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Sulfurous Samadhi: Table of Contents Intro Chemistry History Stolaroff Survey Hardison's Survey User Survey Pharmacology Legal Conclusion Appendices: User Quotes: 2C-T-2 2C-T-7 Comparisons Synthesis: Product Lit: |
History by Murple, Feb 6, 2001 DiscoveryThe history of these two compounds begins in 1981, when sometime between July 28 and August 20 (the exact date is unknown), Alexander Shulgin first synthesized 2C-T-2. The first human trial of this drug took place at 10:50AM on the morning of August 20 of that year, when Shulgin took 5 mg. After an hour, no effects were noted, so he took another 5 mg. Within 10 minutes, effects became apparent, and Shulgin reached a +1 level experience, meaning a real and unmistakable effect of measurable duration is felt, but its nature is not clear. The next trial took place soon after, at 10:10 in the morning on September 2, when Shulgin took 15 mg, and reached a +2 level experience, meaning that the nature of the drug is clear, but the effects could still be mostly suppressed if required, such as to handle an emergency situation. Several weeks later, on October 24, Shulgin and his wife Ann each took 18 mg at 4:50PM, which led to what he describes as "a fine +++ with much energy and no apparent price to pay -- it was excellent but there were hints of dark corners" (a +3 indicates that the full potential of the drug's effects have been reached). On December 5, 1981, Shulgin took 2C-T-2 to his research group for its first group trial, where 9 people assayed it in dosages from 12 to 16 mg Later group trials ran the dosage level up to well over 20 mg, and in the end it was decided to state 2C-T-2's dosage range to be 12-25 mg. A few years later, 2C-T-7 was first synthesized. At 9:25 on the morning of January 16, 1986, Shulgin performed the first human test of this drug with a 2 mg dose. No effects were noted, nor were any noted with a 4 mg trial several days later. Between February and May of that year, Shulgin conducted further bioassays, having several effective trials with 20-25 mg doses, most reaching the +3 level. On October 16, 1986, a small group experiment was conduced with 2C-T-7 to check the drug's effect on the cardiovascular system. Most subjects had a slight rise in both systolic and diastolic pressure between the second and fourth hours, and all were back to normal (and even below normal in a few cases) by the tenth hour. On September 28, Shulgin first presented 2C-T-7 to his research group. Early ResearchAfter their discovery and the initial explorations into their effects, these drugs languished in obscurity for several years. They were first introduced to the public with the 1991 publication of Alexander Shulgin's book PiHKAL which not only described their effects but described how to synthesize them, making them available for independent researchers to investigate them. Among these early pioneers were Myron J. Stolaroff and Charles W. Wells, who in 1993 published a paper which summarized a series of experiments designed to compare the therapeutic potential of 2C-T-2 and 2C-T-7 to MDMA. In this study, subjects who had not tried any of the three drugs were given one of the drugs and later asked to fill out a survey on the experience. The results of this study found that 2C-T-2 and 2C-T-7 have significant therapeutic potential, and in fact, they have been used in psychedelic therapy, often as a follow-up to a dose of MDMA. The results of this study will be discussed in more detail elsewhere in this paper. Stolaroff also discusses his work with 2C-T-2, 2C-T-7 and several other drugs in the 2C-T series in his 1994 book Thanatos to Eros: Thirty-Five Years of Psychedelic Exploration. The next mention of these drugs in publication was in the 1994 paper "Structure-Activity Relationships of the Classic Hallucinogens and Their Analogs" by Peyton Jacob III and Alexander Shulgin. This paper did not focus very strongly on 2C-T-2 or 2C-T-7 however. 2C-T-2 In The NetherlandsA turning point in the history of these drugs occurred in November of 1997, when pills alleged to be 2C-T-7 began to appear in the so-called "smartshops" in the Netherlands. These are stores which usually sell items such as peyote cacti, psilocybin mushrooms, and various herbal drugs as well as nutritional supplements. In the beginning, many smartshops were selling these pills. At one point, the Dutch police apparently confiscated these pills from several smartshops, but later returned the merchandise with approval to sell it.
