Aug
If you are conversant with the use of drugs and psychology, it is expected that you have come across the 2C family of drugs before. You have probably used it or heard of it before. There have been many talks and arguments about the use and effects of this family of drugs. However, this article seeks to take readers on a brief trip down the history lane and talk about how this family of drugs came to be.
There are many types and constituents of the 2C family drugs. From 2C-I to 2C-B and 2C-P which is notorious for keeping people high for about 24 hours. Every one of these drugs has its attendant effects and uses. However, the history of this family of drugs is complex and controversial. They are regarded as synthetic psychedelics of the phenylethylamine class.
They were synthesized in 1974 by Alexander Shulgin who became famous for popularizing the use of MDMA in psychology. In the same way as MDMA, the 2C drugs were used as therapeutic drugs before they became popular as club drugs. There were no official trials to test the efficacy of the drugs but there was some experimentation to this end. There were also rumors that a German company distributed the drug as an Aphrodisiac called “Eros” in the 1980s. While this rumor was widely spread, there were no records of it.
Shulgin and other experts in the field have always argued for the use of 2C drugs in psychological therapy. However, the lack of basic research makes it difficult for this argument to thrive. It suffered from a catch-22; the absence of information gives zero reasons to conduct a study or research, as stated by the founding president of Heffter Research Institute, an institution that researches psychedelic drugs, David Nichols.
It is accepted that 2C drugs have certain effects and dangers, however, the clinical trials required to understand the elements of these effects and dangers are not present. And because clinical trials are very expensive, it is difficult to provide an argument for the study of this drug in a serious way. The effect of this is that people don’t know what the lethal dosage for 2C drugs is. However, given the renewed interest in MDMA, it is possible that some of the attention will turn to 2C drugs and it will finally get properly tested.
In 1985, after MDMA was banned in the United States, the @C drugs moved in as the subtle replacement for the drugs in the clubs. And because of the nature of synthetic drugs, the existence of 2C drugs was unknown to government officials for some time which means that these drugs were not illegal. However, by 1994, the popular members of the 2C family were classified as Schedule 1 drugs and became illegal. This didn’t daunt renegade chemists as they tried to make some alterations to the drug so that they can claim to sell a legal version of the drug.
In the 90s, there have been a series of renewed interests in the research and study of many banned drugs such as MDMA, LSD, Marijuana, and Psilocybin. The 2C drug family has been an exception due to the lack of knowledge about the drug family. There have also been reports that some of the drugs cause overdoses that result in death. Some experts have argued that the deaths that resulted from the overdose of the original 2C drugs should be chalked down to the tainted version of the drug.
While the investigators may have misidentified the 2C drugs that caused the death. We should know that taking any of the 2C drugs at a high dose could lead to death. A tainted version of the drug can also be dangerous as one of the effects is the elevated heart rate. You could also face health problems if the drug is mixed or taken in conjunction with other substances.
In the year 2000, about three deaths were linked to the misuse of the 2C-T-7 derivative. The synthesizer of the 2C family drugs, Alexander Shulgin, who was alive at the time expressed his sadness and frustration at what chemists are doing to the drugs he created. In his words, he cannot understand the fact that greed and desire to amass a pile of money have blinded people to the extent that they don’t care about people’s lives. He said that it is the motivation for creating the derivatives that he finds offensive. He has no problems with people using the drug as a psychedelic, as that is a form of personal exploration. He is only angry at the overpowering greed that has made his creation a synthetic killer of the time.
Taking a cue from what psychotherapy with MDMA has done for people suffering from PTSD and anxiety, Shulgin still maintains that 2C drugs can be used for similar purposes. In his words, 2C is one of the most introspective, erotic, sensual, and graceful compounds ever created. Many people find it as a comfortable and short-lived psychedelic with little or no toxic side effects or hangover symptoms. He maintains that the effects of 2C drugs remain in the body and mind and that it is a healthy follow-up to MDMA.
While MDMA could be used to help people identify their problems during therapy, 2C-B, one of the members of the drug family, can be used to open up the emotional archetypal and intuitive parts of their brain so that they can talk about these problems and find a lasting solution.
The main problem affecting the use of 2C drugs in this manner is the void of information available on the drug. As it stands, there have been more research and studies on MDMA than any 2C drug compound. To delve into clinical studies on the drug family, you will need to carry out toxicity studies, and this alone costs about $200,000. Therefore, to justify this study to any private investor, you will need to prove that the compound has an actual beneficial medical effect. The evidence to prove this is not there yet. For more details on psychedelics and how they affect the human body, check out Moonhaus. You can also get quality psychedelics from the Moonhaus collection here.
