The “Godfather of Ecstasy” Dies. (And No, I’m Not Talking About Anyone from the Happy Mondays)

Ravers are a little sadder today with the news that chemist and pharmacologist Alexander Shulgin has taken the ultimate trip.  After ingesting more than 4,000 tabs of E, Shulgin has died at the age of 88.  The cause? Liver cancer.

Shulgin had a powerful rep in psychoactive drug circles.  He discovered, created and tested hundreds of these drugs, most of them on himself.  But his biggest claim to fame was popularizing 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine–MDMA for short or just “Ecstasy.”

He didn’t discover it–that was a chemist named Anton Köllisch back in 1912–but he did re-discover the drug and introduced it to the medical community with an academic paper in 1978.  Once doctors and psychologists became aware of the drug, it eventually spread to the general population.  And we all know how popular it became with club culture.

More details at (of all places) International Business Times.