4 ms·

Americans taking credit again... lol. "MDMA was first synthesized in 1912 by Merck chemist Anton Köllisch" -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA#History https:

• mr_sturd 12y ago
  Synthesized - yes. But Alexander Shulgin extensively synthesised, tested and documented - both the process and the psychedelic effects of - thousands of psychoactive compounds.
  • illumen 12y ago
    Your point? Merck & Bayer have done exponentially more work than that - and they invented it. Reading this article it sounds like he invented it. People have been drinking the bread juice, or eating the mushrooms for millennia and writing about it. Reading this article, it sounds like he started some sort of drug movement. Discos were around before him. Sure, he did a lot of work in the area, but he gets a lot of credit for things he didn't do. Next you'll be telling me Americans made the first flying plane, or made the first working digital computer, the transistor, or invented the wheel? This is a misleading article from an academic institution.
    • mr_sturd 12y ago
      In that case, I'd be interested to read their literature around MDMA and compounds of the 2C-X variety.
    • Nursie 12y ago
      >> he gets a lot of credit for things he didn't do. He found and published multiple, relatively simple synthesis routes for some pre-existing substances and many, many psychoactive substances that had never been seen before. He pioneered exploration into their effects and he shared the knowledge with the world, despite the censorious wishes of worldwide governments and law enforcement. That makes him pretty unique and special in my book.
• jedanbik 12y ago
  You realize that the main article is essentially an obituary, right? Show some respect.
• conformal 12y ago
  i know i'm going to get downvoted, but illumen is completely correct. there is nothing so american as downvoting the truth.
  • Nursie 12y ago
    And there is nothing so arrogant as filling a thread with aspersions about the man without providing any sort of reference other than your own repeated assertions. You come across as a contrarian troll.
    • conformal 12y ago
      it's not slander, it's the truth. someone else discovered and tested MDMA many decades before sasha, but he is credited with "discovering" the compound.
      • Nursie 12y ago
        1. I didn't say it was slander, I said you come in casting aspersions without references, which you have 2. The article doesn't say he discovered it, I didn't say that either, only that he introduced it to psychiatrists. So what exactly are both of you talking about with taking credit? (for reference I'm not american either)
  • PhasmaFelis 12y ago
    For the record, I'm not downvoting you for your opinion. I'm downvoting you for being a smug nationalist.
  • wavefunction 12y ago
    As an American, I'm not going to downvote you. I'm just going to make a mocking post that notes that "wrapping yourself in the truth" doesn't insulate your lies from the light of morning, whether you're American or not.
• gwern 12y ago
  I'm reminded of a line by another American (a statistician): "But when I invented it, it stayed invented."
• michael_h 12y ago
  >> ...pioneered the use of psychedelics for self discovery and synthesized MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy) in the 1970s and some 200 variations in his lifetime >> He is credited with introducing MDMA to psychologists in the late 1970s. Who's taking credit for the initial synthesis?