DMT
The skeletal formula of DMT.
Dosage (inhalation)
Threshold	2-5 _mg
Light	10-20_mg
Common	20-40_mg
Strong	40-60_mg
Heavy	60+_mg
Duration
Total Duration	15 - 90 minutes
Onset	15 - 60 seconds
Duration	15 - 20 minutes
After effects	15 - 60 minutes

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT or N,N-DMT) is a psychedelic compound of the tryptamine family. Its presence is known to be widespread throughout the plant kingdom. DMT is a close relative of the psychedelic drugs 5-HO-DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. Although various theories have been formulated, the compound's biological function has yet to be determined.

DMT results in powerful visuals and intense psychedelic mental effects when smoked, injected, snorted, or taken orally (with an MAOI such as Harmaline). When smoked, DMT is a powerful visionary psychedelic that produces short acting effects. When taken in combination with an MAOI or RIMA, it becomes orally active. DMT is present in over 65 species of plants. It has been used traditionally in South America in ayahuasca brews since at least around the year 1500 and archaeological evidence suggests its use in snuffs (such as yopo, cohoba, or parica) since 2080 BCE. ^[1]

Depending on dose and method of administration, the effects of DMT can range from mild psychedelic states to powerfully immerse life changing experiences-- the nature of which are often described as being the ultimate displacement from normal consciousness where users are placed in a subjective state in which they encounter ineffable spiritual/alien realms and alternate realities.

Chemistry

General formula of a tryptamine molecule.

DMT is made up of a tryptamine backbone, and two methyl groups substituted onto the nitrogen R_N1 and R_N2. It is normally found as the fumarate salt, although it is sometimes found in the less stable freebase form (as users can vaporize this form). It is also found in a sticky acetate form when salted out with an acid such as vinegar.

Pharmacology

DMT acts as a 5-HT_2A, 5-HT_2C and 5-HT_1A partial agonist; the psychedelic effects are believed to come from DMT's efficacy at the 5-HT_2A receptors. There is also some affinity at dopamine D₁, α₁-adrenergic, α₂-adrenergic receptors.

Subjective effects

Physical effects

The physical effects of DMT can be broken down into two components both of which progressively intensify proportional to dosage. These are described below and generally include:

Spontaneous tactile sensations - the body high of DMT can be described as a pleasurable, warm, soft, and all encompassing glow. It maintains a consistent presence that quickly rises with the onset and hits its limit once the peak has been reached. It is capable of becoming very powerful at higher doses and remains for up to half an hour after the trip itself.
Changes in gravity - at higher dosages physical feelings of being catapulted across vast distances at incredibly high speeds are common.

Cognitive effects

The head space of DMT is described by most as extremely sober and clear headed in its style when compared to other commonly used psychedelics such as LSD, psilocin or even ayahuasca. It contains a limited amount of typical cognitive effects.

The most prominent of these typical effects generally include:

Enhancement of current mind state
Removal of cultural filter
Feelings of fascination, importance and awe
Rejuvination
Direct communication with the subconscious
Ego suppression, loss and death
States of unity and interconnectedness

DMT in its smokeable form is perhaps the least psychologically intoxicating psychedelic. It is due to this lack of mental intoxication that many people describe DMT not as something which feels not like a drug induced trip but a genuine experience that is actually happening to them. It's worth noting that many people report that DMT contains less personal insight in comparison to orally active psychedelics such as ayahuasca, LSD and psilocin due to its short acting nature.

Visual effects

Enhancements

Ayahuasca presents a full and complete array of possible visual enhancements which generally include:

Distortions

As for visual distortions and alterations, effects experienced are detailed below:

Drifting (Melting, Breathing, Morphing and Flowing) - in comparison to other psychedelics this effect can be described as highly detailed, slow and smooth in motion and static in their appearance.
Tracers
After images
Texture repetition
Colour shifting
Scenery slicing

Geometry

The visual geometry that is present throughout this trip can be described as more similar in appearance to that of Psilocin than LSD. They can be comprehensively described as structured in their organization, organic in geometric style, intricate in complexity, large in size, fast and smooth in motion, colourful in scheme, glossy in colour, equal in blurred and sharp edges and equal in rounded and angular corners. At higher dosages they are significantly more likely to result in states of Level 7B visual geometry over Level 7A.

