The Spice Must Flow: The Short, Intense Trip of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)In reference to the novel Dune and its depiction of the drug called "spice," the novel hallucinogenic compound DMT has been widely nicknamed "spice" by contemporary users. DMT is a component of psychoactive preparations employed historically for shamanic, spiritual, and medicinal purposes by numerous indigenous populations within the Americas. It is also a controlled substance in most countries, banned as a “drug of abuse." With its popularity on the rise in recent years, in this paper I examine how DMT moved out of the jungles of the Amazon to become increasingly well known in the West. DMT has undergone a variety of processes that have furthered its geographical diffusion, including synthesis and scientific research; its importance to the ayahuasca religions founded in Brazil; and its increasing popularization in contemporary culture through a variety of artistic mediums and movements.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015, Pollak LIbrary