One shop, De Sjamaan, had the pills analyzed by a lab after their test group had tried them and found the effects to be different from the results they expected based upon reports they had read. They found out that the pills were in fact 2C-T-2 which was being misrepresented. According to one version of the story, the wholesaler of the pills was misrepresenting them out of a desire to put off the authorities and keep 2C-T-2 legal. Another version says that the wholesaler honestly thought they had 2C-T-7 and that it had been misrepresented to them by the manufacturer. In either case, after getting the lab results, De Sjamaan and other stores began to market the tablets under their proper identity. Other sources interviewed for this article were skeptical of De Sjamaan's claims to have tested the pills, due to difficulty in getting such tests done, and claim that they continued to be sold everywhere as 2C-T-7 for several more months, until a different company did an analysis on the pills. On the other hand, a 2C-T-2 report by Horus states "2C-T-2 has been sold in the Dutch smartshops from November 1997 until now," which lends credence to the notion that it was being sold under its proper name at this time. The wholesaler of the tablets approached another smartshop, Conscious Dreams, in early 1998 offering to sell them 2C-T-7. Being suspicious about the identity of the pills, due to the difficulties involved in making 2C-T-7, they also decided to have the pills sent to a lab for analysis. This turned out to be a difficult task, as many of the labs they went to, including the government's criminology lab, did not have reference standards for 2C-T-7. Finally a sympathetic university professor was found who was willing and able to do the analysis. At this point VLOS, which is an organization of smartshops headed by a 5 member board (one of whom at the time was a Conscious Dreams employee), was against the marketing of these pills because the actual ingredients were not yet known and therefore there were concerns over their safety. On April 20, 1998, Conscious Dreams got their lab results back, finding that the pills were in fact 2C-T-2. They issued an announcement that the 2C-T-7 pills were in fact 2C-T-2, that they were pure, and that they had been offered and had bought the distribution rights to the material. After taking care of packaging and promotional concerns, they began marketing 2C-T-2 in May of 1998. Promotional posters, information fliers, and product packaging all bore a design of blue dots and white lattice-work over a florescent orange background, designed by Donald Beekman Studio. An English translation of the informational flier incorrectly called 2C-T-2 an amphetamine, but this error is not present on the Dutch version of the flier.
Despite the fact that Conscious Dreams purchased sole distribution rights to 2C-T-2, the wholesaler apparently continued selling the material to other companies. In addition, De Sjamaan was independently obtaining 2C-T-2, and a price war between them and Conscious Dreams broke out. Conscious Dreams, interestingly, denies that such a price war ever occurred. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that Conscious Dreams was at the time a much larger company, and it's possible that while De Sjamaan felt competition from the larger Conscious Dreams, the sales volume of the smaller company was not enough that their price cuts were even noticed by the larger.
July of 1998, Conscious Dreams was selling 2C-T-2 in packages of two 8 mg tablets for 25 guilders, which at the time was approximately $12.50 (US). After several months, this was changed to three tablets for 30 guilders. In addition to selling 2C-T-2 retail through their own shops, Conscious Dreams also sold the pills wholesale to other smartshops through the distributorship branch of the company. De Sjamaan was selling 3 tablets for 25 guilders. Prices at other smartshops varied. Tambu Passionstore in Rotterdam was selling 3 tablets for $18.00 (US). A July 13 promotional email sent out by another smartshop, The Gate (based in Amerongen) read:
