Ann Shulgin Explained

Ann Shulgin
Pseudonym:Ann Perry
Birth Name:Laura Ann Gotlieb
Birth Date:22 March 1931
Birth Place:Wellington, New Zealand
Death Place:Lafayette, California
Occupation:Author
Nationality:American
Genres:-->
Subjects:-->
Notablework:-->
Partners:-->
Children:
  • Wendy Perry Tucker
  • Alice Garofalo
  • Brian Perry
  • Christopher McRee
[1]
Website:,

Laura Ann Shulgin (Gotlieb; March 22, 1931 – July 9, 2022)[2] was an American author and the wife of chemist Alexander Shulgin, with whom she wrote the books PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved) and TiHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved).[3]

Life and career

Laura Ann Gotlieb[4] was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to parents Bernard Gotlieb and Gwen Ormiston, but grew up in the village Opicina outside the Italian city Trieste. Her father was U.S. Consul in Trieste for six years before World War II.[5] [6] [4] Later in her childhood, she lived in the U.S., Cuba, and Canada. She studied art and became an artist, married an artist and had a child, and they later divorced. She had two more marriages ending in divorce and had three more children. Ann went back to work as a medical transcriber, and met Alexander ("Sasha") Shulgin in 1978; they were married on 4 July 1981 in their back yard.[4]

She worked as a lay therapist with psychedelic substances such as MDMA and 2C-B in therapeutic settings while these drugs were still legal.[7] In her writings she stressed the potential of these drugs from a Jungian psychoanalytic perspective, as well as their use in combination with hypnotherapy. She often appeared as a speaker at conventions and continued to advocate the use of psychedelics in therapeutic contexts.

Together with her husband she authored the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL. They developed a systematic way of ranking the effects of the various drugs, known as the Shulgin Rating Scale, with a vocabulary to describe the visual, auditory and physical sensations. She also contributed to the books Thanatos to Eros: 35 Years of Psychedelic Exploration, Entheogens and the Future of Religion, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide, The Secret Chief Revealed, Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics, and Manifesting Minds: A Review of Psychedelics in Science, Medicine, Sex, and Spirituality.

Shulgin said that she had more than 2,000 psychedelic experiences during her life. Her favorite psychedelic drug was 2C-B-FLY, which she found particularly enjoyable in terms of enhanced eroticism.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

According to her daughter, Shulgin had been in ill health because of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Shulgin died July 9, 2022, at her and her late husband's San Francisco Bay Area residence.[13]

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ann Shulgin, 91, Who Explored Psychedelics With Her Husband, Dies . The New York Times . 19 Jul 2022 . 22 Jul 2022.
  2. https://lucys-magazin.com/ruhe-in-frieden-ann-shulgin/ Ruhe in Frieden, Ann Shulgin
  3. News: Drugs added to banned lists. 12 August 1998. BBC Online. 27 September 2011.
  4. Web site: Ann Shulgin . Shulginresearch.org . 11 May 2016. Detailed biography of Ann Shulgin
  5. Web site: Shulgin. Ann. Erowid Character Vaults: Ann Shulgin Extended Biography. Erowid.org. 10 April 2013.
  6. Web site: shulginresearch.org at Directnic. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140629160718/http://www.shulginresearch.org/home/about/ann_shulgin/ . 29 June 2014 .
  7. News: Rodriguez . Olga R. . Ann Shulgin, pioneer of using ecstasy and other psychedelic drugs in therapy, dies . 14 July 2022 . The Los Angeles Times . 13 July 2022.
  8. Web site: Godfather of Ecstasy: Alexander Shulgin's Last Trip . High Times . 10 September 2014 . 15 November 2025.
  9. Web site: Kent . James . Remembering Psychedelic Chemist Alexander Shulgin . Psychedelic Spotlight . 17 June 2022 . 26 March 2025 . Ann and Sasha often experimented with psychedelics together, and shared their findings with their confidential research group. “Different people have different body types, so Sasha thought it was important to see how a drug reacts in all kinds of people.” When I ask Ann what Sasha’s favorite of his own chemicals is she knows immediately. “It would have to be 2C-B. He was always very proud of that one. He called it the Great Teacher. Although I preferred 2C-B-Fly a bit more.” But there are so many to choose from. DiPT, 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeO-DALT, Methylone, 2C-T-7, and this list goes on. Ann can’t say for sure how many trips they shared together, she just smiles and says, “We stopped counting at around two-thousand.” This is a mind-boggling number considering the total may actually be closer to four-thousand..
  10. Web site: Cooke . Justin . 2C-B-FLY: Is It The Best Psychedelic For Arousal & Sexual Intimacy? . Tripsitter . 1 July 2021 . 26 March 2025 . The overall sentiment for [2C-B-FLY] is that it’s one of the most enjoyable of the research psychedelics. Ann Shulgin — wife of Alexander Shulgin and co-author of the books TiHKAL and PiHKAL — once stated that 2C-B-FLY was one of her favorite psychedelics..
  11. Sarah Hufford . An Interview with Ann Shulgin on Psychedelics and Self-Discovery . MAPS Newsletter . 17 . 2 . 23–24 . 2007 . . In one recent case, I said often, too often, that something called 2CB Fly was absolutely great for me. To me, it’s the loveliest thing, especially for eroticism. But I found out that it’s not interesting to anybody else. I realized that having said that, I was putting things in motion. The Internet was full of 2CB Fly, and people were asking about it and I thought “uh-oh.” It turned out that it’s a disappointment to most other people. So if I say what my favorite psychedelics are, it’s almost meaningless for other people, because they have to find their allies very carefully..
  12. Connie Littlefield (director, writer), Siobhan Flanagan, Alexander Shulgin (subject), Ann Shulgin (subject), Paul F. Daley (subject), Myron Stolaroff (subject), Jean Stolaroff (subject), Wendy Perry Tucker (subject), Tania Manning (subject), Greg Manning (subject), Keeper Trout (subject), Earth and Fire Erowid, others . 2021 . Better Living Through Chemistry . https://tubitv.com/movies/100015889/better-living-through-chemistry . 21 September 2021 . Motion picture . English . Better Living Through Film, Incorporated . ~49:50.
  13. News: Rodriguez . Olga R. . July 12, 2022 . Ann Shulgin, pioneer of psychedelics in therapy, dies at 91 . en-US . Washington Post . 2022-07-12 . 0190-8286.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ann Shulgin".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2026, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.