The geometry present with smokeable DMT is often considered to be the most profoundly intricate and complex set of visual geometry found within the entirety of the psychedelic experience. In comparison to orally active DMT (ayahuasca) they are significantly more digital in appearance and contain a colour scheme which is similar to LSD but a structured style that is closer to high dose Psilocin.

Hallucinatory states

DMT produces a full range of high level hallucinatory states in a fashion that is more consistent and reproducible than that of any other commonly used psychedelic. These effects include:

Transformations
Internal hallucinations - this particular effect commonly contains hallucinations with scenarios, settings, concepts and autonomous entity contact. They are more common within dark environments and can be described as internal in their manifestation, lucid in believability, interactive in style and almost exclusively religious, spiritual, mystical or transcendental nature in their overall theme.

Auditory effects

The auditory effects of DMT are common in their occurrence and exhibit a full range of effects which commonly include:

Progressive stages

Taking off

The first step of a DMT trip is the come up that leads onto breaking through. This is something that seems to have at least a few different ways of presenting itself to a tripper as they start to smoke DMT.

The first thing that a person notices however is an extremely distinct set of visual enhancements and most noteably an increase in visual acuity and colour intensity.

This is followed by a sudden onset of high level 3 geometry, the body high and the feeling of your body being pleasantly tugged in all directions at once from the inside.

This is often accompanied by a soft crackling sound and an extended tone that quickly increases in volume and pitch proportionally as the visuals increase. This sound becomes all enveloping abruptly ends as one of a few different "take off" options are experienced.

These include, but are certainly not limited to,

feelings of suddenly being pushed through and onto the other side of a membrane,
the room in front of you splitting in two down the middle leaving a gaping infinite chasm filled with incredibly fast moving visuals as you separate from your body shooting directly into it at light speed
increasing geometry simply becoming so all enveloping that absolutely nothing of the room is left any more.

This all happens within the space of about 30 seconds to a minute and leads directly onto the second stage of a DMT trip.

The waiting room

Almost immediately after a person has smoked enough DMT to have "taken off", they often find themselves spending a brief amount of time in what is described to feel like a psychedelic "waiting room" or a "loading screen". This can take any form but generally takes the shape of a tunnel or space comprised of fast moving geometry that lasts approximately 10 – 20 seconds and feels distinctively different from the main bulk of the trip.

This distinctive feeling has led PW to speculate that this is some sort of psychedelic loading screen and it’s during this moment that the trip ahead of you is being generated and planned out.

The waiting room starts off quickly but immediately begins to slow down and form into the third and most important stage.

The other side

Once the waiting period is over and the trip has been generated the user will feel that they have broken through onto the other side. It is here where literally anything can happen to you, but despite this most trips seem to follow some extremely common archetypes and plots that happen almost universally across people who have tried DMT.

These generally consist of visiting in an alternate reality that feels so real it seems to be better defined than real life. Usually, this is with a single or multiple external autonomous entities in front of your line of sight. These entities appear to have been waiting for your arrival, usually completely unsurprised by the trippers sudden appearance into their dimension. They immediately begin to greet and welcome you with open arms, giving off a sense that they are deeply concerned with what they have to show you in the short amount of time that they have before you comedown.

At this point it is pretty common for the tripper (unless they are very experienced) to be completely overwhelmed by the nature of what is happening to them despite feeling completely sober mentally, often screaming and shouting in amazement as the entities encourage you to stay calm, not to give into astonishment and to simply try to pay attention to what is happening. It’s here that they start to communicate with you using a variety of different methods such as directly manipulating what you can see and view, by telepathically beaming information into your thoughts, by using a visual language comprised of pure linguistic meaning and mathematics or any combination of the above. It’s through these that they teach you their message or show you what they want to show you.

This message is often something personal to you or something that only applies to the logic of the universe in which it was taught in making it impossible to integrate and apply it into your everyday life.

These entities often appear to be all knowing and although they can take any form but commonly experienced entities are present. These generally include bodiless super intelligent humanoids, Aliens, Elves, Insectoids, Giant Spheres, Beings of light, Plants and complex robotic machines.

Just as quickly as the DMT hits you, after several minutes it begins to leave you at the final stage of the trip.

Coming down

The final stage is experienced as the sensation of being pulled further and further away from the scenario in which you were placed as the entities often wave good bye and encourage you to come back when you next get the chance.

Once this is over you immediately find yourself back in reality with strong level 4 - 5 visual geometry. This is accompanied by an incredible sense of euphoria and awe which washes over every part of your mind and body. The moderate to mild geometry stays for a further 10 – 15 minutes before disappearing completely leaving a strong bodyhigh that stays for up to an hour. This afterglow feels like a warm fuzzyness and leaves behind a sense of well being and mental clarity that can last up to weeks after a good trip.

Toxicity and Harm Potential

Lethal Dosage

Similar to other psychedelic drugs, there are relatively few physical side effects associated with DMT acute exposure. Various studies have shown that in reasonable doses in a careful context, it presents no negative cognitive, psychiatric or toxic physical consequences of any sort.

In mice, the median lethal dose (LD50) of DMT when administered intravenously is 110 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). This means that 6600 milligrams (6.6 grams) of pure DMT would be required for a 60-kilogram (130 lb) person to reach the 110 mg/kg LD50 value of mice. Roughly 110 times the commonly used dosage of 60mg.

Tolerance and Addiction Potential

There is no tolerance with DMT usage, meaning that it can be used multiple times in a day without the effects diminishing. Due to the mind-altering psychedelic effects, most users show no addiction to DMT, and use often decreases with time.

Natural plant sources

Mimosa hostilis root bark

Mimosa hostilis root bark.

Mimosa hostilis, also known as Mimosa tenuiflora, Jurema and Tepezcohuite, is a perennial tree or shrub native to the northeastern region of Brazil and found as far north as southern Mexico. Around 1% of the dried weight is DMT/N,N-Dimethyltryptamine.

Acacia confusa root bark

Acacia confusa root bark.

Acacia confusa, also known as Acacia Petit Feuille, Small Philippine Acacia, Formosa Acacia (Taiwan Acacia) and Formosan Koa, is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia. It contains the following chemicals:

N-Methyltryptamine: 1.43% (no recreational use)
DMT/N,N-Dimethyltryptamine: 1.15%

Legal Issues

International: Under the UN 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, DMT is classified at Schedule I, meaning that use of DMT is supposed to be restricted to scientific research and medical use .
Brazil: Production, distribution, or possession of DMT is illegal. Rules are relaxed regarding religious use however.
Canada: DMT is a Schedule III drug.
Estonia: DMT is a Schedule I drug.
Germany: Production, distribution, or possession of DMT is illegal.
New Zealand: DMT is a Class A drug.
Norway: DMT is a Schedule I drug.
Russia: Production, distribution, or possession of DMT is illegal.
UK: DMT is a Class A drug.
USA: DMT is a Schedule I drug. Rules are relaxed regarding religious use however.

In the USA, dried root bark of Mimosa hostilis had been considered a "grey area" item for a long time. However, recent efforts by the DEA appear to be focusing on eliminating internet sales of the bark, citing 21 USC § 841, which states that "(IV) any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in subclauses (I) through (III);" is also considered an illegal substance. Many USA based vendors have since been stocking Acacia Confusa bark as a result due to its very similar alkaloid content.

DMT

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