisciplinary, so the main question is: which aspect does interest you more?

Assuming you want to get a relevant degree: if you are interested in harm reduction, you could look for courses offered at schools of public health, for instance, or maybe psychology/social workers.
If you are interested on the effect of the drugs at a molecular/cellular/systemic level, you should go.y. well, here in Italy I would suggest studying pharmacology, but maybe you have something more focused in Scotland.
You say you're interested in the relationship between drugs and spirituality. There are postgrad courses on ethnobotany, which is related to that topic. Anthropology in general seems to be what you are looking for, here.

So, you have at least three different paths that will lead to explore one aspect of a huge subject such as 'drugs and humans'


If you want to study by yourself/learn more.. well, the point is pretty much the same.
If you want to learn more about biochemistry/neuropharmacology of drugs.. well, you should start by studying 'basic' (inorganic) chemistry, then organic chemistry (i can give you a couple of book titles, if you need). You should also study biology (a basic book should suffice), cell biology and a general book on human physiology and then on brain physiology. I think that a basic (but rigorous) understanding of those subjects is the very minimum basis if you want to approach the study of neuropharmacology. It is doable, even as a hobby, but not fast
Actually, I don't think that online resource can be enough here (unless they are scans of textbook...)

 

[Folley]

This is a good question...

Im am very young, 16, but am extremely knowledgeable (theres that word again lol) on almost any type of drug (at least the ones that get you high...) and would love to do something like this for a living. The thing is though, I will be joining the Marine Corps when Im old enough, its basically been my life goal. Is there any kind of careers in the military that would be around these fields?


How about when Im out of the Corps? Is this a viable field to enter into? I dont want to be stuck with a degree I cant use..

 

[-=SS=-]

I don't want to rain on your parade but I would consider another career pursuit. I don't think where you'll end up will be half as interesting as you think it may be.. realistically there won't be another Shulgin for example.. I would just stick with it being a hobby. Keep work as work, and the things that you love as your personal pursuits. This is just my opinion of course.

 

[OTGee]

I don't want to rain on your parade but I would consider another career pursuit. I don't think where you'll end up will be half as interesting as you think it may be.. realistically there won't be another Shulgin for example.. I would just stick with it being a hobby. Keep work as work, and the things that you love as your personal pursuits. This is just my opinion of course.

Yeah, I dont think it would be feasable for more to ever make up my own compounds or do anything on shulgins work, I just want more basic knowledge and maybe one day would like to attempt a basic synthesis even if it were not of psycoactive compounds, its just interesting shit. Been doing a lot of reading on spirituality and stuff and hopefully getting my hands on some chemistry text books although im not sure if I will be able to stick with it. The best career choice for me, if it were something to do with psycoactive compounds would be in harm reduction as I know more then any official harm reducer I have ever met, they literally have fuck all on RC's. Can't you just browse internet forums for 30 mins and maybe save peoples health/lifes?

 

[Roger&Me]

realistically there won't be another Shulgin for example..

That's probably not true, in fact I don't even think it would be difficult -- provided that you had a very large amount of personal wealth... and that right there is the catch. If you had a bunch of money, you could get the relevant education, start a company with the express purpose of designing 5-HT2A agonists for development into pharmaceuticals. Build yourself a nice shiny corporate laboratory and hire a couple PhD or masters level scientists and a couple technicians, keep a team of good lawyers on retainer, and you gotta have a couple PR people on staff as well. And then you get down to the (probably ultimately non-lucrative) business of exploring the psychedelic goldmine territory in the other heterocylic amines (benzocylobutanes, aminoindans, etc). Of course, you can't go around eating the damn things, or if you do you could (should) never be open about it like Shulgin was. Do rat studies, hell, hire some behavioral pharmacologists and get yourself a little cottage setup with everything you need. All it takes is a bunch of cash: people only get in trouble for things when they can't afford to hire enough lawyers and PR people. :D

 

[Cyc]

Haha, Roger that's awesome. I'm in if you ever need a technician. I'm overqualified but dig the cottage setup.

 

[OTGee]

Been reading a lot of books so far and reading / working with a chemistry text book to refresh my high school knowledge as its been a while. Read Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception, Rick Strassman - DMT the spirit molecule, Terence Mckenna - Food of the Gods A Radical History of Plants, Drugs and Evolution and im about to read Max Rendall - Legalize The Only Way to Combat Drugs but I dont know what this will be like. Mostly just trying to learn shit for the sake of knowing it, would prefer to keep this stuff as mostly a hobby I think unless I could progress this chemistry stuff properly although I am unsure of my abilities. Tried to apply for a Youth Worker aprenticeship to get into Drug Harm support as well as its something ive always been intersted in and seemed a good start point to a career, got the interview but never got the job. The only thing I want to learn more about at the moment is the effects of RC's, on me haha. I just am short of cash so I cant afford to buy rare chems that mostly are illegal in the UK if you want good tryptamines or phen's. I am very interested in knowing the effects range in detail of more unknow halucnegenic substances and I have done a lot of research into aMT, 25I-NBOMe and some DOx's and writting trip reports and just shit about them to make some kind of library or some shit if you like of basic non harm reduction shit on the substances and there effects. Also for other RC's including dissociatives and cannabinoids although I have yet to try many and cannabinoids are basically out of the picture for good now for me. It isn't really a book just info on each substance written out user friendly and for some substances in great detail especially ones I have researched with a lot.