Good job man, now was that so hard
Hmmm.. Alright maybe you guys are on to something in that regard. But even then I still believe if this is the case then it has to be the S-isomer being favored. The biggest reason being the duration described.
While we are on the topic of isomers, I'd like to bring up MDA. Quite a few years ago I wrote up a theory on why MDA's effects differ so much, as well as it's duration. It is located on another site and can be found by googling something like "Theory On Differences Between MDA Experiences" or something like that. Essentially this started with my first time trying MDA, I was always told that MDA was a long lasting empathogen but when I finally tried it I found the experience to feel more like a short acting really intense better than MDMA experience which quickly dropped off into a kinda trippy residual stimulation. A subsequent experience with a few different batches were similar in effects.
I went online and started reading through every single MDA experience report I could find. And there seemed to be quite a mixed bag of what people felt. Some people who were really reputable (including one person who is a well known Erowid report author) reported the similar experience of short duration (about 3 hours from initial dosing to feelings of coming down.) While others described experiences lasting 8-24 hours. It just wasn't making sense and the only thing that seemed to fit was the isomers.
Looking at MDA's isomers, the two vary wildly from one another. Much moreso than MDMA. The R-isomer is VERY long lasting and trippy, whereas the S-isomer is very short acting and essentially very close in effect to MDMA. The variations in experiences seemed to match perfectly with the differences between the two isomers. After reading it became apparent that the MDA I was consuming matched MUCH more closely with the S-isomer over racemic.
One particular report that stood out to me which I quoted in the work I talked about above, was from a guy who took MDA in the 80's from what I remember. He said back then it would last 24 hours and they would sit out on the sidewalk all night handing out flowers to strangers and having random conversations. He then describes how any of the MDA he tries nowadays doesn't have that same effect is just bullshit compared what he had back then.
It seems that potentially back then the synthetic route used could have also produced one isomer over the other. And MDA with its more varied effects between the two isomers shows it better than MDMA with less variation between the two.
A few years after putting out that theory I finally tried what I believe to be racemic MDA. And to this day still have some which I dip into occasionally, mainly to spice up some MDMA. I noticed this MDA actually lasts 5-6 hours, sometimes a bit more and is much more in line with everything I've read of MDA before. Very potent empathogen but more rolly, up and down effects, and a trippiness similar to Mescaline. (Not so much visual movements and such, more seeing things that aren't there or vice versa. One time I couldn't see a trash basket I knew was right in front of me til I blinked, another time I woke up right after falling asleep after a roll to a fire alarm going off and thought it was the thermostat and was freaking out on the thermostat trying to make it stop lol.)
The point I'm trying to make with all of that rambling is that it isn't just MDMA which seems to have varied isomer ratios based on synthesis used. MDA has also shown varied experiences which match the two isomers, and each experience out there seems to be somewhere along the spectrum of those two. The only other explanation for the reason MDA used to last 12-24 hours for some people may come down to the popular synth route used in the late 80's early 90's, which also corresponds with a time when people claimed 75mg of MDMA could have them rolling for 6hours solid. (Both the MDA and MDMA lasted longer in those times, and some MDA pills contained 25mg!!! Yet have been talked about as good from the old timers.)
Damn there is just so much mystery surrounding this drug it's unreal. But it's one of the reasons I also love it so much. Deep down I've always had this inkling that while all MDMA should be racemic MDMA, that isomeric excesses can occur. Even before this Dutch debate, it seemed certain batches of MDMA were really stimmy and euphoric while others were trippy and mongy. Now though the differences are quite clear, but again the dutch product doesn't seem to match the profile for R-isomer MDMA so it's one big confusing mess aint it?..
-GC