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dailymail.co.uk

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1344616/Chemist-David-Nichols-psychedelic-drugs-work-turned-deadly-legal-

highs.html

Chemist horrified to find his pioneering work with psychedelic

drugs turned into deadly 'legal highs'

By Daily Mail Reporter

Updated: 17:19 GMT, 6 January 2011

A brain scientist who studies the effects of psychedelic drugs on serious illnesses has been left horrified after

criminals hijacked his work to make 'legal highs' that caused fatal overdoses.

Dr David Nichols makes chemicals roughly similar to ecstasy and LSD that help explain how parts of the brain

function.

But he said he was shocked to discover underground chemists have been poring over his research papers in

order to make recreational drugs for sale on the black market.

Worse, some of these illicit but legal drugs have been implicated in the deaths of young people who took them.

Ethical dilemma: Dr David Nichols is shocked after criminals hijacked his work with psychedelic drugs to make

'legal highs' that caused fatal overdoses

Dr Nichols, 66, said: 'You try to work for something good, and it's subverted in a way. I try not to think about it.'

His work involves studying how drugs work on the brains of rats. He then publishes the results for other scientists,

hoping his work will one day lead to new treatments for depression or Parkinson's disease.

But Dr Nichols' findings have not stayed in purely scientific circles.

The chairman of the Purdue University pharmacology department in West Lafayette, Indiana, has taken the
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unusual step of speaking out about his dilemma in an online essay in the journal Nature.

He described an ethical struggle seldom discussed by brain researchers.

'Every time we make a molecule now, I do think, "Is this the one that's going to be

a problem?" I never used to think that before.'

'You can't control what people do with what you publish, but yeah, I felt it personally,' he said, explaining that his

struggles were probably similar to those faced by the inventor of the machine gun, although not as severe.

'What if a substance that seems innocuous is marketed and becomes wildly popular on the dance scene, but then

millions of users develop an unusual type of kidney damage that proves irreversible and difficult to treat, or even

life-threatening or fatal?

'That would be a disaster of immense proportions. This question, which was never part of my research focus, now

haunts me.'

Dr Nichols has studied psychedelic drugs for more than 40 years, concentrating on serotonin, a basic chemical

'that goes to every part of the brain'.

'It's involved in appetite, sleep, sex, aggression, you name it,' he said.

'It really plays a key role in brain activation, the difference between being awake and being asleep.'

Dr Nichols estimates that at least five of his compounds - out of hundreds - have been turned into street drugs.

His drug work used to be a joking matter. People would ask him if he needed human test subjects and he would

respond: 'No, it's just rat stuff.'

Legal highs: Dr Nichols estimates that at least five of his compounds -

out of hundreds - have been turned into street drugs

He said: 'I never thought of these getting out of the lab.'

The field includes research into LSD and other hallucinogens, but Dr

Nichols never imagined his work escaping the laboratory and causing

death.

He said: 'Every time we make a molecule now, I do think, "Is this the one

that's going to be a problem?" I never used to think that before.'

One chemical was so potent that 'I just stopped and said, "We're not

going to study this one. This stuff would hit the market big-time."'

That was not the case almost 20 years ago, when Dr Nichols developed

something similar to ecstasy - but not nearly as potent.

Back then it was a little-known street drug. He published his study, found

little interest from pharmaceutical companies in his chemical, called

MTA, and moved on.

But somebody in the illicit world of drug abuse read his research and

synthesised that drug into tablets for street use. It was eerily called

'flatliners', but did not provide much of a high.

'Flatline implies that you're brain dead,' Dr Nichols said. 'Why would anyone take it?'

But people did and their brains were flooded with serotonin and they died. At least five or six people died from tha


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