Another curious situation arose from the earlier confusion as to the identity of the drug in the pills. Even after lab analyses had been done, and after statements had been issued about the true identity of the pills, some shops continued to sell the pills as 2C-T-7. In some cases, these shops would be selling identical pills as both 2C-T-2 and 2C-T-7, side by side, oblivious to the fact that they were both the same pills. And as if this were not enough, there is yet another twist to the confusion surrounding 2C-T-2 in the Netherlands. A synthetic amphetamine known as 4-MTA (para-methylthioamphetamine) was sold under the brand name S5 for a while in the Dutch smartshops. Structurally related to the toxic amphetamine PMA (para-methoxyamphetamine), 4-MTA was linked to several deaths and was removed from the market. The laboratory which analyzed the 2C-T-2 pills for Conscious Dreams also analyzed three batches of S5 tablets. While the first two batches were in fact 4-MTA, the third batch was found to contain 2C-T-2. 2C-T-2 was always seen as being a replacement for 2C-B, and it never reached 2C-B's level of popularity in the Netherlands. Never the less, it did however become extremely popular. A representative of De Sjamaan claims that "the most normal people of whom you would never expect, that they would even enter a smartshop, became very regular customers without disrupting their 9 to 5 live in any way." A representative of Conscious Dreams, when asked, gave a rough guess that perhaps 200,000 tablets of 2C-T-2 were sold total. An article on the Dutch party scene in the March 20, 1999 issue of Vrij Nederlan claimed that 2C-T-2 had become the most popular drug sold by the smartshops at that time, with several thousand pills being sold per week. Many people would take 2C-T-2 in combination with alcohol, or sometimes ecstasy, and go out for the night. In the nearly two years that 2C-T-2 was available legally in the Netherlands, not one bad incident involving it was ever reported. 2C-T-2's popularity spread beyond the Netherlands, as well. By July 2, 1998, Smart Drugstore in Sweden was selling 2C-T-2, and continued to do so until April 1, 1999, when it was banned by the Swedish government. It also apparently caught on in Germany, which made 2C-T-2 illegal by emergency scheduling on October 7, 1998, and has since rescheduled it two more times - a situation which will be discussed in the legal status section of this paper. In January, 1999, a package containing 2C-T-2 was being returned to Conscious Dreams from Japan, and Dutch customs opened it. After reading the product information flier, an Adjunct Inspector decided that it was making pharmaceutical claims, due to terms like "psychedelic" and "hallucinations." Due to the fact that the government could not demonstrate 2C-T-2 was a hazard to public health, it was not made a scheduled drug under normal Dutch drug law. As a round-about method of banning it, it was instead declared to be an unregistered medicine on April 12, 1999. Conscious Dreams stopped selling 2C-T-2 on April 6, 1999, after running out of stock. A period of confusion followed the banning of the drug in the Netherlands. The wholesaler stopped selling it and avoided giving a clear reason for why. Rumors began to circulate that the chemist who was manufacturing had either disappeared or been busted for manufacturing MDMA. When inquiring about availability from various smartshops, explanations ranging from "The wholesaler is having supply problems but we expect more soon" to "It has been made illegal" to "We don't know what's going on" were given to customers. Shops which still had supplies of the pills continued to sell them. Finally, on July 29, 1999, Conscious Dreams received papers from the Inspectie voor de Volksgezondheid (People's Health Inspector) in Haarlem informing them of the fact that 2C-T-2 had been banned. On July 30, Conscious Dreams sent out the following e-mail announcement:
Some smartshops kept selling 2C-T-2 until November 1999, when their supplies ran out. No arrests were made, however. Since then, 2C-T-2 has not become a black market drug in the Netherlands. This is probably due to the fact that it is somewhat more difficult for underground labs to manufacture than other drugs for which there are much more demand. Blue MysticStarting in summer of 1999, 2C-T-7 made its appearance in the Netherlands. At the end of 1999, the manufacturer offered to sell the pills to Conscious Dreams, who had the material analyzed. Although the pills were found to be authentic, they decided to pass on it out of concern over legal repercussions. However, De Sjamaan and other smartshops began selling 2C-T-7 in early 2000, under the brand name Blue Mystic. The information flier lists the active ingredient under an alternative name, "PT-DM-PEA" (short for 4-propylthio-2,5-dimethoxy-phenethylamine) rather than 2C-T-7, this being done to avoid customers becoming confused between 2C-T-7 and 2C-T-2. Blue Mystic was originally offered in sets of three 7.5 mg blue tablets, but this was later changed to being sold in packages of five tablets for 25 guilders. Several months later, the tablets were reformulated to 10 mg, sold in packages of three. As with 2C-T-2 before it, prices vary between shops, for example Tambu Passionstore's price being $25.00 (US) for 5 tablets.
