Research chemicals

JWH-018 powder as it was commonly sold online

Research chemicals (also called experimental chemicals or unresearched chemicals) are psychoactive substances which have undergone little to no human or animal medical research or investigation. The use of research chemicals may be more risky than the use of more well-studied drugs such as MDMA, or cannabis because of the lack of studies. Most information about research chemicals is based on first-hand experiences and anecdotal evidence. More than one hundred research chemicals, including 2C-E and DOM, were discovered by Alexander Shulgin and written about in his books PiHKAL and TiHKAL.

Research chemicals have similar effects and molecular structures to many illegal drugs and are often invented in order to bypass current drug laws or improve upon existing substances. For example, MXE was invented to be "a stress-free version of ketamine" and the "perfect dissociative."

Harm potential and toxicity

The safety profile of research chemicals is unknown because they have not been studied in a medical context on humans or animals. There is little to no information on the toxicity, health risks, long-term side effects, or lethal dosage of these chemicals, which make their use more risky than the use of more common substances like LSD or MDMA.

In terms of risk factors, Erowid states that "mislabeling, misidentification, issues of purity, adulteration, and misrepresentation (substitution) are unfortunately a common problem with research chemicals." It is recommended that one avoid branded products or blends if the active psychoactive compounds are not listed on the labelling. Combining research chemicals also presents an unknown risk due to the lack of research.

Caution should be used when dosing because not much is known about the dose range, lethal dosage, and harmful side effects. Some research chemicals have produced unexpected adverse side effects due to the lack of screening for off-target effects prior to marketing; both bromo-dragonfly and mephedrone seem to be capable of producing pronounced vasoconstriction under some circumstances, which has resulted in several deaths. Substituted phenethylamines such as the 2C family and substituted amphetamines such as the DOx family have also caused a limited number of deaths. Other research chemicals which have been reported to cause death at high doses include 25I-NBOMe, 25B-NBOMe, 25C-NBOMe, AMT,

A millgram scale combined with volumetric liquid dosing is by far the safest way to measure a substance because most standard milligram scales alone cannot accurately weigh out doses below 10-15mg. Volumetric liquid dosing is the process of dissolving a compound in a liquid to make it easier to measure.