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Shea PettyOctober 22, 2009BiochemistryMrs. Allingham The Necessity of Another Reality-Is DMT Responsible?Have you ever asked yourself why we need sleep? There areseveral wonders of the world, each of which we have becomeaccustomed to and sometimes don’t even think to ask about. Everynight when we go to sleep our best friend named the pineal gland“wakes up” and starts to release chemicals in our brain that cause usto dream. These chemicals are mysterious and for the most partunknown, but one of them is the most potent psychedelic known toman. This hallucinogen rejuvenates us in such an inexplicable way,that while in this trance we see the most bizarre and unspeakablevisions that we usually can’t even remember once awaken. Not only isthis the most potent psychedelic, but is also a schedule-1 drug underthe Controlled Substances Act, meaning that the entire populationbreaks the law every night while they sleep. Just as any otherpsychedelic compound like LSD, and mescaline, Dimethyltryptamineresembles neurotransmitters such as serotonin but, what makes DMTunique is that the trace amounts of it naturally occur in the humanbody. Dimethyltryptamine, commonly known as DMT, gives us thespiritual and enlightening reality that our waking life dismisses. Inother words, the process of sleep and DMT makes up for the answersthat our waking life cannot give us, setting us at peace each morning.Humans are not the only living things that contain DMT. They arealso found in thousands of plants and some animal species like theSonoran Desert Toad. (Commonly using its venom as a dose.) Thereare several types of DMT; the main three are N, N-Dimethyltryptamine,5-OH-DMT, and 5-MeO-DMT (which is a cousin of the compound). N, N-DMT is the only type found in the human brain, the other two types arefound in various plant species including DMT’s cousin 5-MeO-DMTfound in the toad venom. All can be extracted and used forrecreational or spiritual purposes. When extracted, it is usually injectedor inhaled; “5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (20-200 microgram/kg)inhibits phrenic and sympathetic neural discharges and depressesblood pressure. The effects occur within seconds after injection.Complete recovery occurs, on the average, after 20 min”(Lalley). Theonly way you can effectively take it orally is with what’s called aMonoamine Oxydase Inhibitor, or MAOI. “This is because it (DMT) isbroken down (inhibited) by Monoamine Oxydase (MAO). MAO is animportant enzyme that breaks down certain chemical compounds suchas drugs and poisons. MAOI's or MAO-inhibitors interfere with theaction of the MAO enzyme and stop the breakdown of chemical

compounds such as DMT, making it effective when ingestedorally“(DMT Drug). Each of these also gives a slightly different reactionto the human brain. The history of DMT is a very interesting one. Before the 20

century DMT was found in the cohoba/yopo tree and was snuffed bynatives between Columbia and Venezuela. It was also ironically, beingthe enlightened and most intelligent beings to have ever lived, used insome Incan medicines (Erowid). During the 20

century DMT was firstsynthesized in 1931 and demonstrated to be hallucinogenic in 1956.By 1965 it was found in human blood and further illegalized in 1971.During 1972 it was at last formally detected in the human brain tissue.For the next 20 years it was kept below the radar until 1990 when aZen Budhist, Dr. Rick Strassman gave interest to the mystery andsupervised over 400 DMT sessions, which were the first allowedpsychedelic experiments involving human subjects in the United Statessince the mid-1970s.Some reported quasi-religious sensations of bliss, ineffability,timelessness, and reconciliation of opposites; a certainty thatconsciousness continues after death of the body; and contact with "asupremely powerful, wise, and loving presence." Others felt classicnear-death experiences, feeling themselves leaving their bodies andmoving through a tunnel toward a radiant light.Volunteers also reported visions that did not fit neatly into Strassman'sscientific or spiritual worldview, however. Forty-seven percentencountered otherworldly beings, variously described as clowns, elves,robots, insects, E.T.-style humanoids, or "entities" that defieddescription. These bizarre beings were not always friendly. One of Strassman's subjects claimed to have been eaten alive by insectoidcreatures. In part out of concern about this negative experience,Strassman discontinued his research (Horgan). Today DMT is still being studied but most of the experiments havequestionable outcomes and not many scientists actually agree onwhere and what DMT is. What is found to be interesting is DMT beingsuch an authoritative drug; it has been used under the supervision of medical staff to treat alcoholism and heroin addiction. There have beenhundreds of cases, maybe even ten’s of thousands where a heroinaddicts will have one dose of DMT and decide to give up heroin for therest of their life; because they realize life is too short to be hooked on asubstance. That is power; and even in its influence it is still lookeddown upon.DMT has continued to stay illegal until December 2004 when theSupreme Court allowed Brazil-based União do Vegetal (UDV) church touse a decoction containing DMT in their Christmas services that year(Wikipedia). The tea is called Ayahuasca and is used with formerly

mentioned MAOI, which allows the effects of DMT to last much longerbut at a lessoned intensity. “The traditional Ayahuasca brews of SouthAmerica contain 2 main ingredients; the bark of the Banisteriopsiscaapi vine and the leaves of the Psychotria viridis. Today, Ayahuascacan mean any combination of plants that contain DMT plus an MAOI. The effects of Ayahuasca can last 4-8 hours, depending on the amountof MAOI consumed” (DMT Drug). In Brazil there are still religiousmovements based on the use of Ayahuasca and but only four mainbranches using DMT-MAOI based sacraments (Wikipedia). The chemical formula of N.N-DMT is C12H16N2, “The Wisconsinresearchers found that DMT is derived from the naturally occurringamino acid tryptophan and is structurally related to theneurotransmitter serotonin” (Wisconsin). Because it is extremelysimilar to serotonin, which is C10H12N2O, it reacts quickly with thebrain. DMT is a white, yellow, or orange pungent-smelling, crystallinesolid with a melting point of 49-50 degrees Celsius. It is insoluble inwater, but soluble in organic solvents and aqueous acids (Erowid).Although the dosage that occurs and released in the pineal gland isunknown the recreational or spiritual dosage needed is 60-100mg forsmoking and 350mg orally.DMT is like a “Jesus serotonin” just as a carbohydrate is a “Jesussugar”. I believe it controls the deepest most subconscious andunknown parts to our instincts, and not only our instincts but also thetrue and beautiful meaning of life. During our sleep this chemicaldrugs us; typically and simplistically speaking that could just mean itknocks us out and allows us to vividly hallucinate or dream. Butbecause when you self induce the drug into your system, and it causespeople to understand life on a much deeper level, showing you thesecrazy absurd inexplicable and unbelievable visions and answers tothings that you didn’t even know you could think of; on top of the factthat when you take too large of a quantity of DMT, you come out of theexperience feeling as though you would if you were asleep and hadwoken up from a dream that you can’t remember. How in the

heck

could we just sit here and continue to believe that DMT is not a controlto one of the most divine connections to all life forms inner being. Notonly are we able to consciously learn about the truth of this otherreality, but I believe we already

know this truth. We are exposed toit every time we sleep, and we absolutely need this other reality tofunction. The only reason we don’t remember it is because of societiesdistractions. We have been taught over thousands upon thousands of years what we believe to be important about the waking life so we’veforgotten over time. When our brain first started to evolve peopleprobably had elevated levels of DMT in their brain because they weremore connected to a simplistic way of living. (Which would also explainwhy people saw burning bushes.) They were less drowned in negativityand had less history to learn from. In the beginning we were given the