The product information states that women need 2-3 pills and men need 4-5 for an effective dose, although 15% of people need much lower doses. These figures are based on surveys which De Sjamaan conducted at the Entheobotany 2000 conference in Palenque, Mexico, as well as an on-going survey of their customers. The complete results of these surveys have not yet been made public because the project has not yet been completed. The most obvious problem with the Blue Mystic flier, however, is that it states booster doses do not work - they certainly do. When questioned about this, Ananda of De Sjamaan stated "Boosting does work. But not below the threshold, i.e. one can take 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 mg's, with 1.5 hours in between. Getting only a plus one, while a dose of 15 mg's on the same person would probably give a plus 2 or even 3. When this person experiences his or her plus 2, boosting would be a option. This became apparent when Blue Mystic was sold per 3 tabs of 7.5 mg's. Most women found it to be strong, while most men claimed it did not work." At least two versions of the product information flier have been used. The first was distributed with the original 7.5 mg tablets, and the second with the newer 10 mg tablets. Also, unlike 2C-T-2, Blue Mystic is being distributed to smartshops with instructions to store owners not to sell 2C-T-7 to everyone, to try and screen out customers who seem to be unstable or unprepared. Store owners are also being asked to talk to customers one on one and give them usage and safety information, so as to try and minimize any irresponsible behavior which might attract the attention of the authorities. In July of 2000, VLOS issued a statement to member shops advising against selling 2C-T-7. This was merely a recommendation, however, and member shops were told they would not be expelled from VLOS if they continued to sell it. VLOS believes that the Dutch government will not accept the sale of synthetic drugs by smartshops, both because of a perceived, but not actual, connection with ecstasy manufacturers and because of concern about international pressure. Getting AttentionMeanwhile, elsewhere in the world, both of these drugs became available from a handful of chemical supply companies. 2C-T-7 in early January, 2000, followed by 2C-T-2 in April, became available as pure powders. Unlike the Dutch smartshops, these companies were not offering their products for human consumption, and in fact explicitly forbade such use in their customer agreements. Also unlike the Dutch smartshops, these companies do business internationally. As a result of this new global availability, interest in these drugs grows among serious researchers and recreational users alike. Between February 21 and 27, 2000, at the Entheobotany conference in Palenque, Mexico, 2C-T-7 (mostly in the form of Blue Mystic tablets, but also as pure chemical) was being assayed by a large group of people. One attendee, Casey Hardison, seized this opportunity to do some research. He designed an informal survey which he passed out to people who had taken 2C-T-7. Hardison collected fourty-eight completed surveys which he analyzed, and his findings were published in the Summer 2000 issue of the Bulletin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. By late summer, 2000, 2C-T-7 has gained significant popularity with some groups of people. Discussion of this drug on the Internet has grown exponentially over the course of the year. It has earned several nicknames, including "lucky 7," "7-up," "7th heaven," "beautiful" and "tripstacy." In spite of its availability, interest in 2C-T-2 has not kept pace with 2C-T-7. The Black MarketIn late September 2000, reports began to surface from a small group of people in Canada that they had encountered a few 2C-T-7 pills circulating at a rave in Vancouver, BC. These pills were being sold under the name "Red Raspberry" and were rumored by some to contain a mixture of 2C-T-7 and "speed." One person, who had used 2C-T-7 previously, tried the pills and thought it was unlikely they contained any amphetamines, and commented that the pills were not particularly strong either. Based on his experience, he estimates the pills contained perhaps 10 or 12 milligrams of 2C-T-7. No analysis of the pills have been done to confirm whether or not they contain any 2C-T-7.
Reports of other pressed pills of 2C-T-7 have appeared sporadically. On September 3, 2000, a person going by the name ghost-2501 posted to the Internet discussion board Bluelight that he had heard of pills called "Green Fish" which were alleged to be 2C-T-7. The pills had a logo which was described as "a tilted square with an eye and a triangle making the tail." In July 2000, the harm reduction group DanceSafe posted a pill to their laboratory pill analysis web site (the pill testing project is now at EcstasyData.org) which was called a "Number 7," sent in by someone in the Chicago area. Although the lab did not detect any known drugs, there are some curious factors, and it must be kept in mind that since 2C-T-7 is a relatively obscure chemical, the laboratory doing the analysis likely did not have a reference standard for detecting it, so it can not be ruled out that the pill could have contained it. The most obvious pieces of evidence are the name of the pill and the #7 stamp appearing on it. Adding to the mystery is the fact that the pill reacted to a Marquis reagent assay with a "slight orange color." Pure 2C-T-7 gives a salmon orange reaction to Marquis reagent. I contacted DanceSafe's national director Emanuel Sferios about this to see if the pill was still available for further analysis, and he told me that he would find out. I received no further response, so it seems likely the pill was disposed of, leaving this an unsolvable mystery. 