Naval Intelligence, MKUltra and the Hippie Movement

[Jan Klimkowski]

I don't know what STP was,only that people in the Bay Area were freaking out because it was a 3 day trip.

STP was the street-name for MDMA I believe, or maybe MDA or a related molecule. They used the logo for STP motor oil on t-shirts as a sort in-the-know cult identification symbol. People learned it was a kind of methedrine and it came under the rubrick of "Speed Kills" in the underground press. My memory is hazy and uncertain, and all I know for sure is that I cannot deny that everyone might be walking on the moon.

Helen - an alternative identification of STP.

This one is from the site Keith Millea kindly linked to.

DOM Timeline
by Erowid
1964 DOM is first synthesizes by Alexander Shulgin.
1967 DOM (STP) first appears on the street in San Francisco, sometimes being confused with LSD and causing problems due to its long duration. 1
Jan 14, 1967 Human Be-In in San Francisco is attended by 20,000. 5,000 doses of DOM (STP) were distributed for free, unfortunately, they were distributed in approximately 10-15 mg doses, 5-10 times higher than Shulgin had recommended. 2 [Details]
Apr 2, 1968 DOM (STP) was placed under DACA control in the United States, making it illegal to possess, sell, or manufacture except for personal use. 3
Sep 21, 1973 DOM is placed in Schedule I of the CSA in the U.S. making it illegal to buy, sell, or possess. 4



References
Lee MA, Shlain B. Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD and the Sixties Rebellion. Grove, 1985.
Bureau of Drug Abuse Control. Micro-Gram. Nov 1967;1(1):1-2. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Microgram. May 1968;1(8):2.
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. MicroGram. Apr 1968;1(7):1.
38 FR 26447

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/dom/dom_timeline.php

The identification is made by a clearly pharmacologically experienced individual with a chemist's knowledge of the molecular structure:

One could predict that it could have been, theoretically, a totally inactive compound and maybe an effective blocker for whatever receptor sites are being occupied by other psychoactive drugs and even for strange things that some unbalanced people might actually make within their bodies, using their own personal chemistry. On the other hand, it could have been a potent psychedelic in its own rights, and if so, probably long lived. The latter "could have been" proved to be so.

The very modest amount of study of the individual optical isomers clearly indicates that the "R" isomer is the more active. The sparse comments suggest that some of the heavier physical aspects of the racemate might be due to contributions from the "inactive" "S" isomer. It is, after all, the "S" isomer of amphetamine that carries the major punch of that stimulant. Maybe if that isomer were removed, and one were to explore the pure "R" isomer of DOM, the dramatic visual aspects of the larger dosages might not be complicated with a troublesome physical component.

This compound, unbeknownst to me, was scattered widely and plentifully in the heyday of the Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, in mid-1967. It was distributed under the name STP, which was said to stand for Serenity, Tranquility, and Peace. It was also claimed to represent Super Terrific Psychedelic, or Stop The Police. The police called it: Too Stupid to Puke. Actually, the name was taken from the initials of a motor additive which was completely unrelated chemically. Incredibly, and sadly, one of the avowed experts in the area of the "sensuous drugs" actually stated that STP, the motor oil additive, was really one and the same as STP, the highly dangerous psychedelic. The motor oil additive, he wrote in a book of his, had properties somewhat related to those of LSD, mescaline, and the amphetamines. How fortunate that the love children of the time didn't do much reading, for they might have gotten into yet deeper pharmacological troubles with drug raids on the local gasoline stations.

Two complications became apparent during this first appearance and they led to serious difficulties. One, there was no equation made between STP and DOM. No one knew what this drug was which had been distributed in a cavalier way throughout the city. There could be no educated guess as to the best treatment of overdose emergencies. And secondly, the initial tablets that had been distributed apparently contained 20 milligrams of DOM per tablet; later, it was dropped to 10 milligrams. Either of these, in retrospect, is now known to be a thoroughly whopping dose. The overdose situation was aggravated by the slow onset of DOM. The user may be aware of some initial effects at the half-hour point, there will be what might be called a + or ++ at the end of the first hour, and the full impact of the drug is not appreciated until some two hours have elapsed. But many of the recipients of the free handouts of DOM were familiar with LSD which can show its alert in 15 to 20 minutes, or even sooner with a large dose, and there is already a deep and compelling intoxication felt at the half-hour point. They, quite reasonably, expected this familiar activity pattern with STP and assumed, when there was little if any activity noted at the half-hour point, that the potency was less than expected. They took one or even two additional dosage units. Thus, some of the overdose victims of that period may well have taken as much as 30 mg of DOM. The slow onset of action, coupled with the remarkably long duration, caught many innocent users unprepared.

