Dimethyltryptamine (DMT): Subjective effects and patterns of use among Australian recreational users

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Abstract

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous hallucinogen with traditional use as a sacrament in the orally active preparation of ayahuasca. Although the religious use of ayahuasca has been examined extensively, very little is known about the recreational use of DMT. In this study, Australian participants (n = 121) reporting at least one lifetime use of DMT completed an online questionnaire recording patterns of use, subjective effects and attitudes towards their DMT use. Smoking DMT was by far the most common route of administration (98.3%) with a comparatively smaller proportion reporting use of ayahuasca (30.6%). The reasons for first trying DMT were out of a general interest in hallucinogenic drugs (46.6%) or curiosity about DMT's effects (41.7%), while almost one-third (31.1%) cited possible psychotherapeutic benefits of the drug. An increase in psychospiritual insight was the most commonly reported positive effect of both smoked DMT (75.5%) and ayahuasca (46.7%), a finding that is consistent with other studies examining the ritualised use of ayahuasca in a religious context. Although previous studies of DMT use have examined ayahuasca use exclusively, the present study demonstrates the ubiquity of smoking as the most prevalent route of administration among recreational DMT users.

Introduction

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a naturally occurring hallucinogen similar in structure to both serotonin and psilocybin. Like other hallucinogens, DMT is a serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonist (Smith et al., 1998), in addition to being a ligand of both trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1; Bunzow et al., 2001) and the sigma-1 (σ-1) receptor (Fontanilla et al., 2009). It is found ubiquitously across the plant and animal kingdoms (McKenna, 2004) and, although it is a relatively obscure drug, its presence in the popular media (Otis, 2009, De Conceicao, 2009, Grigoriadis, 2006, Cox, 2009) suggests that interest or use in Western countries is increasing. Szára (1956) was the first to report its hallucinogenic effects, however, its consumption in the hallucinogenic plant beverage ayahuasca dates to pre-Colombian times and continues to the present day (Pomilio et al., 1999, Grob et al., 1996).

Ayahuasca, which translates to “the vine of the souls” by the Amazon-dwelling Quechua people among whom it is traditionally used, is consumed as a sacrament throughout the Amazon Basin by indigenous populations (Dobkin de Rios, 1972, McKenna, 2006). Although it is an umbrella term used to describe any orally active DMT preparation, ayahuasca is usually prepared by infusing the DMT-bearing leaves of Psychotria viridis with the stems of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine (McKenna, 2004). The latter contains β-carboline alkaloids, chiefly harmine, tetrahydroharmine, and harmaline. Ordinarily, DMT is rapidly metabolised by gut and liver monoamine oxidase (MAO), making it orally inactive. However, the β-carbolines display MAO inhibition and their co-administration enables DMT to reach the CNS intact. The hallucinogenic effects of ayahuasca commence within an hour of its consumption and last approximately 4 h.

In contrast to oral ingestion, the effects of smoked DMT commence almost immediately, peak within several minutes and typically resolve within 30 min (Turner, 1994, Strassman, 2001). Smokeable freebase DMT may be obtained from a variety of flora through a simple extraction process, the instructions for which are readily available on the Internet (Halpern and Pope, 2001). Owing to the brevity and intensity of its effects, smoked DMT has been facetiously coined the “businessman's lunch trip” (Turner, 1994) and this contrasts the duration of LSD, whose effects last 8–12 h (Rothlin, 1957).

In the Amazon Basin, DMT is legal and its use, in the form of ayahuasca, is a key component of the religious practices of several syncretic churches including the União do Vegetal (UDV) and Santo Daime (MacRae, 1998). In the Western world, however, DMT remains a controlled substance, although recent rulings by the United States Supreme Court now protect the religious use of ayahuasca in the United States under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993; Bullis, 2008). To date, several studies have examined the religious use and effects of ayahuasca among adolescent (Da Silveira et al., 2005, Doering-Silveira et al., 2005a, Doering-Silveira et al., 2005b), as well as first-time (Trichter et al., 2009) and long-term (Grob et al., 1996, Halpern et al., 2008) ayahuasca users. These studies have generally found ayahuasca to be psychologically beneficial, or at worst, lacking in deleterious effects when consumed in an appropriate religious context. Users generally report that ayahuasca facilitates an experience characterised by complex and semantically rich visual hallucinations of personal or spiritual significance (Shanon, 2002) and this is consistent with findings that the chemically related hallucinogen psilocybin may evoke religious experiences in hallucinogen-naive subjects (Griffiths et al., 2006, Griffiths et al., 2008).