2C-T-7 has also circulated on the drug market in its natural form, a powder. Trey Mosmeyer of the Austin Dance Alliance, a Texas based harm reduction group, reports that 2C-T-7 experienced a brief period of popularity in the Dallas area during the last half of 2000. A few dealers caught wind of the substance and began marketing it as a new legal drug which "makes acid look like nothing." It was sold under the names "beautiful" and "belladonna," the last being particularly dangerous as it could easily lead an uninformed person into thinking that it is the same drug found in the plant belladonna. A few problems arose due to confusion with the drug ketamine. People who were unaware of the existence of 2C-T-7 saw the drug, and due to its similar appearance, mistook it for ketamine and snorted ketamine-size doses of the drug, leading to some rather severe panic reactions. This was compounded when people who mistook the drug for ketamine turned around and sold it to others as ketamine. In a few cases this may not have been accidental. Mosmeyer said he heard of two cases where people intentionally misrepresented 2C-T-7 as ketamine, adding that "they were both soulless bastards who didn't care, but needed to sell it as something people knew." On various Internet based discussion forums, occasional reports have surfaced of people selling 2C-T-7 on the drug market. In most cases, it is being sold either under its proper name or a slang term such as "lucky 7" or "beautiful." A few isolated reports have been made of it being misrepresented as other substances, such as mescaline. Although it is impossible to tell the extent to which 2C-T-7 has been sold on the black market, it seems likely that it is a fairly uncommon occurrence. The general unfamiliarity of the drug-using public with the substances combined with the easy access to more established drugs likely has prevented them from becoming popular black market drugs. IncidentsThere have been a few tragic incidents reported involving 2C-T-7. While there have been quite a few reports of people who took too much and had severe panic reactions, there have been only seven serious incidents reported. Considering that the drug has probably been taken thousands of times by hundreds of individuals, and considering the reckless usage patterns of some users, this seems a testament to the relative safety of the drug [Erowid Note: see Mar 2001 update on deaths]. Thus far, no serious incidents have been reported involving 2C-T-2, and considering the longer history that drug has, this seems to indicate that it to may be a quite safe drug. Nevertheless, no drug is entirely safe and abnormal reactions, allergies, and overdoses all could lead to an unexpected tragedy. In addition, it must be remembered that no formal studies into toxicology have ever been done for these drugs, so the risks are largely unknown or theoretical at best. One of the first reported tragedies occurred at the end of August 2000 in Europe, and was posted to the Lycaeum on September 1, 2000. Three people got together and tried 2C-T-7. One took it orally, while the other two each insufflated 25 mg, an unusually large dose when taken by this route. Three hours later one of the people who had snorted it began behaving strangely. He became somewhat delirious, unable to understand anything when spoken to, and repeating the same few sentences over and over again. Starting at 5 hours after snorting it, he began repeating action sequences. According to a witness, "first he would ask if he can wash is face, no matter what he got as an answer, he'd go splash water on his face, then sit down and ask for a cigarette, get up and ask if he can wash his face... and so on ...This lasted for hours." Eventually this stopped, but he kept speaking of strange things. According to the witness, "he told us about places underground where he lived and was a horrible centipede." Even at the eight hour point he is complaining about animals living in the walls and floor that wanted to eat him. The next morning, at the 16 hour point, he was still tripping. The other two people went to work, and when they came home later they found their friend in the bath tub with both wrists slit, and deep cuts up and down his harms. They called an ambulance, and the man was saved. When asked about it later, the man said he could not remember anything about what had happened. The most probable explanation here is that the person has an underlying mental condition which was triggered by taking an enormous dose of a powerful psychedelic drug. The most tragic incident involving 2C-T-7 was the death of a 20 year old man named Jake Duroy in Norman, Oklahoma. I was first made aware of this death when a friend of Mr. Duroy responded to the 2C-T-7 user survey I was running in conjunction with Erowid. After interviewing several of Mr. Duroy's friends and reading articles in local newspapers (none of which ever mentioned the drug by name), I have been able to piece together what may have happened. Jake Duroy had taken 2C-T-7 one occasion before, in July 2000, when he insufflated 15 mg. He had no unusual reactions to it that time. Mr. Duroy was 20 years old, approximately 170 pounds, having no known medical conditions other than asthma [Erowid Note: we have received more recent information stating that Jake did not, in fact, have asthma] and was in good health, being a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes active in many sports. Jake