Early 1900's
Scientist curious about tales of mind-altering substances and hallucinogenic practices by the locals inhabiting the islands voyage with better techniques for investigating the flora and fauna, and with a better strategy in gaining the secrets from the local tribesmen about which plants and animals are psychoactive, and which ones are just poisons, as this had plagued researchers that have traveled to the archipelago previously. They soon found that most of the lifeforms contain large amounts of the hallucinogen DMT (upwards of 10-15%, which is crazy high) and attempted to isolate the compound and bring it back to their native countries, against the people of the island's will.
1920-1930's
Bands of tribes from the three islands put aside their differences and elected a king, King Halobambe, and formed an army of soldiers to attempt to drive out the colonists from their islands, as they felt that the scientists did not respect the nature of the properties of the plants and animals, they instead wanted to profit from their psychoactive properties. However, even with the firearms that the local people procured, they were no match for the colonists in conventional combat. Instead, they resorted to guerrilla tactics and reduced access to the psychedelic flora and fauna. Once their strategy changed, they were successful in reducing the colonist presence in the islands.
1940's -1960's
The native people of the island began their own technological advancement through a truce with the other nations interested in the islands, as they traded their science for access to the plants and animals of the islands, in quantities regulated by the native islanders. In the year 1956, an article of incorporation was declared, with the Commonwealth of Land of Neurotransmitters was formed, and the first prime minister, PM Awakening was elected. Once the nation was clearly formed, all attempts at colonization ceased, and scientist and artists interested in experiencing the land for their own reasons began to flock to the islands, as its extremely lax laws on recreational drug use attracted all types looking into the spirituality behind the compounds and the science of how they work.
1970-1990's
Large portions of the immigrant population brought in other compounds like opiods, nicotine and alcohol, and soon large swaths of the population became addicts. PM Awakening declared that drugs that only acted on the serotonin receptor and/or were native to the island were allowed, and the addiction that was widespread across the islands dropped substantially. The leading council, in unison with the prime minister, also decided to no longer allow religious organizations to lobby in the congress, as they felt the religious ideology would drive laws that would not benefit the people of other faiths. As a result, a large portion of the population moved toward secular beliefs. Also, as science advanced in the sector the damage caused by years of reckless drug use were reversed to controlled experimentation and expression
Late 1990's - Early 2000's
Environmental efforts were made so that farming on the islands was controlled so that no invasive species could infect the flora and fauna of the land, and transitions to more renewable sources were made. Also, children in schools were encouraged and enabled to explore any intellectual pursuits they had, which lead to large advances in science and the arts, but nobody to do the daily work needed to run the country. Basically, people were so engrossed in their own pursuits, they completely ignored things like decaying infrastructure, and general political matters like budget planning and other bureaucratic things. So, this made the businesses of the islands pretty weak, but it was a region of creative and scientific expression. However, the election of PM Knxwledge brought forth a much better public transportation system, and more immigration from other parts of the region, thus leading to more standard practices across the islands.