The Use and Effects of 2C-B

If you enter any club in the UK, some of the drugs that you are surely going to come across include MDMA, ketamine, coke, and 2C-B. While the first three drugs are common to partygoers and clubbers in the country, 2C-B is a bit new to many people. This article aims to create some awareness about this drug and how it functions.

2C-B was first produced in 1974 by Alexander Shulgin. Alexander Shulgin’s name will ring a bell if you are conversant with drugs used in mental health care. He was the one that popularized the use of MDMA in psychology. However, when 2C-B was synthesized, it was used as a therapeutic aid before the German drug company, Drittewelle, started selling the drugs as an aphrodisiac Erox. In 1985, when the use of MDMA was criminalized in the United States, 2C-B became the substitute for ecstasy for a short period. The drug also made waves in Dutch smart shops as it was sold under the name, Nexus. It is possible that many of the 2C-B that has found its way into Britain (where its use and possession is illegal) today came from these Dutch smart shops as they are made in Dutch labs.

For many years, the existence of the 2C-B drug was known to very few people who were psychedelic connoisseurs. The drug only got popular due to drug message boards on social media platforms such as Reddit getting popular and thousands of people follow and subscribe to the content of these boards. The spread of the knowledge has led many dealers to go onto the dark web where they sell and buy it to users.

Its popularity and impact can be seen in the result of a 2018 drug survey where about 7% of the respondents claimed that they have used the drug before. 2C-B also made its way into the lyrics of popular rapper, Kanye West on his track Yikes.

While the people in this generation unarguably have more access to drugs than the generation before, the knowledge of harm reduction is high and the effects of hangovers after drug use are made tenable by the work culture that revolves around freelancing, remote working, and weekend shifts.

People who use 2C-B claim that it has some serious advantages over the other types of drugs. It doesn’t reduce the level of serotonin in the body. Serotonin is the hormone that tells the body to be happy. 2C-B mimics the hormone the same way that certain antidepressants do and this means certain side effects are unlikely after prolonged use of the drug. These side effects include exhaustion, sad thoughts, and neurotoxicity.

Also, users claim that the body’s tolerance to the drug resets within 48 hours unlike other drugs such as MDMA. While this claim has not been substantiated by research, it means that 2C-B users are unlikely to start chasing diminishing highs after using the drug for some time. One of the users, Mo, mentioned that the drug doesn’t affect him cognitively. He said that the physical sensation that comes with using the drug can make a person nauseous and uncomfortable at times, and this can be mitigated by using either avoiding high doses, using the drug on an empty stomach, or taking little amounts of alcohol beforehand.

2C-B is available in pills and powdery form. While the drug has a reputation for being one of the hardest to snort, some people snort it and claim that snorting works faster and hits harder than taking pills. However, its effects also fade quicker.

It is not all roses with 2C-B. Like other hallucinogens, there are undercurrents of paranoia among users. Also, the drugs affect the central nervous system and the heart rate of users. There have also been reports of severe headaches after using large doses of the drug. By watching some users, it is clear that there is a possibility of heatstroke after using 2C-B so users must stay hydrated after using the drug.

There has also been a report of a serious brain injury to a woman who used 2C-B, however, the dosage and purity of the drug used were unknown. Also, there is no way of identifying what a lethal dose of 2C-B looks like, users and enthusiasts on Reddit have been reported to have used hundreds of milligrams of the drug without any life-threatening symptoms. Some reported having experienced HPPD, which stands for hallucinogen persisting perception disorder. This means that they felt the effect of the drug long after it left their body system.

However, to be on the safer side, 15 milligrams of 2C-B can be considered intense while over 25 milligrams can be labeled as frightening.

It is important to state that while 2C-B and 2C-P are drugs of the same family, there are not the same, nor do they function the same way. 2C-P is a more dangerous drug and was implicated in the death of Louella Fletcher Michie who died at Bestival in 2017. It also has a long history of overdoses that dates back to the 1990s, although Louella’s death was the first recorded instance.

It is largely available on the internet as a research chemical but people buy the drug for use on the darknet from a sole dealer. For more details on psychedelics and how they affect the human body, check out Moonhaus. You can also get quality psychedelics from the Moonhaus collection here.