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Ed Dunkel

DMT is in your head, but it may be too weird for the psychedelic renaissance

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http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=dmt-is-in-your-head-but-it-may-too-2010-04-16

'You know that psychedelics are making a comeback when the New York Times says so on page 1. In “Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In,” John Tierney reports on how doctors at schools like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, UCLA and NYU are testing the potential of psilocybin and other hallucinogens for treating depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism—and for inducing spiritual experiences.

Tierney’s brisk overview neglects to mention the most mind-bending of all psychedelics: dimethyltryptamine, or DMT. It was first synthesized by a British chemist in the 1930s, and its psychotropic properties were discovered some 20 years later by the Hungarian-born chemist Stephen Szara, who later became a researcher for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Why is DMT so fascinating? For starters, DMT is the only psychedelic known to occur naturally in the human body. In 1972, the Nobel laureate Julius Axelrod of the National Institutes of Health discovered DMT in human brain tissue, leading to speculation that the compound plays a role in psychosis. Research into that possibility—and into psychedelics in general--was abandoned because of the growing backlash against these compounds.

In 1990, however, Rick Strassman, a psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico, obtained permission from federal authorities to inject DMT into human volunteers. Strassman, a Buddhist, suspected that endogenous DMT might contribute to mystical experiences. From 1990 to 1995, he supervised more than 400 DMT sessions involving 60 subjects at the University of New Mexico. Many subjects reported that they dissolved blissfully into a radiant light or sensed the presence of a powerful, god-like being.' [...]

psychedelic.jpg

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Too weird...

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro B)

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1990, however, Rick Strassman, a psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico, obtained permission from federal authorities to inject DMT into human volunteers. Strassman, a Buddhist, suspected that endogenous DMT might contribute to mystical experiences. From 1990 to 1995, he supervised more than 400 DMT sessions involving 60 subjects at the University of New Mexico. Many subjects reported that they dissolved blissfully into a radiant light or sensed the presence of a powerful, god-like being.' [...]

The guy's book and its argument were ridiculous and ultimately it was a waste of money. For mine it was just a cheap way of selling books - make it about DMT and then come up with a bunch of fairly poorly thought out contentions which are unprovable and then add some trip stories...

The interest in these substances was bound to happen. Serotonin is a messanger that plays a part in a large variety of illnesses - even now suspected of playing a role in irritable bowel and cot death.

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The book definitely had that whole "based on a true story" vibe but I think the work was important nonetheless. If for no other reason than to get psychedelics back into the clinic.

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