Since the first analogues appeared, the designer drug market has been inextricably linked to the prohibition of psychoactive molecules. This was already the case with morphine analogues in the mid-1920s, and ether replaced illegal alcoholic beverages in the 1930s.
However, it was in the 1960s that a truly uncontrolled market for new psychoactive substances exploded, sometimes sold on the black market under their own names, other times passed off as better-known substances. This is the case with the psychedelic phenethylamines of the DOx family, which includes molecules such as DOM, DOB, DOI, DOET, and DOC. DOM in particular became popular in 1967 under the name STP (Serenity, Tranquillity, Peace) or sometimes passed off as LSD.
When mentioning psychedelic phenethylamines (and designer drugs), it’s impossible not to mention Alexander Shulgin, known as the “godfather of ecstasy” (for having rediscovered MDMA and suggested its therapeutic potential to his friend, psychologist Leo Zeff). Shulgin is also the creator of 2C-B and many other psychoactive molecules, whose synthesis and effects, thanks to the contributions of his wife Ann and friends, including Darrell Lemaire, he was able to document in two books, PIHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved) and TIHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known And Loved). Shulgin, together with his collaborators, synthesized and experimented with a myriad of psychoactive molecules, many of which are still circulating on the designer drug market. Lemaire, however, is credited with contributing to the study of 2C-D and other molecules in the 2C-x family, documented in the pamphlet “Smart Pills“.
In addition to purely psychedelic substances, the dissociative phencyclidine (PCP), withdrawn from the market in 1965 due to its numerous side effects, also found fertile ground on the illegal market during the San Francisco Summer of Love, sold under the name “Peace Pill” or sometimes passed off as LSD.
PCP quickly spread as a street drug and substance of abuse (a predominantly North American phenomenon, as angel dust never caught on in Europe). Meanwhile, analogues and substitutes for this molecule were being synthesized in both medical and recreational settings, including ketamine, initially popular in hospital settings and then released outside of that context under the name “Rockmesc” (Morris, Wallach, From PCP to MXE: a comprehensive review of the non-medical use of dissociative drugs, 2014).
Gradually, the phenomenon of analogues and derivatives spread across various categories of substances (opioids, dissociatives, tryptamines, lysergamides, amphetamine-like stimulants, etc.), inevitably attracting the attention of law enforcement. In the 1980s, the term “designer drugs” was coined, and not only many molecules but also some precursors and compounds necessary for the synthesis of certain drugs were made illegal. Since then, the pattern has remained unchanged: the inclusion of a substance in the schedule is followed by the appearance of one or more analogues. With the advent of the internet, the designer drug phenomenon experienced its golden age. The term “research chemicals” (often abbreviated to RC) began to be used to refer to designer drugs, a term that remains prevalent today.
Yes, even today, because the designer drug market, despite bans, laboratory raids, and arrests of chemists and dealers, continues to stay afloat, albeit weakened by the tightening of laws.
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