N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT or N,N-DMT) is a tryptamine molecule which occurs in many plants and animals.^[3] It can be consumed as a psychedelic drug and has historically been prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes as an entheogen.^[4] Rick Strassman labeled it “the spirit molecule”.^[5] In most countries, DMT is illegal.

DMT has a rapid onset, intense effects and a relatively short duration of action. For those reasons, DMT was known as the “businessman’s trip” during the 1960s in the United States, as a user could access the full depth of a psychedelic experience in considerably less time than with other substances such as LSD or magic mushrooms.^[6] DMT can be inhaled, injected, vaporized or ingested, and its effects depend on the dose. When inhaled or injected, the effects last a short period of time: about 5 to 15 minutes. Effects can last 3 hours or more when orally ingested along with an MAOI, such as the ayahuasca brew of many native Amazonian tribes.^[7] DMT can produce vivid “projections” of mystical experiences involving euphoria and dynamic hallucinations of geometric forms.^[8]

DMT is a structural analog of serotonin and melatonin and a functional analog of other psychedelic tryptamines such as 4-AcO-DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, 5-HO-DMT, psilocybin (4-PO-DMT), and psilocin (4-HO-DMT).