How DMT Works

Wheeeee!

Dimethyltryptamine, aka DMT, is a naturally occurring substance which is structurally analogous to serotonin. It's made by your pineal gland, it pumped out while you sleep, and is the active component in ayahuasca. Biologically speaking, it's purpose is unknown, though it is thought to have some influence over the visual element of dreams, as people on DMT do not often experience . Researcher J.V. Wallach has further theorized that its purpose is to mediate normal sensory perception in mammals.

How it Works
DMT binds to serotonin receptors in a manner similar to how psilocin does. This causes neurons that would normally be triggered by the release of serotonin to fire when no actual serotonin is present. This leads to visual hallucinations and feelings of being separated from reality. Users become more introspective, but also report seeing or "visiting" another reality or dimension, and being completely removed from this one.

Guess what this is.

How its Taken
Inhalation: Purified DMT (15-60mg) is smoked through a pipe or vaporizer. The vapor is corrosive and said to taste like melting plastic. Trip lasts about , and is hard to remember after-the-fact. This method also carries with it the usual risks (like cancer) that come with smoking things. Don't smoke, dudes. Seriously.

Injection: Injection is said to leave users with a result similar to that of inhalation, but the interesting bit is that injection is the method used when people were actually studying this stuff. According to Rick Strassman:

We thought that mystical unitive enlightenment-like states would predominate. Also, near-death states, since I had speculated that DMT might be released near death because of the stress involved in dying (and DMT in animals appears to rise in response to stress). Also, I had a decades-long Zen Buddhist practice which informed my method of supervising sessions as well as my theories regarding the types of effects I might see - which were the unitive, concept-less, image-less, formless types that Zen emphasizes.Instead, these types of experiences (NDEs, unitive/mystical states) were very rare. Rather, volunteers described entering into a world of intensely saturated light, buzzing and morphing, full of "things" -- all manner of objects, and oftentimes sentient beings who were awaiting them and often interacted with them.

His volunteers ran into freakin' Machine Elves. The same bastards people "meet" on psilocybin.


Oral: DMT is broken down in the stomach unless combined with a MAOI, as it is in Ayahuasca. Traditionally, the recipe calls for two different plants. In the US, you can get it from Reed canary grass and Harding grass.

Important notes of importantness!
1. DMT, like mushrooms, play with GABA, that means if you've got anxiety, depression, frontal lobe weirdness or any other dopamine or serotonin issues, you could be getting into real trouble by messing with this stuff. Play it safe, boys and girls.
2. DO NOT MIX with SSRIs (PDF), other antidepressants, or any food on this list. You could end up dead.

The Trip
DMT:

Ayahuasca-specific: People taking Ayahuasca have slightly different experiences, as the vine doesn't just contain DMT, but also an MAOI that allows it to be orally active. Users can end up... expelling... the contents of their digestive system from both ends when they first drink the brew. The benefits in the long run, however, are said to be worth it, as the trip forces extreme introspection. Users are also more likely to report running into other humans, gods, and a "green-goddess".

That, or they met Kanaya.

Fun with International Law
This stuff is illegal, but it's available everywhere. You can extract it from stuff that grows naturally in almost every ecosystem, but don't think that's ok because it's natural, as that's a logical fallacy.

Deadly Nightshade is all-natural, too, yo.

Let's go over what happens if you get caught with it in a couple countries:

UK and NZ: Class A. Up to 7 years for possession, and up to life for being a supplier. They call it "Proper and expedient"... how very British.
USA: Schedule I... unless you're a member of the church of Santo Daime. Time in jail variable.
Canada: Schedule III. Max 3 years for possession, 10 years for supply.
France: Hon hon hon. 10 years in jail for you.


Mexico and pretty much everyone else: