I am in debt to Bill, who provided most of the information in this section.
Nexus was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in the 1970s in California.
Nexus is illegal in the USA. Nexus was temporarily declared a "schedule 1 controlled substance" in 1994 and this was confirmed in 1995. Schedule 1 is most illegal that a substance can be. It means that it has no known medical use, high abuse potential, is considered dangerous to use and is generally unclean and verboten.
Ecstasy which is statistically safer than taking an airoplane flight, is schedule one. LSD, which has little or no addictive potential is also schedule one. Alcohol, which causes enormous social problems and violence, is legal. Tobacco, which is highly addictive and kills around half of it's long term users, is legal. That's drug policy for you.
"This final rule is issued by the
Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
to place 4-bromo- 2,5-Diethoxyphenethylamine (4-bromo-2,5-DMPEA)
into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This
action is based on findings made by the Deputy Administrator of
the DEA, after review and evaluation of the relevant data by both
DEA and the Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health
and Human Services, that 4-bromo-2,5-DMPEA meets the statutory
criteria for inclusion in Schedule I of the CSA. Since this
substance has been temporarily placed in Schedule I, the
regulatory controls and criminal sanctions of Schedule I will
continue to be applicable to the manufacture, distribution,
importation, exportation and possession of 4-bromo-2,5-DMPEA.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 2, 1995."
- US
DEA
"The DEA first encountered
4-bromo-2,5-DMPEA in 1979. Since that time, several exhibits of
4-bromo-2,5-DMPEA have been analyzed by Federal and state
forensic laboratories in Arizona, ---- page 28719 ----
California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon,
Pennsylvania and Texas. Clandestine laboratories producing 4-
bromo-2,5-DMPEA were seized in California in 1986 and 1994 and in
Arizona in 1992. It has been represented as
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and has been sold in
adulterated sugar cubes as LSD. 4-Bromo-2,5-DMPEA has been
promoted as an aphrodisiac and distributed under the product name
of Nexus. DEA has seized several thousand dosage units of this
product."
- US
DEA
"They got wind of it in 1994. What happened apparently was that Drittewelle had a very irresponsible person doing the marketing in the USA (Florida) - for example he was setting up slot-machines in night clubs in which you could stick your money and get out a pack of Nexus.
But the thing that blew it apparently was some old geriatric fart went into a sex shop and bought a pack there. ( At that point Drittewelle was marketing the product in 10mg capsules - they later went down to 5mg caps and then 5mg tabs). Anyway, the way the story goes is that this codger reckoned that his impotency was so extreme that he obviously needed quite a few to do the trick.
Well, as you can imagine, he got himself extremely spaced and the next day phoned the FDA to complain about what was available over the counter. They started an investigation and eventually busted the importer/marketer, but they couldn't prosecute him because it wasn't illegal. So they very quickly got 2C-B made illegal - and then proceeded to try and lean on everyone else in the world to do likewise, South Africa included. Yankee doodle d*******s.""Back on the subject of 2C-B, it might interest you to know that they were fully legal in Holland up until about two months ago (June - July 1997), when, under pressure from America's DEA, the Dutch authorities finally banned it. It had become hugely popular since they were introduced for commercial, over-the-counter sale by various commercial companies there from the beginning of last year (1996). 2C-B still remains legal in various countries (in September 1997), such as Belgium, Spain and various eastern European countries.
When 2C-B finally got banned, it had apparently began to eclipse psilocybin mushrooms in popularity. As you probably know, it is still possible to buy these mushrooms over the counter in Holland, though the authorities are under a great deal of pressure at the moment to now ban their sale.
The nickname used for the 2C-B tablets when
they were available in Holland was `see-bietjies', which is a
play on the letters `C-B' and translated from the Dutch means
`sea-biscuits'. I imagine that much of the 2C-B that has been
available in South Africa up untll recently, came directly from
Holland. (So the Drittewelle product was certainly not the only
one being sold and used here.)"
- Bill
"... a one-time German-based company called Drittewelle (which once manufactured 2C-B under the tradename `Nexus')."
"they are a fully legal company now based in Spain.
The were originally founded and based in Germany, but moved their
offices to Spain after the German authorities outlawed the sale
of 2C-B."
