Editing Alexander Shulgin (section)

{{Short description|American chemist and recreational drug explorer (1925–2014)}}
{{About|the scientist}}
{{Good article}}
{{Expert needed|chemistry|ex2=pharmacology|reason = a need to review the content for use of less than independent, reliable sources (like Shulgin's work per se), for disconnection of article from actual source content, and for straying from NPOV in only positive perspectives outside the lead | date = September 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image             = Shulgin sasha 2011 hanna jon.jpg
| caption           = Shulgin with his wife [[Ann Shulgin|Ann]] in 2011
| birth_name        = Alexander Theodore Shulgin 

| birth_date        = {{birth date|1925|6|17}}
| birth_place       = [[Berkeley, California]], U.S.{{citation needed|date = September 2024}}
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|2014|6|2|1925|6|17|mf=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Lafayette, California]], U.S.
| spouses           = Nina Gordon (deceased)<br />[[Ann Shulgin|Ann Gotlieb]] (deceased)
| children          = 1
| fields            = [[Chemistry]], [[psychology]], [[Philosophy of the mind|philosophy]], [[biology]]
| workplaces        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies|MAPS]]
* [[Dow Chemical]]
* [[San Francisco State University]]
* [[San Francisco General Hospital]]
* [[Bio-Rad Laboratories]]
* Cognitive Liberty/Ethics Centre
* [[United States Navy]]
}}
| alma_mater        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Harvard University]]
* [[University of California, Berkeley]] ([[PhD]])
}}
| doctoral_advisor  = David M. Greenberg
| academic_advisors = 
| thesis_title = The synthesis of several isotopically labelled amino acids
| thesis_url = https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/907983586
| thesis_year = 1955
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|
* Rediscovering [[MDMA]]
* [[2Cs|2C Family]]
* [[DOx]] Family
* ''[[PiHKAL]]''
* ''[[TiHKAL]]''
* [[Shulgin Rating Scale]]
* [[Shulgin Index]]
* Shulgin Research Institute
* Various [[phenethylamines]] and [[Tryptamines#Tryptamine derivatives|tryptamines]]
}}
| awards            = {{Plainlist|
[[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] Awards (numerous)
}}
| signature         = 
}}

'''Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin''' (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014) was an American [[biochemist]], broad researcher of synthetic [[psychoactive compound]]s, and author of works regarding these, who independently explored the [[organic chemistry]] and [[pharmacology]] of such agents—in his mid-life and later, many through preparation in his home laboratory, and testing on himself.<ref name=PowerMedium/> He is acknowledged to have introduced to broader use, in the late 1970s, the previously-synthesized compound [[MDMA]] ("ecstasy"), in research [[psychopharmacology]] and in combination with conventional therapy, the latter through presentations and academic publications, including to psychologists; and for the rediscovery, occasional discovery, and regular synthesis and personal use and distribution, of possibly hundreds of [[Psychoactive drug|psychoactive compounds]] (for their [[Psychedelic drug|psychedelic]] and MDMA-like [[empathogenic]] [[bioactivity|bioactivities]]). As such, Shulgin is seen both as a pioneering and a controversial participant in the emergence of the broad use of psychedelics.<ref name=PowerMedium/><ref name="nyt"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kent |first=James L. |date=September 10, 2014 |title=Godfather of Ecstasy: Alexander Shulgin's Last Trip |url=https://hightimes.com/culture/godfather-of-ecstasy-alexander-shulgins-last-trip/ |access-date=April 15, 2023 |website=[[High Times]] |language=en-US | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200311075358/https://hightimes.com/culture/godfather-of-ecstasy-alexander-shulgins-last-trip/ | archive-date = 2020-03-11 | url-status = dead}}</ref>

