The first clinical trial of the psychedelic drug dimethyltriptamine (DMT) to treat depression will soon be underway in the UK, thanks to the go ahead from regulators.
The study is being led by neuropharmaceutical company Small Pharma, in conjunction with Imperial College London, one of the global leaders in psychedelic research.
The trial will begin with healthy individuals, but a second trial is expected to follow in which depressed patients receive the drug alongside psychotherapy. The treatment will be modeled after psilocybin studies, which have paved the way for a myriad of psychedelic medicines to follow.
DMT is one of the most powerful known psychoactive compounds on the planet. It is the main compound in ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew that has been consumed for thousands of years, mainly by South Americans.
A naturally-occuring compound, DMT can be found in many plant species around the world and is also produced endogenously within the human body. It is said that we undergo a natural release of DMT when we are born, when we dream, and when we die.
Unlike like psychoactive mushrooms or LSD, which last between 4-8 hours, a smoked or injected dose of DMT lasts only 10-20 minutes. Although it is short, a DMT experience elicits incredibly powerful visuals that feel “out of this world,” and a temporary disconnect to one’s body and this plane of reality.
Users often report encountering entities that appear to exist autonomously in other realms. These entities are said to offer guidance, support, and love. Some users also claim that they have received “energetic surgery” from the entities, and once they returned from the experience, were free from pain, addictions, negative thought patterns and behaviours they had previously suffered from.
We at GVT have used DMT therapeutically for a number of years, and can personally vouch for its unfathomable power to heal and assist in our evolution. Neither of us would be where we are today without the support and guidance we have received from the entities and the visions the medicine showed us.
We applaud this monumental step forward, and commend the excellent work being done by Small Pharma and Imperial College London.
-Dallas
To learn more about the study, read this article by The Guardian.