4 ms·

Illegal drugs have all sorts of terminology problems. I'm not sure these should be called "designer drugs" because that makes it sound like people are making a

Illegal drugs have all sorts of terminology problems. I'm not sure these should be called "designer drugs" because that makes it sound like people are making and taking them to have specific, desirable effects. That's not the case: in most cases, people don't want to be taking these drugs, they want to be taking the illegal drugs that have "better" effects, but are taking legal or grey-legality drugs because drug prohibition keeps them from taking the drugs they actually want to take, which are better-understood and generally safer. I'd prefer to call these grey-market substances "research chemicals" because it's a neutral term without the fearmongering associated with "bath salts" or the romanticizing of "designer drugs". And it's honest: these are chemicals that we are researching and should continue to research, to understand both the positive and negative effects these substances have. It's a dangerous world out there. If you're going to use drugs, please use a test kit. And everyone should obtain and learn how to administer Narcan if you can.

morkalork 2y ago
IMO the name "research chemicals" is kind of ruined for me after listening to a bunch of college aged self-proclaimed psychonaughts/shamans ramble on about the science and research they're doing into the essence of humanity or whatever with them. Just call them what they are, grey-market drugs for getting high. There are varnishingly few real researchers actually handling them.
sharpshadow 2y ago
I think they called it bath salts to be able to sell it as such and they called it designer drugs to make them attractive. As you say the illegal drugs have the “better” effect and are well understood.
chriscappuccio 2y ago
The DEA popularized the term designer drugs in the 80s to refer to drugs designed to evade legal restrictions. That's what it commonly refers to, similarity of effects is secondary to demand.
GuB-42 2y ago
I think the term "research chemicals" came out of the necessity to call these substances anything but drugs. They can't legally be sold as drugs, that would require some kind of approval from a regulatory agency, which they obviously don't have. So they call it by a name that don't suggest human consumption. "research chemicals", as if they were reagents, "bath salts", "plant food", etc... often with a "not for human consumption" label. Certainly not "designer drugs", that's a term I generally only see in articles with an "anti drug" stance.

morkalork 2y ago

IMO the name "research chemicals" is kind of ruined for me after listening to a bunch of college aged self-proclaimed psychonaughts/shamans ramble on about the science and research they're doing into the essence of humanity or whatever with them. Just call them what they are, grey-market drugs for getting high. There are varnishingly few real researchers actually handling them.

sharpshadow 2y ago

I think they called it bath salts to be able to sell it as such and they called it designer drugs to make them attractive. As you say the illegal drugs have the “better” effect and are well understood.

chriscappuccio 2y ago

The DEA popularized the term designer drugs in the 80s to refer to drugs designed to evade legal restrictions. That's what it commonly refers to, similarity of effects is secondary to demand.

GuB-42 2y ago

I think the term "research chemicals" came out of the necessity to call these substances anything but drugs. They can't legally be sold as drugs, that would require some kind of approval from a regulatory agency, which they obviously don't have. So they call it by a name that don't suggest human consumption. "research chemicals", as if they were reagents, "bath salts", "plant food", etc... often with a "not for human consumption" label. Certainly not "designer drugs", that's a term I generally only see in articles with an "anti drug" stance.