The 'Godfather Of Ecstasy' Dies At 88 -- And His Career Is Full Of Strange Surprises

Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, the inventor of more than 200 psychedelic compounds, died yesterday at 88. While Shulgin is best known for his work with the popular party drug Ecstasy (or MDMA), the anti-establishment scientist's past is full of surprises: He began studying mind-altering drugs with the backing of the giant multinational company Dow Chemical and was later granted a research license from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). From Pesticides To Psychedelics Shulgin, who claimed to hav...