Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) - Overview

Overview

The use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, snuffs, and brews dates back thousands of years and has occurred all over the world. In his book Illegal Drugs: A Complete Guide to Their History, Chemistry, Use and Abuse, Paul M. Gahlinger discusses early reports of drug use. He explains that the naturalist hired by explorer Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) for his second voyage (1493–1496) described a strange behavior of the Tairo Indians. The naturalist observed the native peoples using a snuff derived from seeds of the yopo tree (Anadenatherea peregrine).

The Mayan, Olmec, and Cherokee Indians all left behind archeological evidence that they worshiped toads and used toad venom in their religious ceremonies. Even in modern times, native cultures in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil prepare a brew from jungle plants that is variously called yagé, caapi, and ayahuascaOne of several teas of South American origin used in religious ceremonies, known to contain dimethyltryptamine (DMT); also a plant. ("vine of souls"). One of the active ingredients in this brew is DMT.

Using a double-stemmed tube and coffee powder, a boy shows visitors at the Bogota Gold Museum in Colombia how his ancestors inhaled the narcotic yopo. Explorer Christopher Columbus and his men observed the native peoples inhaling the narcotic p
Using a double-stemmed tube and coffee powder, a boy shows visitors at the Bogota Gold Museum in Colombia how his ancestors inhaled the narcotic yopo. Explorer Christopher Columbus and his men observed the native peoples inhaling the narcotic powder. © Adam Woolfitt/Corbis.

Chemists began to synthesize, or manufacture, DMT in the 1930s. By the 1950s, they understood the chemical composition of ayahuasca tea and bufotenineThe component of venom from the toad genus Bufo that contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT).. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, hallucinogens were not illegal. Thus, some experimental chemists used themselves and their friends as subjects, taking various strengths of hallucinogenic compounds and recording their reactions. These scientists determined that DMT did not produce any mental effects if taken by mouth. (Ayahuasca tea, however, has an added ingredient that allows the body to metabolize, or break down, DMT.)

DMT, bufotenine, and other similar compounds are snorted or injected to produce hallucinations. DMT has never been as widely abused as LSD, but it is named in the U.S. Controlled Substances Act of 1970. At that time, dimethyltryptamine (DMT) was named a Schedule I hallucinogen, making its possession, distribution, and creation a crime.