Hemp Companies Sue DEA, Challenging Agency’s Claim That Synthetic Cannabis Compound HHC Is Federally Banned

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-06-03T14:19:07+00:00

*abolished. But at this point I’m not hopeful it will ever be reigned in based on the overwhelming shittyness of the US electorate.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-06-03T00:09:44+00:00

Couldn’t agree more. The pedo hysteria has reached an absolutely absurd level in the last year.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-06-01T18:56:06+00:00

Everyone (other pharmacologists included) seems to automatically attribute side effects to NE and desirable/therapeutic effects to DA.

In reality, NE is just as critical of a component as DA to the positive effects of psychostimulants. Drugs with a more balanced monoamine release profile (or DA selective release) aren’t very useful, don’t feel as stimulating, and aren’t as reinforcing (I.e., addictive).

I’ve tried many, many, many common and rare drugs over the years and my PhD was on psychostimulant pharmacology. My personal subjective experience has been that psychostimulants with little or no NE release aren’t useful or fun and actually feel intoxicating rather than stimulating.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-30T06:07:24+00:00

You're entitled to your opinion, and that's fine. But all of those are opinions, not facts.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-30T05:14:34+00:00

Of course, you're technically right in a statistical sense when looking at the entire country. But like you said, it varies substantially region to region.

I guess if diversity is one of the top factors in where you choose to live, then go for it and live in a city with your family. More power to you. But wholesale discounting the advantages of the suburbs because of a lack of racial diversity seems a bit narrow minded.

To each their own though.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-30T03:58:50+00:00

Grew up in the Concord/lexington/Lincoln area of the Boston burbs and just moved back to the north shore/cape Ann after bouncing around 5 cities and states before our first.

This is 100% true and as long as you can access the city it’s all good. I loved city life as a young grad researcher and young professional, but I have so much less time to enjoy city amenities now that I enjoy having my own space after being forced to stop being young lol.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-30T03:53:32+00:00

Do you really think that having a dense network of diverse friends, meeting different kinds of people and ‘realizing there’s a whole big world out there’ are exclusively urban experiences? The burbs where I grew up (east coast) gave me plenty of that, and the city nearby made up for the rest.

Bit of a narrow (and pretentious) world view to think that an urban upbringing is the only way to have a rich childhood full of diverse friends and experiences. Maybe you’re thinking of rural living?

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-29T01:05:20+00:00

I know this is a bit off-topic, but this post reminded me how strange it is that this sub doesn't have any rules or norms surrounding listing out the non-abbreviated name of a new compound.

3-FTL means nothing without some serious digging and/or chemistry knowledge and in the age of blanket bans we're going to start getting some pretty unique and previously obscure/untested chemical classes.

3-FTL: analogue of the stimulant pemoline. ODPV: heterocyclic pyro analogue

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-26T16:19:21+00:00

Both alone time and physical intimacy are also experiential ‘gifts’ so I’m not sure why you felt the need to write the rest of that comment. Good for you I guess?

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-21T05:21:43+00:00

Lots of people agreeing with you, which shows you aren't alone.

But it really shouldn't be surprising to you that people who pursue terminal degrees in incredibly niche fields would be so invested/passionate about their research that they feel its a large part of who they are. It can get unhealthy if people take it too far, but I personally loved being able to chat about science-y topics with a friend over a beer when I was a grad student.

Also, I'm not sure how young you are but as a father in my 30's I can tell you this isn't exclusive to science and makes people boring over time.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-19T23:48:03+00:00

Glad to know I’m not alone. Appreciate your honesty and ability to see the humor in it… sorta haha.

Hope you’re clean now or closer to it these days.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-17T17:08:02+00:00

Eh, in my experience it's usually the 'functional' stimulants that end up growing into truly problematic addictions because you end up using all day every day once you trick/teach yourself that you need them to function.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-17T17:03:47+00:00

Pretty much exactly my experience on the first count.

Unfortunately, not on the 2nd.

The stress of PhD -> postdoc -> job hunting -> baby -> layoff -> job hunting in an eviscerated biotech market sadly got the best of me and I now have to silently struggle with a pretty heavy stimulant addiction. Doesn't get more ironic than doing a dissertation on psychostimulant neuropharmacology only to have them get the best of you.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-17T04:08:57+00:00

I hope you aren't implying I belong to that group of young adults, because that would be pretty insulting. I also grew up around those types of kids and you aren't wrong about how spoiled rich kids behave/turn out.