- Bill
"Nexus" was Drittewelle's marketing name for 2CB, when they were selling it as an aphrodisiac. It has also found it's way onto the on black market.
The
Drittewelle logo represents three breaking waves (hence the name
Drittewelle which means "Third Wave" in German). Some
people have noticed that the logo also seems to represent three
intertwined sixes.
- Bill
"Drittewelle has gone through a variety of ways of
packaging their product. First it was yellow capsules, then
purple tablets, and finally very small white tablets. Due to the
one-time tie up between Inkwazi and Drittewelle, the product
`Ubulawu Nomathotholo' came, at various times, in all three
forms."
- Bill
The text on the original Drittewelle packaging is given below. This is for the original 10mg yellow capsules. Check out the bit where they say that there is a side effect of "disturbances in the visual field" if the recommended dose of one capsule (10mg) is exceeded.
NEXUS (R)Clinical studies carried out in Germany have shown
that cathinine - the active ingredient of NEXUS -
can be effective in temporarily alleviating impotence,
frigidity and diminished libido. The effects of NEXUS last up to 4-6
hours after ingestion. The recommended dose is one
capsule taken on an empty stomach about an hour preceding
the start of physical intimacy. Since the effectiveness
of cathinine will diminish if used too frequently, it is
advisable to take NEXUS no more than
once a week. |
| On the other side: Drittewelle Supplied under licence from
Drittewelle, Leipzig |
The text is somwhat misleading. 2CB is not the main ingredient in khat. Nor is it usually extracted from khat.
"certainly Drittewelle were obviously endeavouring to represent Nexus as having an organic background. The facts of the matter are that khat has many different interacting alkaloids, one of them being something called cathinine (2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine), which is not terribly psychoactive on its own, but when brominated into 4-bromo- dimethoxy phenethylamine, aka 2C-B, it becomes a very different animal.
The main psychoactive ingredient of khat is something
called cathine (norpseudoephedrine) which is now manufactured in
the laboratory and is the main ingredient of a wide range of over
the counter diet pills, like Thinz."
- Bill
Nexus was legally sold in Southern Africa from 1993 to early 1996. It was marketed as medicine for Sangomas under the name "Ubulawu Nomathotholo".
"There seems to be a lot of confusion
about this one (if Nexus is illegal in the South Africa), but a
new Parliamentary bill presently in the pipeline will undoubtedly
outlaw it and many other newly discovered entheogens."
- Bill
Sangoma is Xhosa word which is usually translated as "traditional healer". It's the African version of "shaman" or "medicine man" I suppose. However Sangomas are still a vital part of Southern African culture and are a popular alternative to Western medicine. In the bad old days a Sangoma would have been called in English a "witchdoctor". A more precise definition is `A traditional African healer who utilizes plant medicines and visionary states of consciousness to treat and heal people.'
"Ubulawu Nomathotholo was once available
from Maseru, Lesotho and the name is Xhosa for "medicine of
the singing ancestors". In the Xhosa shamanic tradition it
was believed that when the Sangoma went into a trance, the
spirits would perch on the roof beams of the hut and sing songs
of knowledge down to the Sangoma. "
- Bill
"It was never manufactured here, but rather in a country in Europe . A Lesotho-based herbal-remedy company called Inkwazi did a tie up with Drittewelle.
Inkwazi distributed Drittewelle's product
locally under the tradename Ubulawu Nomathotholo. It was marketed
from Maseru to black herbalist shops around South Africa. There
was eventually a bit of a business fall-out between Inkwazi and
Drittewelle with the result that Inkwazi are no longer marketing
these tablets."
- Bill
Although it is no longer being marketed by Inkwazi, there was a certain amount of the last packaged stocks still in circulation in South Africa in early 1997.
"I hear one of the key guys with Inkwazi
is both a qualified Sangoma and a prominent member of an obscure
religious group ... Just for the record, I looked up the word
Inkwazi in the dictionary, it apparently means `fish
eagle'."
- Bill
Here are scans of Ubulawu Nomathotholo packaging obtained in March 1997. It is printed stiff paper with a rather nice textured gold-ish colour. The package is 11cm by 7cm. Not shown here (but used elsewhere on this page is the use of the Drittewelle logo. This is the only clue as to the manufacturer
Additional text above reads May the Ancestors |