was not taking any medications at the time of his death, and the only other drug he had used recently was some marijuana the night before his death. Mr. Duroy and his friends had obtained some 2C-T-7 from a chemical supply company. After his death, a sample of the material was analyzed by the police lab and found to be pure, ruling out the possibility of a contaminated batch. The material was weighed out on a very accurate digital scale one of the friends had purchased, so the dose taken is fairly certain (though one friend said the he was not sure if Mr. Duroy had actually used the scale to weigh his dose, so this is still open to question). On October 15, 2000, Jake Duroy and a group of friends got together at a house on the 1200 block of Dakota to take some 2C-T-7. Along with one other person, Mr. Duroy snorted a massive 35 mg of the drug. Three other people present took lower doses orally. Within twenty minutes of taking the 2C-T-7, Mr. Duroy became agitated and frightened, and complained of being cold. He began talking about "evil spirits" being in the room, and decided to retreat to a corner of the room to lie down and try to get warm with a blanket. He remained within sight of his friends, who were somewhat concerned about his agitated state. Other than some vomiting, which is a fairly common side effect, he seemed physically fine at this point. The other person who had snorted 35 mg experienced similar symptoms, though milder. This person took a Rohypnol tablet and within an hour was asleep, having no further complications and little memory of the experience. At around ninety minutes after taking the drug, Mr. Duroy began to have convulsions, and began simultaneously vomiting and bleeding heavily from the nose. When his friends realized Mr. Duroy was in trouble, they called a friend to come help them. They put him in the car to drive to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, they had to stop at a railroad crossing to wait for a passing train. They noticed Mr. Duroy had stopped breathing several times and tried to clear his airway. Had they instead called for an ambulance, perhaps this tragedy could have had a happier ending, as the hospital is only a five minute drive from the house where it happened. One can only speculate why they did not, but it seems likely it was out of fear. Some of the people present had been arrested on drug charges a few months earlier, and were afraid of what might happen if police came to the house. In this regard we can say that the War on Drugs played a very big role in the death of Jake Duroy and that in a country with more enlightened drug laws, Jake Duroy might not have died. On the other hand, when a life is at stake, such concerns need to take a back seat, and it is my opinion that not calling 911 in a situation like this can only be described as criminally negligent. According to Norman police detective Don Blake, Mr. Duroy was brought into the emergency room at the Norman Regional Hospital at 2:20PM in full cardiac arrest, having died in the car on the way to the hospital. Police began investigating the incident, telling the local newspaper The Norman Transcript that they suspected the death was due to "some kind of designer drug." It was reported an autopsy determined that the cause of death was cardiac arrest brought on by choking on vomit. [Editors Note: The final version of the coroner's report found that there was in fact no evidence of vomit aspiration. For further details on this death, please see Erowid.org/chemicals/2ct7/2ct7_death1.shtml.] One other serious incident was reported by a survey respondent. In this case, a young man in Mexico took 30 mg of 2C-T-7 orally while out with some friends. While crossing a street, his friends noticed that he had stopped and was staring blankly at a street light. He then fell to the ground, hit his head, and began having convulsions. His friends called an ambulance. After being treated in the hospital, he was told he had suffered a mild heart attack. He did not tell the doctors he had taken 2C-T-7, because he was worried he would get in trouble for drug use. Instead, he told them he had fallen and hit his head because he was drunk. He had in fact drank some alcohol earlier, and had smoked large quantities of cannabis. He is described by his friend as being in relatively good health, though not very active. He had an abnormal heartbeat when younger, but was told by doctors that he had outgrown it. He was not on any medications at the time, but does use a range of drugs recreationally, including LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. He had not taken any of these that day. He was released from the hospital with nothing worse than a mild concussion. A very similar incident happened in Helsinki, Finland in August, 2000, and was also reported by a survey respondent. A woman known by the respondent insufflated 10 mg of 2C-T-7, along with 10 other people who took the same dose. My informant said "the amount was not carefully measured and... I believe that the dose was a bit higher than 10 mg because everyone was vomiting and I couldn't get a contact to them." Later the woman fell and hit her head on asphalt and had convulsions, and was taken to the hospital. My informant knew no further details, so it is unknown if the woman had taken any other drugs or had any medical conditions. Although all of the people who took it had a very strong response to the dose they took, my informant said that most enjoyed the experience. Several of them even took more 10 hours after the initial dose, when the effects had worn off. Another survey respondent reported an