Dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, not to be confused with 5-MeO-DMT, is a hallucinogenic tryptamine, similar in structure to the neurotransmitter serotonin. DMT is created in small amounts by the human body during normal metabolism. Pure DMT at room temperature is a colorless waxy or crystalline solid. DMT was first chemically synthesized in 1931. It also occurs naturally in many species of plants. DMT-containing plants are used in several South American shamanic practices. It is one of the main active constituents of snuffs like yopo and of the drink ayahuasca.

DMT is not orally active unless it is combined with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), such as harmaline. Without an MAOI, the body quickly metabolizes DMT, and it therefore has no significant hallucinogenic effect.

Hallucinogenic properties

DMT is a powerful psychoactive substance. If DMT is smoked, injected, or orally ingested with an MAOI, it can produce powerful entheogenic experiences including true hallucinations (perceived extensions of reality). A trip sitter is often employed to assist the drug user in staying physically and mentally healthy, and, in the case of smoked DMT, to catch the pipe when the user loses awareness of it.

Smoked: If DMT is smoked, the maximal effects last for a short period of time (30 minutes +). The onset after inhalation is very fast (less than 45 seconds) and maximal effects are reached within about a minute.

Insufflation: If DMT is insufflated (snorted through the nostrils) it will last slightly longer than if smoked and has less powerful effects.

Injection: Injected DMT produces an experience similar to inhalation in duration, intensity, and characteristics,

Oral ingestion: DMT, which is broken down by the digestive enzyme monoamine oxidase, is inactive if taken orally, unless combined with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). The shamanic potion ayahuasca, or yage, is a tea-like admixture of the boiled leaves, bark or roots of a variety of plants, usually including Psychotria viridis, which contains high levels of DMT, and Banisteriopsis caapi, which contains harmala alkaloids that are powerful MAOIs. A common source in the western US is Reed canary grass or Phalaris arundinacea, and Harding grass or Phalaris aquatica. This invasive grass contains high levels of DMT and other alkaloids . Taken orally with an appropriate MAOI, DMT produces a long lasting (over 1 hour), slow onset, high intensity experience. MAOIs should be used with extreme caution as they can make common over-the-counter drugs and foods toxic.

Induced DMT experiences can include profound time-dilation, visual and audio hallucinations, percieved journeys to paranormal realms, and encounters with spiritual beings or other experiences that, by most first hand accounts, defy verbal or visual description.

In a 1988 study conducted at UNM, psychiatrist Rick Strassman found that approximately 20% of volunteers injected with high doses of DMT had experiences identical to purported alien abductions.

Chemistry

DMT is a derivative of tryptamine with two additional methyl groups at the amine nitrogen atom. DMT is often synthesized by the Speeter-Anthony synthesis from indole using oxalyl chloride, dimethylamine, and lithium aluminium hydride as reagents. DMT is usually used in its base form, but it is more stable as a salt, e.g. as a fumarate. In contrast to DMT's base, its

Speculations

Several speculative and as yet untested hypotheses suggest that endogenous DMT, produced in the human brain, is involved in certain psychological and neurological states. As DMT is naturally produced in small amounts in humans and other mammals (although the mechanism is not yet understood), some believe it plays a role in dreaming, near-death experiences and other mystical states. It has been speculated by the researcher Jace Callaway that DMT might be connected with visual dreaming. It is also speculated that DMT can be found in elevated amounts during times of visual dreaming or after near-death experiences.

Writers on DMT include Terence McKenna and Jeremy Narby, though scientists who study psychedelic drugs treat their writings with skepticism. McKenna writes of his experiences with DMT in which he encounters entities he describes as "Self-Transforming Machine Elves". Other users report visitation from external intelligences attempting to impart information. These Machine Elf experiences are said to be shared by many DMT users. From a researcher's perspective, perhaps best known is Rick Strassman's DMT: The Spirit Molecule (ISBN 0892819278); Strassman also proposed that DMT is made in the pineal gland, although this is only speculation.

Legal status

DMT is classified in the United States as a Schedule I drug. In December of 2004, the Supreme Court lifted a stay thereby allowing the Brazil-based Uniao do Vegetal church to use hoasca tea (containing DMT) in their Christmas services that year. In Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, the Supreme Court heard arguments on November 1st, 2005 and unanimously ruled in February 2006 that the U.S. federal government must allow the UDV to import and consume the tea for religious ceremonies under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

DMT is classified in Canada as a Schedule III drug.

DMT, along with most of its plant sources, is classified in France as a stupéfiant.

DMT is classified in the United Kingdom as a Schedule I/Class A drug.

In Brazil there are a number of religious movements based on the use of Ayahuasca, usually in an animistic context that may be shamanistic or, more often, mixed with Christian imagery; these were legalized recently after official inquiry into the tea.

DMT in popular culture

The plot of the movie Blueberry (based on Blueberry (comic)) touches DMT practices of Native Americans. The movie also features scenes of a DMT induced psychedelic experience. Recent web discussion with the creator of the film has indicated that the visions are meant to represent the use of various plants, the classic ayahuasca mixture being one of these. In addition, Datura and Mescaline related visions are conveyed.

At the start of chapter 15 of the book The Black Angel by John Connolly (copyright 2005), DMT is referenced as a drug used to control people through instilling and then relieving fear via hallucinations.

The first letters of the Shpongle's "Divine Moments of Truth" track from the Are You Shpongled? album stand for DMT.

Writer Warren Ellis mentions DMT in several of his works (including Global Frequency)

William S. Burroughs' The Yage Letters is also related to his search for ayahuasca.

Brazilian ayahuasca churches

• (in English)
• (in English)
• BBC News story:

References

• (discusses DMT and implications for our understanding of reality) Dimethyltryptamin

Dimetyylitryptamiini Diméthyltryptamine Dimetiltriptamin DMT Dimetylotryptamina DMT