Available from Amazon



Tikhal was kind of a hodge-podge of essays by the Shulgins, unlike Pikhal which is very roughly chronological memoir of their lives. Also unlike Pikhal, Tikhal’s best parts are Ann’s chapters, though Sasha has a few great chapters too. All-in-all a good read, but long and at times dull while Sasha enumerates every location he’s ever found DMT. I would put this book as a supplemental reading instead of critical reading such as Pikhal. Though, the one chapter that stands out over the others was Ann’s experiences performing MDMA therapy which I feel is an instructional essay on the protocols for using MDMA in a therapeutic setting. She covers scripts, procedures for administration, privacy, harm reduction and so on, in story format. Quite excellent.



My next favorite chapter was also by Ann where she discusses where psychedelics and entactogens can take the user. Of these her description of the oceanic experience resonated with me most. The term implies the feeling of dissolution and integration with the outside world, related to ego death, but specifically the bliss of being one with the world.

Next item of note was the last section, where Sasha describes the political situation around drug use, and the draconic political measures done without input from the people on drug criminalization. As he puts it “Cui Bono?”; he analyzes who is the ultimate beneficiary of the war on drugs, because it’s not the populace, but the governmental agencies, prisons and pharmaceutical companies whose existence and profits depend on the enforcement of these barbaric laws. When considered that less than 1 percent of drugs smuggled into the country are caught, and the vast amount of expenditures, this war is really a superfluous government expenditure to reshuffle money into the hands of the powerful.



The life stories were fun to read, like the trip to Brazil and the Dr who charge 25g for sessions, or the mysterious Russian drug scientist that corresponded with Shulgin over the course of a few years.



A good book, but not one I’m clamouring to recommend unless you are a chemist, a therapist looking for a primer on MDMA therapy, or interested in essays on drug politics.