Editing Alexander Shulgin (section)

===Independent research===
In order to work with scheduled psychoactive chemicals, Shulgin obtained a DEA [[Controlled Substances Act|Schedule I]] license for an [[analytical chemistry|analytical]] laboratory, which allowed him to synthesize and possess any otherwise illicit drug.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Cody |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1029780854 |title=Magic medicine : a trip through the intoxicating history and modern-day use of psychedelic plants & substances |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-59233-772-9 |location=Beverly, MA |pages=26 |oclc=1029780854}}</ref> Shulgin set up a [[chemical synthesis]] laboratory in a small building behind his house, which gave him a great deal of career autonomy. Shulgin used this freedom to synthesize and test the effects of potentially [[psychoactive drug]]s.

In 1976, Shulgin was introduced to MDMA by a student in the [[medicinal chemistry]] group he advised at San Francisco State University.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Brown|first1=Ethan|title=Professor X|url=http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/professorx.html?pg=3&topic=&topic_set= |magazine=Wired |access-date=January 4, 2015|date=September 1, 2002|archive-date=June 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625015832/http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/professorx.html?pg=3&topic=&topic_set=|url-status=live}}</ref> MDMA had been synthesized in 1912 by [[Merck KGaA|Merck]] and patented in 1913 as an intermediate of another synthesis in order to block competitors, but was never explored in its own right. Shulgin went on to develop a new synthesis method, and in 1976, introduced the chemical to [[Leo Zeff]], a [[psychologist]] from [[Oakland, California]]. Zeff used the substance in his practice in small doses as an aid to [[talk therapy]]. Zeff introduced the substance to hundreds of psychologists and lay therapists around the nation, including [[Ann Shulgin|Ann (born Laura Ann Gotlieb)]], whom Alexander Shulgin met in 1979, and married in 1981.<ref name="nyt" /> It was her fourth marriage, and she had four children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shulginresearch.org/home/about/ann_shulgin/ |title=Ann Shulgin |website=Shulginresearch.org |access-date=May 11, 2016 |archive-date=May 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514044955/http://www.shulginresearch.org/home/about/ann_shulgin/ |url-status=live }} Detailed biography of Ann Shulgin</ref>

[[File:Shulgin alexander 2009 hanna jon.jpg|thumb|left|275px|Shulgin at the home-based lab on his property, known as "the Farm", 2009]]

After judicious self-experiments, Shulgin enlisted a small group of friends with whom he regularly tested his creations, starting in 1960. They developed a systematic way of ranking the effects of the various drugs, known as the [[Shulgin Rating Scale]], with a vocabulary to describe the visual, auditory and physical sensations. He personally tested hundreds of drugs, mainly analogues of various [[phenethylamine]]s (family containing [[ecstasy (drug)|MDMA]], [[mescaline]], and the [[2C* family]]), and [[tryptamine]]s (family containing [[dimethyltryptamine|DMT]] and [[psilocin]]). There are a seemingly infinite number of slight chemical variations, which can produce variations in effect—some pleasant and some unpleasant, depending on the person, substance, and situation—all of which are meticulously recorded in Shulgin's laboratory notebooks. Shulgin published many of these objective and subjective reports in his books and papers.<ref name="nyt" /> About 2C-B he said in 2003: "It is, in my opinion, one of the most graceful, erotic, sensual, introspective compounds I have ever invented. For most people, it is a short-lived and comfortable psychedelic, with neither toxic side-effects nor next-day hang-over."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ask Dr. Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin Online – 2C-B |url=https://www.cognitiveliberty.org/ccle1/shulgin/adsarchive/2cb.htm |access-date=July 4, 2022 |website=www.cognitiveliberty.org}}</ref>

In 1994, two years after the publication of ''[[PIHKAL]]'', the DEA raided his lab. The agency requested that Shulgin surrender his license for violating its terms, and he was fined $25,000 for possession of anonymous samples sent to him for quality testing. In the 15 years preceding the publication of ''PIHKAL'', two announced and scheduled reviews failed to find any irregularities.<ref name="Erowid2004">{{cite web | title = DEA Raid of Shulgin's Laboratory | publisher = [[Erowid]] | date = January 8, 2004 | url = http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/shulgin_alexander/shulgin_alexander_raid.shtml | access-date = July 8, 2006 | archive-date = March 26, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070326003950/http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/shulgin_alexander/shulgin_alexander_raid.shtml | url-status = live }}</ref> Richard Meyer, spokesman for DEA's San Francisco Field Division, has stated that, "It is our opinion that those books are pretty much cookbooks on how to make illegal drugs. Agents tell me that in clandestine labs that they have raided, they have found copies of those books."<ref name="nyt" />

Prior to his 2010 health issues, Shulgin had been working on a series of N-allylated [[tryptamine]]s including [[5-MeO-DALT]] and [[5-MeO-MALT]].<ref name="MorrisSmith2010" />