Editorial Cite This: ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 2286−2286
pubs.acs.org/chemneuro
Welcome to the DARK Side: DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience
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rugs of abuse have shaped human history for centuries. From opium dens in China during the 1800s to the cocaine and PCP crises of 1960s and 1970s to the current opioid and methamphetamine epidemics, society has struggled with approaches to combat illicit drugs. How many talented actors and musicians were lost due to drugs and alcohol? Hundredsboth including and beyond the “27 club”. No other topic has been so popularized in television, movies, and music than drugs of abuse. How many families have been destroyed during the current opioid epidemic alone? Thousandsand with no end in sight, despite significant attention from the government. For a scientist interested in the chemistry, pharmacology, and disposition of drugs of abuse, there are volumes of data regarding all of the illicit drugs, but they are often difficult to find and from disparate sources. Based on the impact of the “Classics in Chemical Neuroscience” series,1 we expanded this to a special issue on “DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience,”2 wherein the major illicit drugs are extensively reviewed, covering not only their chemistry (both industrial/ pharmaceutical and clandestine), pharmacology, and disposition, but also delving into historical and cultural aspects of each drug. There is no single source to find these data. I am so excited and proud of this content! In this issue, there are indepth, holistic reviews on LSD, PCP, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, morphine, fentanyl, mescaline, psilocybin, ibogaine, MDMA, DMT, opium, and others. In addition, there is a terrific and highly comprehensive review on strategies and tactics for psychoactive drug production. This will truly be a special issue to be read cover-to-cover! The intent of this issue is to inform the scientific communitymany of these are true drug discovery campaigns that overcame tremendous hurdlesfull of lessons for chemists, pharmacologists, and disposition scientists. The compounds reviewed are scheduledillegal to synthesize and/or possess. For further details on drug scheduling, please visit the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Website.3 In addition to this very special issue, all of these papers will be added to a new virtual “DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience” issue, and additional DARK Classic reviews will be published in both regular issues and added to the virtual issuemore submissions wanted!!! I hope you find these reviews as interesting and illuminating as I have, and that data/ lessons contained herein impact your science moving forward, and frame the societal issues accompanied by illicit drug abuse.
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REFERENCES
(1) Tyler, M. W., Zaldivar-Diez, J., and Haggarty, S. J. (2017) Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Haloperidol. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 8, 444−453. (2) Lindsley, C. W. (2017) Call for Papers: DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 8, 1812. (3) For information see: https://www.dea.gov/.
Craig W. Lindsley, Editor-in-Chief AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
Craig W. Lindsley: 0000-0003-0168-1445 Notes
Special Issue: DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS. © 2018 American Chemical Society
Published: October 17, 2018 2286
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00528 ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 2286−2286
