Toxicity of synthetic drugs vs. natural chemicals
Natural chemicals have always been with us since human life began. We might not know them but they are in the foods we eat and the herbs we ingest when we are ill.
Synthetic chemicals are made mostly from petroleum chemicals. We have no long history of intimate contact with them and don’t know whether or not they are edible or poisonous.
We know two chemicals with the same chemical structure are indeed the same chemical, whether they are synthetic or natural. However, the synthetic chemicals are mostly made from brand-new ones. Even though some may have been synthesized from natural compounds, their final product and the various intermediates as well as byproducts formed during the synthetic process, are brand new. When we attempt to purify the end product, we try to remove as much as possible these brand-new, potentially very toxic, intermediates and byproducts. Despite our advanced scientific technologies, I am not aware of our being able to remove every single molecule of these unwanted compounds we call impurities, from our drugs. Nor do I know of any drug-development organizations testing the toxicity of every one of these impurities as they do with drugs. If I am wrong, would someone knowledgeable please correct me?
With natural chemicals, we don’t have this problem, because whatever impurities present have already been there with the isolated chemical since antiquity, before and after it is extracted. Take psilocybin, for example, other compounds (such as psilocin, baeocystin & norbaeocystin, among others) may already be present, before and after the psilocybin is isolated from the mushroom.
However, in synthetic psilocybin, whatever compounds present with it as impurities, are brand new to this planet. Thus, its safety is totally unknown.
Incidentally, no chemical, natural or synthetic, is 100.00% pure except theoretically. In practice, the percentage of impurities allowed in pharmacopoeias such as the USP, range from maybe 1% to 10% or higher. The lower level usually is reserved for synthetics and the higher one reserved for naturals. I am not sure if those levels have been set because USP scientists knew synthetics are unknown hence their safety too, so restrict it to a lower limit; but natural chemicals are present along with our foods and herbs since antiquity and hence have at least some safety record. These numbers also make allowance for the precision of the measuring equipment used. I know USP tests certain impurities in drugs, allowing them to be present in trace amounts. But I don’t know if there are any human safety records for the impurities in synthetic drugs. Does anyone knowledgeable in these matters know?
I don’t know about other drugs, but I believe psilocybin can be obtained by biotechnology, or simply stated, ‘fermentation.’ I spent 5 years in graduate school over 50 years ago developing the method which proves it is feasible. My work has been published in several papers in scientific journals. Whoever involved in this business with foresight and compassion for consumers, trying to afford them non-toxic psilocybin, can take up the project. Years of preliminary R&D work can be eliminated. In addition, baeocystin and norbaeocystin are an added bonus, because sooner or later these 2 compounds will be proven similar or even better than psilocybin in mental healthcare. Good luck to you all!