In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife [[Ann Shulgin]] compiled the books ''[[PiHKAL]]'' and ''[[TiHKAL]]'' (''[[Phenethylamines]] I Have Known And Loved'', likewise for ''[[Tryptamines]]''),<ref>{{Cite web | author = Erowid.org Staff | date = 2024-09-09 | title=Library: Books Online—"PIHKAL" |website=www.erowid.org | url=https://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/pihkal/pihkal.shtml |access-date=2024-09-09 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | author = Erowid.org Staff | date = 2024-09-09 | title=Library: Books Online—"TIHKAL" |website=www.erowid.org | url=https://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/tihkal/tihkal.shtml |access-date=2024-09-09 }}</ref> from notebooks that extensively described their work and personal experiences with these two classes of [[psychoactive drugs]]. Shulgin documented the [[chemical synthesis]] of many of these compounds. Some of the syntheses catalogued by Shulgin in his books include chemicals in the [[2C (psychedelics)|2C family]] (such as [[2C-B]]), compounds of the [[DOx]] family (such as [[2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine|DOM]]), and tryptamines (such as [[4-HO-MET]] and [[4-HO-MiPT]]).

In describing Shulgin's work in [[psychedelic research]] and his preparation and experimentation with [[psychedelic drugs]], he has been dubbed the "godfather of ecstasy"<ref name=":0"/><ref name = Calamur/> (and to a much more limited extent, the "godfather of psychedelics"<ref>{{cite AV media |people= TotC Pictures Staff  |date= March 6, 2010 |title= Dirty Pictures: Alexander Shulgin Documentary Movie Trailer, SXSW 2010 |trans-title= |type= movie trailer blurb, streaming video |language= en-us |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8ddx_iC_g |access-date= 8 September 2024 |format=  |time= |location= New York, NY |publisher= Dirty Pictures/Turn of the Century (TotC)  |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote= Dirty Pictures: a documentary about Dr. Alexander Sasha Shulgin, the rogue chemist who discovered the effects of MDMA (aka Ecstasy) and over 200 other mind-altering drugs. Shulgins alchemy has earned him the title "The Godfather of Psychedelics," and a reputation as one of the great chemists of the 20th century. }}{{dubious|date = September 2024}}</ref>{{better source needed|date = September 2024}}).

Writing in 2005—in the decade before Shulgin's death—a retrospective by Drake Bennett of ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' noted that as a consequence of Shulgin's testing his various synthetic compounds "for activity by taking the chemicals himself&nbsp;... most of the scientific community consider[ed] Shulgin at best a curiosity and at worst a menace", but Bennett goes on to say that "near the end&nbsp;... [Shulgin's] faith in the potential of psychedelics ha[d] at least a chance at vindication", going on to note the various clinical trials underway on compounds of interest to Shulgin.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |first = Drake |last = Bennett |date = January 30, 2005 |title = Dr. Ecstasy |work = [[The New York Times Magazine]] | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/magazine/30ECSTASY.html |access-date = July 8, 2006 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111117063356/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/magazine/30ECSTASY.html| archive-date=November 17, 2011| url-status= live | quote = Shulgin tested for activity by taking the chemicals himself&nbsp;... Most of the scientific community considers Shulgin at best a curiosity and at worst a menace. Now, however, near the end of his career, his faith in the potential of psychedelics has at least a chance at vindication. A little more than a month ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved a Harvard Medical School study looking at whether MDMA can alleviate the fear and anxiety of terminal cancer patients. And next month will mark a year since Michael Mithoefer, a psychiatrist in Charleston, S.C., started his study of Ecstasy-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. }}</ref> The early 2000s also was a period where Shulgin was witness to a series of incidents in which young men overdosed on a novel psychoactive agent whose preparation was disclosed by Shulgin in one of his books. Before his death (and before the onset of his late life dementia), Shulgin expressed sadness over the deaths, but argued that all drugs, including aspirin, carry risks with incorrect use.<ref name=PowerMedium/><ref>Likewise, his collaborator David Nichols, while blaming "the growth of unregulated, untested legal highs" on drug laws, admitted being bothered, saying, "[w]hen I used to talk about psychedelic research, the one thing you could say was these drugs do not kill people&nbsp;... But then when I started seeing people killed by this irresponsible marketing and use, this was not something I intended.” See Power (2014), op. cit.</ref>