In recent years there appears to have been growing interest in hallucinogens such as DMT in countries such as Australia and the United States (Otis, 2009, De Conceicao, 2009, Grigoriadis, 2006, Cox, 2009). This may be due to the emergence of the outdoor rave or ‘doof’ music subculture (Luckman, 2003, Tramacchi, 2000) and the proliferation of neo-shamanic practises in the West (Tupper, 2008, Tupper, 2009). There is an apparent increase in Internet resources surrounding the use of hallucinogens (Halpern and Pope, 2001, Boyer et al., 2005) as well as the expansion of online “head shops” legally trading in the sale of psychoactive plant material, including ayahuasca ingredients (Dalgarno, 2008). Interest may exist in particular for DMT given its endogenous presence in humans (Barker et al., 1981) and its unique and bizarre phenomenology (Shanon, 2002, Strassman, 2001).

Despite the aforementioned studies of ayahuasca, recreational1 use of DMT in Western countries remains largely unexamined. Previous research has investigated the recreational use of the short-acting hallucinogen Salvia divinorum (Gonzalez et al., 2006, Lange et al., 2008), yet a similar study of DMT has not previously been undertaken. In his ethnographic study of Australian DMT users, Tramacchi (2006) examined the phenomenological aspects of the DMT experience, however, little is known regarding the patterns of DMT use among recreational users. Furthermore, data regarding the use of smokeable DMT remain scant.

The present study seeks to address the paucity of such data by examining Australian recreational DMT users. The use of DMT within Australia may be of particular interest given the presence of DMT in several native species of Acacia (Fitzgerald and Sioumis, 1965, Rouvelli and Vaughan, 1967) as well as the veritable existence of an electronic ‘bush doof’ music subculture with which hallucinogen use is commonly associated (Tramacchi, 2000, Luckman, 2003). In the absence of existing literature regarding recreational DMT use, this study is exploratory in nature and seeks to identify the demographics and general pattern of use, as well as subjective effects and attitudes towards DMT in a sample of recreational users of the drug.

Section snippets

Sample

Individuals who were Australian residents aged 18 years and over and who had used DMT at least once in their lifetime were recruited for the study. Data were collected between July and August 2009, with participants recruited via ‘snowballing’ (Biernacki and Waldorf, 1981) involving individuals known to the researchers, and an advertisement in an Australian hallucinogen-related internet newsletter that contained a link to an online questionnaire. Respondents were assured of their anonymity and

Demographic characteristics

A total of 121 lifetime DMT users were recruited, the majority of whom were male (86%). Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 68 years, with a median age of 28 years. The majority of respondents were Australian-born (86.8%) and one reported being of indigenous Australian descent. Almost three-quarters (73.6%) reported having no religious affiliation, and only 4.1% belonged to a mainstream monotheistic religion such as Christianity. The remainder cited pantheistic religions (e.g. shamanism;

Discussion

This study provides the first comprehensive investigation of recreational DMT use by examining 121 Australian DMT users. Sample demographics indicate that DMT users are generally employed or undertaking higher education, and are less likely to be subject to the social and economic marginalisation characteristic of other drug using populations (Room, 2005).

The main routes of administration for recreational use were smoking DMT and ayahuasca, with smoking being the most common method. Given that

Conclusions

This sample of recreational DMT users was recruited primarily by snowball sampling. Snowballing has the advantage of using social networks to gain access to ‘hidden’ populations such as illicit drug users (Thompson and Collins, 2002, Biernacki and Waldorf, 1981). This is particularly advantageous given that DMT remains an infrequently used drug in most Western countries including Australia, and it is doubtful that such a large sample could be obtained without doing so. However, the very

Role of funding source

Nothing declared.

Contributors

V.C. and J.P. developed the questionnaire and recruited participants. A.M. conducted data analysis and literature review. V.C. wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and J.P. and A.M. subsequently edited and finalised drafts. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

No conflict declared.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Vince Polito and Monica Barratt for offering suggestions on earlier drafts.

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