All Comments on 'Better Loving through Chemistry Ch. 01'

Interesting, I don't understand the prohibitions & sanctions against MDMA. Lit fans don't usually get riled up about the War On Drugs but I am certain that MDMA has therapeutic value (PTSD).

Legal drugs for any use have to pass through a series of trials before they can be sold. While MDMA may be in clinical testing for PTSD, it's likelihood of making it to market is only about 1 in 10. Nearly all psychotropic drugs (including those on the market) have rather severe neurotoxic effects so finding one that is safer and has actual therapeutic value would be welcomed. MDMA, which shows addictive potential, has a huge strike against it for it's quest to legitimacy. Even if it became legal to sell, it would still not be available (legally) for recreational purposes.

JMO, but I might have started the story with something like, "I had the lab, the means, the time, and the motivation. So of course I started making drugs."

I think that would hook a reader much more than an opening paragraph about reflective plastics, holographic paper, chemicals and cancer. I nearly quit reading right there. You could fill in the details as to how he came to make drugs as you go along. There are a lot of other nitpicks here (like using the phrase "visual distortions" twice in two paragraphs, but I won't go into them.)