Many folks, myself included, feel pretty terrified at the prospect of imbibing the psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT. It’s sometimes referred to as the “Everest of psychedelics,” recounted through numerous trip reports as ego-obliterating and all-but instantly inciting near-death experiences that feel indistinguishable from an actual-death experience. Even Stanislav Grof, in a 2018 interview with Tim Ferriss, described his 5-MeO-DMT experience as “by far the most powerful psychedelic experience I’ve ever had… beyond anything I could imagine,” elaborating in a separate interview that, “Any dose of any other substance did not even come close to this one.”
That is coming from a man whom Albert Hofmann named the “godfather” of LSD, who, in the 1970s, was working with LSD doses up to 1500 micrograms. From Grof, such statements cannot be taken lightly.
While naturally-occurring 5-MeO-DMT can be found in many places, its highest concentration is found in the secreted venom of the Sonoran Desert Toad, known also as Bufo alvarius. Hence, it is commonly referred to as “Bufo,” or simply “the Toad.” While known to fill some folks with terror, 5-MeO-DMT opens countless others to an experience of cosmic bliss that can neither be described nor understood.
So what if there are methods to help enhance these positive effects, while decreasing the chances for a negative impact? Thanks to recent investigation into the scantily-researched psychedelic, it appears that there are.
Benefit Enhancement With 5-MeO-DMT
In late 2019, Psychedelic Times published an elaborate account of an epidemiological survey study into the persisting effects of 5-MeO-DMT experiences. Rafael Lancelotta, one of the core researchers, explained that the study’s results suggested unique clinical viability for 5-MeO-DMT, which could potentially aid the treatment of a host of mental health conditions. Of the 515 respondents, upwards of 80% reported significant improvements in depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Due to its fast acting nature, 5-MeO-DMT could potentially help people within a fraction of the time required from substances such as psilocybin and MDMA.
Following the publication of the survey study, Lancelotta spearheaded further data analysis of the survey’s results. His resulting publication, co-authored with Dr. Alan Davis, was published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs in March of 2020. Entitled “Use of Benefit Enhancement Strategies among 5- Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) Users: Associations with Mystical, Challenging, and Enduring Effects,” Lancelotta’s new research established strong correlations between specific techniques respondents implemented in their 5-MeO experiences and positive subjective results.
“We had been looking at different subsets of the large survey and other relationships we could find with this data,” Lancelotta explained to Psychedelic Times. “I have been passionate about harm reduction, so this was intended to be a harm reduction study.”