12 September 2025
The Living Legacy of Sasha Shulgin
By: Wendy Tucker, Board Chair, Shulgin Foundation
MAPS Bulletin: Volume XXXIV
Standing in that beautiful old church in Denver, watching over 500 people gather to celebrate what would have been Sasha Shulgin’s 100th birthday, I felt the profound weight of legacy and the electric energy of possibility. The Kirk of Highland, with its stone walls and soaring ceilings, looked like a castle. It was so perfectly fitting for honoring a man whose curiosity had opened entirely new kingdoms of consciousness.
But this wasn’t just a memorial. As I looked out at the crowd I saw chemists and artists who’d traveled from around the world, therapists carrying forward my mother Ann’s work, researchers building on my stepfather Sasha’s foundations. I realized we were witnessing something essential: the living continuation of a lineage that runs directly from my stepfather’s laboratory to Rick Doblin’s vision for MAPS, and into a future where these medicines might finally serve healing on a global scale.
The timing was perfect, almost poetic. June 17, 2025, marked Sasha’s centennial to the exact day, and we celebrated with simultaneous gatherings: one intimate celebration at Shulgin Farm in Lafayette, California, with young chemists from 11 countries, and that magnificent tribute at the Kirk of Highland in Denver.
That’s why the Shulgin Foundation took such an unprecedented leadership role at Psychedelic Science 2025. This wasn’t about nostalgia or ceremony. As MDMA faces new regulatory challenges and the field grapples with commercialization versus community values, we stepped forward because the movement needs to remember not just what Sasha discovered, but how he discovered it, and why that approach matters more than ever.
The Thread That Changed Everything
When people ask me why the Shulgin Foundation matters to organizations like MAPS, I tell them a story. In the 1970s, Sasha didn’t just resynthesize MDMA; he approached it with the same meticulous care he brought to all his work. He self-assayed it carefully, documented its effects with scientific precision, and in 1977, he shared it with psychotherapist Leo Zeff.
Leo recognized something extraordinary. He postponed his retirement and began quietly training hundreds of therapists in MDMA’s use. For nearly a decade, this underground therapeutic network flourished, proving the compound’s remarkable healing potential.
But when MDMA spread beyond clinical settings into nightlife, backlash was inevitable. In 1985, the DEA placed it into Schedule I, effectively ending legal therapeutic use overnight. It was directly in response to this prohibition that Rick founded MAPS in 1986, with the explicit mission of bringing MDMA back to medicine through rigorous, FDA-approved clinical research.
The lineage is unmistakable: Sasha’s fearless exploration → Leo’s therapeutic vision → government prohibition → Rick’s determination to restore MDMA to legitimate medicine. Every breakthrough MAPS has achieved traces back to that moment when Sasha first decided to investigate a forgotten compound with characteristic scientific rigor and deep respect for its potential.
A Birthday Celebration Like No Other
Our Denver celebration perfectly captured this living lineage. I watched three generations of the psychedelic community come together. The evening began with an exhibition of visionary art before we all gathered in the sanctuary for the main event.
What followed was magical. Paul Stamets took the podium first, sharing a story about crossing an international border with Sasha for a conference. When customs asked about their destination, Paul nervously lied, saying they were attending a restaurant conference. Sasha scolded him: “Never be an apologist for your interest in psychedelics!” The audience erupted in knowing laughter. That was Sasha—never afraid to own who he was or what he did.
Rick Doblin echoed this theme of Sasha’s courage, noting how he would present human-subject data on psychedelics even in front of DEA officials. “It was one of the more heroic, in-the-lion’s-den moments I’ve ever seen,” Rick said.
Then Leonard Pickard took the stage. “First, a confession: I’m a drug dealer,” he drawled to whoops and cheers. Speaking slowly and quietly about his last phone call with Sasha from prison, Leonard captured something essential about Sasha’s poetic spirit. “The last thing he said: Where there are heavenly harmonies, there are heavenly harmonics.”
Zach Leary brought his own perspective, describing Sasha’s chemistry as “a bit like jazz” and sharing how, as a young man visiting the lab, Sasha had casually handed him a new 2C compound to try. “We spent the next several hours tripping—two or three too many, which we communicated back to him,” Zach laughed. He ended by pointing out that we really are the originators and keepers of this knowledge tradition, the founders of a diffuse but vital culture that began with Sasha, Leo, and others and continues to evolve across the globe.
Our Panel: Bridging Past and Future
Three days later, our panel, The Shulgin Legacy: From MDMA to Modern Medicine, drew over 250 people to a packed room, demonstrating the field’s hunger for the wisdom Ann and Sasha pioneered. Brad Burge moderated beautifully, weaving together insights from our distinguished speakers. Amy Emerson brought a crucial perspective from shepherding MDMA through FDA trials as former CEO of Lykos Therapeutics. She spoke about how the Shulgins’ systematic approach—combining rigorous chemistry with careful documentation of subjective effects—provides a model for modern research that we ignore at our peril.
