2023-04-19 13:43:33
A 56-year-old national police officer was killed this morning at a gas station in the province of Burgos. The agent was immersed in an Internal Affairs investigation for “common crime”: specifically, for alleged dealings with the substance popularly known as ‘pink cocaine’.
Between ecstasy and LSD
Although until now it was a little-known substance in our country, 2C-B (also called ‘tusibí’, for its English pronunciation; ‘nexus’, ‘pink panther’ or ‘pink cocaine’) is actually a designer drug with a certain path in time. It was first synthesized by the chemist Alexander Shulgin in 1974. In fact, the Energy Control project, of the NGO Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo, (which collects samples of substances that circulate in the illegal market to analyze and document them) has been detecting their presence in Spain since at least 2006, although normally in pills that are sold as ecstasy (MDMA).
It should be noted that this entity affirms that most of the analyzed samples of substances sold as ‘tusibí’ actually contained ketamine, a potent dangerous dissociative for health but of a nature and risks very different from those of 2C-B.
2C-B is a phenylethylamine (and therefore is a substance related to amphetamines), in the form of powder or pills, usually pink (although it can also be seen in white or slightly yellowish tones), with psychedelic effects that users describe as a halfway between MDMA and LSD; that is, it causes hallucinations, some degree of physical stimulation, good humor, and an increased feeling of ‘connection or empathy with others’ (entactogenesis). On a physical level, its side effects are similar to those of MDMA (dilated pupils or mydriasis, high blood pressure, tachycardia, increased body temperature, sweating, and jaw clenching) and, as with hallucinogens, it can cause anxiety and panic if the consumer’s mental state is not adequate or if the environment is stressful.
He 2C-B is consumed orallyin pill or powder form, or nasal (sniffed).
Patent risks but little studied
Doses vary widely depending on the desired effects. In particular, the substance information website erowid.org places them between 2 and 5 milligrams to feel the effects (“threshold dose”) and 50 mg for a strong dose. Its effects can take one or two hours to be felt, and then last between 4 and 8 hours, so it can take up to 10 hours between ingestion and complete cessation of effects.
Your risks are virtually unknown. Due to the legal status of the substance and its comparatively low popularity, few studies have been carried out on its potential toxicity, neither in the short nor in the long term, although Shulgin reports a case of a 100 mg dosage that presented no complications. In fact, there is no medical literature on any death from an overdose of this substance, which on the other hand, given the legal situation, does not mean that it is without risk. It must be taken into account, for example, that cases of significant toxicity have been reported in other substances of the 2C family, with significant neurological damage.
On the other hand, it has been documented different complications by sniffing other phenylethamines.
In addition, it has been reported that continued consumption produces a increased tolerance to the substance, which means that the user needs increasing amounts of the substance to experience the same effects. Physical dependence is considered unlikely (it is rare in psychedelic drugs) but it is not ruled out that psychological dependence may occur.
Alexander Shulgin, chemist and ‘psychonaut’
Alexander Shulgin (1925-2014) was an American chemist and pharmacist of Russian descent, known for his work in the field of psychopharmacology and for his political activism in favor of the responsible use of psychotropic substances.
Precisely, since the 1970s, Shulgin synthesized for the US agency in charge of the war against drugs, the DEA, several hundreds of substances that he tried personally to later document the experience. Many of these substances are used today not as recreational drugs, but to investigate the behavior of neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors in the human brain. Furthermore, Shulgin is the author of the modern method of MDMA synthesis, although he is not the discoverer of this substance (MDMA was discovered in 1912 by Anton Köllisch), and he is primarily responsible for its popularization.
His work for the DEA broke down in the 90’s, when he published two books (PiHKAL and TiHKAL) in which he detailed his experiences with a number of entheogens (psychedelic substances) and even gave instructions for their synthesis. The content annoyed the Agency, which canceled its collaboration, searched his laboratories and imposed large economic sanctions on him.
Subsequently, Shulgin would continue to advocate for the responsible use in recreational environments and especially for the pharmacological research with these substances until his death, leaving behind a legacy that was both criticized and revered both in the political dimension of the substances he studied and in the purely scientific one.
References
Energy Control. Tusi. Consulted online at https://energycontrol.org/sustancias/tusi/ on 04/19/2023
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