{"id":50239,"date":"2020-02-28T23:49:01","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T23:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/what-is-dmt-and-what-does-the-psychedelic-drug-do-to-us-exactly\/"},"modified":"2020-02-28T23:49:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T23:49:01","slug":"what-is-dmt-and-what-does-the-psychedelic-drug-do-to-us-exactly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/culture\/what-is-dmt-and-what-does-the-psychedelic-drug-do-to-us-exactly\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is DMT and What Does the Psychedelic Drug Do to Us Exactly?"},"content":{"rendered":"

DMT, a psychedelic derived from certain plants native to Central and South America, has gotten the attention of North America\u2019s cool kids in recent years. It\u2019s not a new drug, but since DMT is currently making its way into vape pens<\/u><\/a> and vacation brochures, it\u2019s probably a good idea to get caught up on what this compound is, what it does, and how it could change modern medicine in the coming years.<\/p>\n

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Where Does DMT Come From?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DMT, or N-dimethyltryptamine, is also known as the \u201cspirit molecule\u201d or \u201cGod molecule,\u201d due to its profound and deeply touching psychoactive effects. DMT is one of a few famous psychedelic compounds that chemically resembles a natural neurotransmitter found in our brains called serotonin. (The other psychedelics that are chemically similar to serotonin are LSD<\/u><\/a>, psilocybin and psilocin<\/u><\/a>, and, to a lesser extent, MDMA<\/u><\/a>.) DMT can be found in the entheogenic plant<\/u><\/a> ayahuasca, but it\u2019s also produced by jurema, the chaliponga vine, the chacrona shrub, virola bark, and the yopo and vilca trees. <\/p>\n

Most of these plants are found in South or Central America. Local indigenous cultures, through religious or spiritual rites, have consumed DMT or DMT-containing plants for thousands of years<\/u><\/a>. Only in the \u201860s, after American suburbanites started regularly tripping on psychedelics, did some boomers start referring to the DMT experience colloquially as a \u201cbusinessman\u2019s trip\u201d or \u201cbusiness trip,\u201d due to its incredibly short duration. In other words, some corporate type could trip out on DMT during her lunch break, then go right back to work immediately after soaring through the cosmos \u2014 or so the joke goes\u2026 <\/p>\n

Scientists have also discovered DMT naturally occurring in some animal brains<\/u><\/a>, and there’s good reason to suspect that the human brain<\/u><\/a> naturally produces it in small amounts, too. (This is different from the contested theory that the human body makes DMT in the pineal gland, which gets released upon death.) Why the mammalian brain makes some DMT remains a mystery, but it seems ridiculous that a chemical made in our own bodies can be classified a Schedule I drug<\/u><\/a> in the US. And does that mean anyone\u2019s brain, by law, could be considered criminal contraband by extension? Hmmm\u2026<\/p>\n