Clinical studies have documented the rapid tolerance development from repeated exposures to DOM. Five volunteers were given 6 milligrams daily for three days. Objectively, psychological tests showed a decrease in responses. Subjectively, all found extremely intense effects on the first day, and all but one found it unpleasant. By the third exposure on the third day, all had diminished responses, ranging from only "moderately strong" to "felt absolutely nothing." One actually slept during the experience on the third day.

The hexadeutero-analogue (deuterium atoms on the two methoxyl groups) has been prepared as an internal standard for analytical work, but there are no reports of its human pharmacology. A study with this sort of derivative would be a fine companion to the studies already underway with the mescaline analogues that are similarly substituted. A difference exists, however. With mescaline, it is believed that the loss of a methoxyl group is a step towards the inactivation of the compound, whereas with DOM this loss may be associated with the formation of an active metabolite. The several fascinating questions raised by possible differences in both the rates and the degree of demethylation of these two compounds are well worth trying to answer.

A number of compounds related to DOM had been synthesized and studied at the University of California at San Francisco, at about this time. Two of these were simply the juggling of the two methoxyl groups and the methyl group on the ring, still maintaining the 2,4,5-ness relative to the amphetamine chain. These are 2,4-dimethoxy-5-methylamphetamine and 4,5-dimethoxy-2-methylamphetamine. Since the slang name for DOM in and about the medical center was STP, and since STP was the name of a motor oil additive, it is not unreasonable that the first of these to be synthesized, the 2,4-dimethoxy-5-methyl isomer, was referred to by the name of another motor oil additive popular at that time, F-310. The Vilsmeier reaction between 2,4-dimethoxytoluene and the Vilsmeier complex of POCl3 and N-methylformanilide gave the benzaldehyde (mp 117-118 °C) with a yellow malononitrile derivative from EtOH with a mp of 193-194 °C. The nitrostyrene from this and nitroethane formed yellow crystals from CH3CN, with a mp 138-139 °C. The amine formed easily with LAH in ether, and the product F-310 (or 5-DOM) gave white crystals from CH3CN with a mp of 182-183 °C.

And the other isomer, the 4,5-dimethoxy-2-methyl counterpart, became known familiarly as F-320, or sometimes simply 2-DOM. Its preparation followed an identical procedure, starting from 3,4-dimethoxytoluene. I have been told that F-310 is not active even at 20 milligrams in man, which would make it several times less potent than DOM (STP). I know of no trials with F-320. The use of the letter RFS does not imply any relationship between these two compounds and the series described elsewhere with the RFS code followed by other numbers, such as F-2 and F-22. These latter are F's because they are furans, not motor oil additives. And yet another oil additive, well known at the time as Z-7, became associated with the synthesis of the DOM (STP) isomer with its groups in the 2,4,6-positions. This is entered separately under gamma-DOM.

http://www.erowid.org/library/books_onli...l068.shtml

The link also contains detailed descriptions of the chemistry and of the effects. Here are a couple of very interesting observations from the author/user:

There is an eerie feeling overall.

(with 2.3 mg) Mood elevation at 2-3 hrs. After 3 hours, emotional effects become more pronounced, enhancement of color also. Very little distortion of perception, no disorientation, no creeping or flowing, but color enhancement considerable. The emotional content and empathy for others was closer to mescaline than to amphetamine, a welcome change.

......

Then at the fourth hour, it went totally outside of me. I saw the clouds towards the west. THE CLOUDS!!! No visual experience has ever been like this. The meaning of color has just changed completely, there are pulsations, and pastels are extremely pastel. And now the oranges are coming into play. It is a beautiful experience. Of all past joys, LSD, mescaline, cannabis, peyote, this ranks number one. Normally I have no color effects with mescaline. A dynamic experience. Feels good, too.

(with 5 mg) There was the magnification of light, color and odors. It was all very pleasant and beautiful, except that I had an overwhelmingly negative feeling. This at times grew to considerable intensity, and I feel it was clearly due to anger. At times the negativity disappeared completely, and I broke into the most enjoyable, even hilarious experiences. I alternated about 50-50 between joy and discomfort. As the evening drew on, I became withdrawn and pensive. It seemed clear that I had made all the wrong decisions--choice of partner, place to live, isolation, no meaningful activity. The greatest shocker was that my practice of meditation, which is one of my central focuses, and which I thought had brought me much peace and understanding, seemed to be a delusional solution to my unhappiness and isolation. The experience continued unabated throughout the night with much tension and discomfort. I was unable to get any sleep. I hallucinated quite freely during the night, but could stop them at will. While I never felt threatened, I felt I knew what it was like to look across the brink to insanity.

...

(with 10 mg) If on this page I shall have expressed it to you then it is true that DOM has the glory and the doom sealed up in it. All that's needed to unseal it is to surround it with a warm living human for a few hours. For that human for those hours all the dark things are made clear.

DOM has the glory and the doom sealed up in it.

Set and setting.

Let me open your eyes.

It seems a trusted and charismatic figure could lead his people to a fake and grisly epiphany with a little STP....