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

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.

Keywords: Dimethyltryptamine, DMT, Ayahuasca, Hallucinogens, Psychedelics