June 5, 2014

What's the last major new recreational drug?

I ask that question over at my iSteve blog's new host, The Unz Review:
http://www.unz.com/isteve/have-there-been-any-new-recreational-drugs/
     

2 comments:

  1. Fantasy Football

    Bill Blizzard and his Men

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  2. @Steve Sailer

    There are thousands of new drugs, mostly synthesized by PhD biochemist, Alexander Shulgin. He even wrote a book "PihKal" describing over 1,000 different synthesis. The reason why these drugs haven't caught on is two-fold:

    1) Most of the new drugs affect serotonergic transmission, as Shulgin was interested in studying the effect of drugs on the perception of reality, which was a proxy interest that came from his interest in studying the ultimate nature of consciousness. Drugs that affect serotonina are relevant as mood stabilizers and halluconogens, but they are not very rewarding. Rewarding drugs are those that affect dopamine, a different neurotransmitter, in the ventral tegmental area of the nucleus accumbens region of the brain. Cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and other "rewarding" drugs increase dopaminergic neurotransmission in this area. Because the new drugs are not very rewarding in terms of sheer elation, most people are not very interested in them. Most of the people interested in these drugs are inteested in consciousness expansion, which is different from sheer pleasure.

    2) Most of the drugs require advanced study and practice of biochemistry to be synthesized. Most people who are dug users simply do not have the intelligence and/or the dilligence to understand how to make these drugs. The odds that you average junkie will understand:

    "Reductive Alkylation Via Catalytic Hydrogenaation of Phenylpropanone and Methylamine with Platinum Oxide to yield methamphetamine"

    as devided by Dr.Shulgin is slim to none. Junkies are usually not very intellectual, and playing with atoms require quite a sharp mind, indeed.

    Because most of the guys who can design new drugs are usually not very interested in making pure euphoriants - because pure euphoria is simple-minded and they are usually more intereste in the nature of perception and thought, and because the new drugs require intelligence above the 99% and years of study to be made, these drugs have not become very widespread.

    The biggest "new" drug of abuse is methlphenidate, a dopamine reuptake inhibitor that is widely used to treat the pseudo-disorder, ADHD. It acts like cocaine in the brain, blocking the reabsorption of dopamine to the pre-synaptic vesicles by inhiting the dopamine transporter protein. This causes an exhilarating feeling of vivacity and contentment, which probably explains why over one million people literally pay doctors to prescribe them Ritalin despite having no medical indication for it. The same for Adderall, which is just the old drug, aphetamine.

    Americans have made the Swiss laboratory, Novartis, maker of Ritalin, into a pharmaceutical powerhouse. When this drug was released in Sitzerland back in the 1970's, it was inteded to treat seriously disturbed children. But Americans use it like candy: at only 4% of the World's population, Americans consume 93% of all the Ritalin made in the World. The reason for this is due to the hyper-competitiveness of American Society and the "winners-take-all-losers-are-worthless" mentality that American Society has. Americans are Always seekng to get an "edge" over their neighbors, be it steroids, stimulants or early kindergarten coaching for their kids. Hence, stimulants are particularly attractive to Americans. Most other peoples in the World prefer sedating drugs like alcohol and opiates. The most popular drugs ever are opiates, which elicit in the user a "I-don't-give-a-damn-about-my-own-pain" feeling which is most rewarding since so much of Darwinian life is defined by pain. But, in harcore bourgeoise capitalista America, stimulants are kigs.

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