overdose incident which happened in Sarasota, Florida. A friend of the respondent, which he described as "an idiot," obtained a 25 mg sample of 2C-T-7. He injected the entire 25 mg intravenously. According to witnesses he had a good experience for ten minutes, but then suddenly became very violent, throwing objects at people both real and imagined. It was pointed out that he is normally a very violent person. When his girlfriend tried to calm him down, he hit her several times. One witness called the police. After being unable to wrestle him down, they incapacitated him with a large amount of pepper spray. He was strapped to a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital where he stopped breathing and slipped into a coma. He was put on a respirator and remained comatose for five days. Three days after regaining consciousness, he was released from the hospital. No charges were filed in this case. Another overdose incident was posted to an anti-drug Internet message board called Cascade by a 15 year old boy named Mike, who lives in the United States. According to Mike, on Saturday, November 11, 2000, he snorted 25 mg of 2C-T-7. In his own words, "I didn't know what was happening. Intense waves and overwhelming visuals were coming over me...feeling sounds, seeing feelings...not fun at all. I must have puked at least a liter. I told my parents that I thought I overdosed on a research chemical." He was taken to the emergency room, where he was put in the intensive care unit. As there is no mention of any life threatening symptoms, it is possible that Mike was admitted to the ICU as a precautionary measure by concerned doctors who had no idea what else to do. He says of the experience, "I only remember bits and pieces of what happened. If you have seen the movie "Fire in the Sky", I felt like the guy that was abducted. Being in severe confusion and tubes coming out of you is not fun. And urinating though a tube is not the greatest thing...it's even worse when they pull the tube out. I was released from the ICU Sunday. It was extremely scary." Not only does this incident dramatically highlight the fact that children should not use powerful psychoactive drugs, but it shows the complete lack of knowledge most medical professionals have about obscure psychedelic drugs. One final incident is known to me only by hearsay. Two men in the Netherlands took unspecified doses of 2C-T-7, either before or after eating a greasy Chinese food meal. Later, either one or both of the men began to have a panic reaction, and became entangled in a barbed wire fence of some kind. When police arrived and tried to help him (or them) get freed from the fence, he (or they) refused help and tried to fight off the police. After being removed from the barbed wire, he (or they) got taken to a hospital for observation. One of the men apparently went into a coma for a few days, but recovered. No other details are available, unfortunately, and this could be simply a rumor. It is unknown if any other drugs were involved, or what the mental and physical health of the men was. Moving OnBy the end of 2000, much of the initial interest in 2C-T-7 began to fade, as the hype surrounding the drug began to be replaced by experience. When the drug first began attracting attention in various circles, particularly among Internet users, there were many misconceptions about the drug. Many people who had no familiarity with phenethylamine drugs other than MDMA were under the impression that 2C-T-7 was some sort of "candyflip" drug which mimicked the effects of combining MDMA with some LSD. People began to look at it as a potential new party drug. As more people tried it and became familiar with the effects, however, attitudes began to change. Over the course of several months, awareness began to spread that it is indeed a powerful mescaline-like psychedelic drug which may not be suitable for a night out dancing. Stories of panic reactions by people who had taken too much began to discourage people from taking recklessly large doses, something which was unfortunately quite prevalent initially. Word of Jake Duroy's death reminded people that this is a relatively new drug and that the risks remain largely unknown. The initial naive hype has slowly begun to fade, and many of the people looking for "the next ecstasy" have moved on to other things, returning 2C-T-7 to the realm of more serious researchers and psychonauts, though of course many people searching for a new recreational drug continue to try it. 2C-T-2 has remained relatively obscure and unpopular, owing perhaps to its reputation as being merely an inferior version of 2C-T-7. As of yet, there has been no attention paid to these chemicals by the media, at least in the United States. There have been a few brief mentions of 2C-T-2 in the European media, due to the fact that this drug was available commercially there. In spite of the death of Jake Duroy, there have been no mentions of 2C-T-7 in the press other than a passing mention in the November 6, 2000 issue of FEED Magazine. Little attention has been paid to these drugs by the legal authorities of any countries either. A few European countries made them illegal after 2C-T-2 was sold in the Netherlands, as described previously, but neither drug has attracted enough attention to warrant significant governmental actions. It is impossible to predict what the future of these drugs will be, though there is much speculation. The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that whatever the future holds for 2C-T-2 and 2C-T-7, it is bound to be interesting.
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