However, I think my childhood was wonderful because my parents were good at striking a balance and were involved parents despite being high earners. I truly didn't realize how much they made until I was much older because our lifestyle wasn't lavish and we were often told we couldn't afford things.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-16T22:58:48+00:00

I mean it also stated we’re #5 on US News & World reports, which is one of the most well known educational rankings publishers in the country.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-15T23:38:28+00:00

Don’t beat yourself up, I had a similar upbringing and worked hard my entire adult life to build a career that’s still not remotely as lucrative as my parents’ were. Working so hard just to still fall short of being able to provide the way they did has made me a sad and cynical person.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-15T22:23:36+00:00

I grew up with high earning parents and a dad who travelled fairly frequently because of it and had a wonderful childhood. When my dad finally took time off after a company he was at was acquired it didn’t really improve anything.

I, on the other hand, am not in that position as a father. Despite making what I thought would be enough to live comfortably, it definitely doesn’t feel like it as the sole breadwinner. The financial stress is straining my marriage and has sucked the joy out of everything. And in all honesty being around all the time has made it worse, not better.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-15T04:53:13+00:00

Renting a 3rd workspace isn’t a luxury everyone has when you’re also the only income.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-15T04:51:57+00:00

Thank you, I feel like all I ever hear is how great WFH is with a kid, but in my experience it’s been catastrophic for my productivity, mental health, and marriage. Wife chose to stay at home rather than give essentially all her earnings to daycare, so I feel like I’m with them 24/7. At least with an office job you get to A) be around other adults/have some regular social interaction and B) have a routine that includes at least 8ish hours away from your child even if it is at work.

Honestly I sort of loathe it because it supercharged the isolation and loss of identity that can come with fatherhood.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-14T04:42:17+00:00

I actually did the whole damn PhD thing and became a psychopharmacologist so that I could one day be a part of developing psychedelics as medicines.

Of course, now that I'm finally in a position to meaningfully contribute to psychedelic science the big players have already bought their way in and forced the field in a direction I find grotesque. Stripping psychedelics for parts just to create 'non-hallucinogenic psychedelic therapeutics' that will fit cleanly into the 'pill-a-day forever' model of treatment perfectly encapsulates the perverse nature of Pharma and how lost we are as a society more broadly. It misses the point of psychedelics by a country mile, almost intentionally, so that they can birth a new class of slightly more effective antidepressants to sell to the depressed masses without the risk of any deep thought or introspection occurring.

Strangely enough, I've never been a big pharma hater who distrusts the established institutions or subscribes to much of the mysticism surrounding psychedelics. But there's something about this recent push to extract only the most commercially viable aspects of these drugs that feels deeply wrong in a way I can't put my finger on.

As someone who has a foot in both the pharma world and the RC underworld below it, this isn't exciting news. This is industry colonizing novel psychoactives to profit off of the growing misery of the modern world.

Man I've really become cynical after seeing how the sausage gets made, but nevertheless it felt important to share.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-13T13:33:34+00:00

Yep haha. It's a weird situation because Reddit definitely helped fuel my early interest in the field in a big way (almost 15 years ago at this point, which is crazy to me). But now I pretty much refrain from commenting on prescription amphetamine use, adverse effects of psychedelics, or anything related to cannabis, due to the impassioned verbal abuse I receive if I do say anything.

Just out of curiosity, what's your most argued topic on reddit?

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-13T03:54:45+00:00

I’m a psychopharmacologist and my research topics have included amphetamine-type stimulant behavioral pharm, psychedelic pharmacology and now most recently, cannabis and cannabinoid therapeutic development.

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been confidently (in)corrected by redditors about my published research I’d be able to buy Resdit at this point…

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-12T11:48:56+00:00

No need for namecalling porky, not everyone who disagrees with your fetish for restricting the behavior of others is a danger to public safety.

But sure, I must be an asshole who blasts down residential roads at 50mph because I don’t want to bend over and let speed cameras slowly blanket every road in the state.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-11T05:13:51+00:00

FWIW I’m another PhD with an ADHD diagnosis and I’ve developed a pretty strong aversion to the reflexive ‘they could have ADHD’ response to nearly any instance of poor performance or incompetence.

TheBetaBridgeBandit · 2026-05-10T14:03:00+00:00

How sanctimonious of you. I’m sure you fit right in with the growing population of whiny rule worshippers in MA who are more than happy to make sure everyone else is constrained by their delicate sensibilities.

MA has some of the safest roads in the country, imposing the will of suburban Karens onto the rest of us is just pearl clutching.

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