Mariavittoria Mangini offered her deep knowledge of psychedelic culture and the therapeutic frameworks that continue informing best practices. She emphasized how Ann’s therapeutic insights remain vital guides as we scale these approaches.
I shared more personal perspectives on my parents’ work and our mission to preserve their legacy, not as museum pieces, but as living tools for today’s challenges. We examined the scientific innovation of their systematic approach, the enduring wisdom of Ann’s therapeutic frameworks, and the critical importance of community building during this period of rapid industry growth.
The room was electric with engagement. People stayed afterward, crowding around to ask questions, share their own stories, and make connections. As the formal discussion concluded, something beautiful happened that I’d never quite seen at other conference panels: all the speakers warmly embraced each other on stage. I’d witnessed similar shows of affection at other events, but this felt different. There’s something about the Shulgin tradition that is distinctly open, curious, inviting, and fully authentic, reflecting that quote from Sasha to Paul about never being an apologist. People still resonate deeply with their teachings, wisdom, and the container within which they did their work and built community.
It felt like those Friday night dinners at the farm, where chemists and therapists and artists would gather around our dining room table, sharing knowledge across disciplines.
Watch the panel on the Virtual Trip
The Notebooks That Moved People
Throughout the conference, our booth became an unexpected pilgrimage site. We launched the Sasha Shulgin Pharmacology Notebooks Project with Hurtwood Press, a collection of facsimile “new originals” of Sasha’s meticulous documentation. These are more than just beautiful artifacts; they’re reminders of how this work should be approached. Sasha’s notebooks include data, yes, but also poems, comics he found amusing, deeply personal reflections. They show us that rigorous science and human sensitivity have to be essential partners.
But it was the response that truly moved me. Many people sought us out, especially after the Kirk event and our panel, wanting deeper conversations about Ann and Sasha, eager to discuss their work in relation to the continuing legacy, and simply to commune with like-minded community. Seeing Sasha’s actual lab books was an added thrill that really bowled people over. At least two people said versions of “this is the coolest thing at the show.” Our lab pop-up drew crowds too, with many pictures taken.
These interactions reminded me why this preservation work matters so much. People hunger for authentic connection to this lineage, for ways to understand not just what the Shulgins discovered but how they approached the work itself.
Why This Work Is Essential
Meanwhile, at the Farm itself, something equally beautiful was happening. Sixty young chemists from around the world gathered for the “Sashacentennial”—hiking Mount Diablo, discussing future projects like “the journal of self-experimentation,” and holding presentations on chemistry, philosophy, and archiving. They performed pieces mentioned in PiHKAL and showcased impressive chemistry panels featuring researchers doing bench work with both traditional “Sashamines” and novel compounds.
These young scientists represent hope. They understand they’re not just following protocols but carrying forward a tradition of careful inquiry, ethical experimentation, and open sharing of knowledge.
That tradition matters because today’s psychedelic renaissance sometimes feels like it’s losing touch with these principles. We see companies racing to patent naturally occurring compounds, researchers reluctant to discuss their own experiences, and a focus on pathology rather than human potential. The Shulgins never patented their discoveries. Instead, they published detailed syntheses in PiHKAL and TiHKAL as gifts to the world.
Building the Bridges We Need
The Shulgin Foundation’s leadership at Psychedelic Science 2025 wasn’t about claiming credit or dwelling on the past. We wanted to build bridges across a community that sometimes feels fractured—clinical practitioners separated from research chemists, therapists isolated from policy advocates, newcomers unable to access experienced mentors’ wisdom. Our events brought together luminaries like Alex and Allyson Grey, Maria Mangini, and many others alongside emerging researchers. As Leo Zeff taught Rick during their work together, effective advocacy means building bridges, not burning them.
As we transform Shulgin Farm into a center for psychedelic education and community, we’re creating permanent space for this bridge-building work. I envision chemistry lessons in Sasha’s preserved laboratory, therapeutic training using Ann’s frameworks, difficult conversations happening in the neutral, welcoming space they created.
Our Seed Crystal Steward Campaign embodies this community approach. Rather than depending on a few wealthy individuals, we’re inviting everyone to become stakeholders. Each contribution, like a seed crystal in supersaturated solution, enables something beautiful to emerge.
Rick Doblin founded MAPS to bring Sasha’s rediscovered compound back to legitimate medicine. Today, the Shulgin Foundation continues that mission by preserving and sharing the methodologies, ethics, and community spirit that can guide the psychedelic renaissance toward its highest potential. The thread that began in Sasha’s laboratory runs through MAPS’ clinical trials and extends into a future where these medicines serve healing and human flourishing on a global scale.
To learn more about Shulgin Foundation and join our community, visit shulginfoundation.org.
Wendy Tucker
Wendy Tucker is Ann Shulgin’s daughter. She worked for many years with Sasha, doing research, working with him in the lab, and running Transform Press. She is an artist like her mother, husband, and daughter, owns Transform Press, and manages a chiropractic office. She has spearheaded the effort to preserve the farm, the home of Sasha and Ann and the location of the historic lab, and has created the nonprofit Shulgin Foundation.
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