In 1991, Alexander and Ann Shulgin published “Pihkal,” short for “Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved,” along with the chemical formulas and methods of manufacture for hundreds of new designer drugs. Since then, so-called “Research Chemicals” have taken off with a wild abandon, wriggling their way around drug enforcement laws and terrorizing the townsfolk. One of the more recently discovered research chemicals, NBOMe, has hit drug markets across the world in the last two years, killing at least 17 in America alone, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and prompting four major countries, including the U.S. and Russia, to outlaw it.

NBOMe, a common, albeit relatively unknown research chemical drug, first hit the markets in 2010 via online vendors and has since risen in popularity across the world, with millions of doses manufactured each year by the DEA estimate.

The drug is classified, according to Erowid, a non-profit organization dedicated to “documenting the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives,” as a psychedelic, a euphoriant, and a stimulant, meaning that users of the drug may experience a heightening of the senses, intense feelings of euphoria, ego loss and hallucinations. They may also experience nausea, paranoia, confusion and terror.

NBOMe, being potent and cheap, represents a more cost-efficient LSD substitute which is much simpler to make, and is commonly (and falsely) sold as LSD.

One major problem is that if a user believes their NBOMe to be LSD, they are more likely to overdose. While there is no confirmed case of a fatal LSD overdose in the drug’s 76-year history, according to Erowid, there have been at least 14 fatal NBOMe overdoses and three behavioral fatalities in America alone in less than two years, the DEA reports.

On Nov. 15, the DEA used emergency scheduling powers to ban NBOMe, which had previously resided in a legal gray area in America. The DEA website states that, as of November, NBOMe is a Schedule I controlled substance. NBOMe is also illegal in Israel, Russia and the United Kingdom, according to their respective government websites.

Very little professional research has been done on this substance, so the long-term effects on a user’s brain and body are yet unknown.

“After using [NBOMe] excessively I have developed flashbacks,” says Kevin, a Bay Area high school student whose name has been changed to protect his identity. “[NBOMe] flashbacks are pretty intense, much more so than acid [LSD]. [NBOMe] flashbacks can be rather frightening.”

Kevin, who estimates that he has used various NBOMe derivatives a total of 20 to 25 times, says that the NBOMe trip itself feels “dirtier” than an LSD trip.

“The visuals are slightly more intense than LSD, however the residual psychedelia is much more noticeable,” Kevin says.

Kevin says that he can feel NBOMe affecting him long after he comes down from the trip.

“[NBOMe has] made me view the world differently,” he says, “which can be good, and [NBOMe] has definitely made me more open to things and given me a better understanding of myself as a person. But it has also made me see the world in a darker light. Honestly, [NBOMe] has messed me up more than it has helped.”

Since both drugs are generally packaged onto blotter paper, it can be difficult to distinguish LSD from NBOMe. The only truly effective method of differentiation is taste. Erowid states that while real LSD should have no taste at all, NBOMe tastes bitter and acidic and, upon initial contact often produces a numbing sensation in the mouth.

NBOMe no longer exists in a gray area in America; it is simply illegal. However there remain countless chemicals on the gray market today that are being sold legally through head shops and online vendors across the world, most of which are poorly researched— and potentially quite dangerous.

In 1991, Alexander and Ann Shulgin published “Pihkal,” short for “Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved,” along with the chemical formulas and methods of manufacture for hundreds of new designer drugs. Since then, so-called “Research Chemicals” have taken off with a wild abandon, wriggling their way around drug enforcement laws and terrorizing the townsfolk. One of the more recently discovered research chemicals, NBOMe, has hit drug markets across the world in the last two years, killing at least 17 in America alone, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and prompting four major countries, including the U.S. and Russia, to outlaw it.

NBOMe, a common, albeit relatively unknown research chemical drug, first hit the markets in 2010 via online vendors and has since risen in popularity across the world, with millions of doses manufactured each year by the DEA estimate.

The drug is classified, according to Erowid, a non-profit organization dedicated to “documenting the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives,” as a psychedelic, a euphoriant, and a stimulant, meaning that users of the drug may experience a heightening of the senses, intense feelings of euphoria, ego loss and hallucinations. They may also experience nausea, paranoia, confusion and terror.

NBOMe, being potent and cheap, represents a more cost-efficient LSD substitute which is much simpler to make, and is commonly (and falsely) sold as LSD.

One major problem is that if a user believes their NBOMe to be LSD, they are more likely to overdose. While there is no confirmed case of a fatal LSD overdose in the drug’s 76-year history, according to Erowid, there have been at least 14 fatal NBOMe overdoses and three behavioral fatalities in America alone in less than two years, the DEA reports.

On Nov. 15, the DEA used emergency scheduling powers to ban NBOMe, which had previously resided in a legal gray area in America. The DEA website states that, as of November, NBOMe is a Schedule I controlled substance. NBOMe is also illegal in Israel, Russia and the United Kingdom, according to their respective government websites.

Very little professional research has been done on this substance, so the long-term effects on a user’s brain and body are yet unknown.

“After using [NBOMe] excessively I have developed flashbacks,” says Kevin, a Bay Area high school student whose name has been changed to protect his identity. “[NBOMe] flashbacks are pretty intense, much more so than acid [LSD]. [NBOMe] flashbacks can be rather frightening.”

Kevin, who estimates that he has used various NBOMe derivatives a total of 20 to 25 times, says that the NBOMe trip itself feels “dirtier” than an LSD trip.

“The visuals are slightly more intense than LSD, however the residual psychedelia is much more noticeable,” Kevin says.

Kevin says that he can feel NBOMe affecting him long after he comes down from the trip.

“[NBOMe has] made me view the world differently,” he says, “which can be good, and [NBOMe] has definitely made me more open to things and given me a better understanding of myself as a person. But it has also made me see the world in a darker light. Honestly, [NBOMe] has messed me up more than it has helped.”

Since both drugs are generally packaged onto blotter paper, it can be difficult to distinguish LSD from NBOMe. The only truly effective method of differentiation is taste. Erowid states that while real LSD should have no taste at all, NBOMe tastes bitter and acidic and, upon initial contact often produces a numbing sensation in the mouth.

NBOMe no longer exists in a gray area in America; it is simply illegal. However there remain countless chemicals on the gray market today that are being sold legally through head shops and online vendors across the world, most of which are poorly researched— and potentially quite dangerous.