The Hamilton Morris Podcast
POD 133: Dr. Andrew Gallimore on DMTx and the DMT Island
A long, far-ranging discussion with chemist and neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Gallimore about his continuous DMT infusion project (DMTx), his book Death by Astonishment, and his broader vision for psychedelic research beyond government control.
Websites:
Dr. Andrew Gallimore — Key Points
- Plans for a psychedelic island dedicated to DMT research, designed to operate independently from government bureaucracy.
- Possible futures: a utopia of open research for the enlightened wealthy, or a cult-like nightmare?
- Noonautics as the overarching framework for extended DMT exploration.
- The island would serve both as a research center and retreat, with infrastructure for self-sufficient chemical synthesis and design of new psychoactive compounds.
- Visitors could observe the chemistry behind the experiences, like a “psychedelic microbrewery.”
- Discussion of the Kafkaesque bureaucracy surrounding psychedelic research approval.
- The extended-state DMT (DMTx) system aims to maintain subjects in continuous immersion, offering new insight into the structure of the DMT realm.
- Mentions MXE in relation to altered-state pharmacology.
Philosophical Reflections
- Morris asks if people who already hold non-physicalist worldviews handle the intensity of DMT better.
- Gallimore answers that belief in spirits or demons offers no protection — such frameworks can collapse even harder when confronted with DMT’s deeper realities.
- ( a rather simplistic, top-down view — especially for those who never actually took it.)
- Mentions a “baker review” suggesting DMT might play a protective role for the brain, supporting Rick Strassman’s hypothesis that DMT release might preserve neural integrity during near-death states.
- Notes an enzyme (INMT) converting tryptamine to DMT, said to be inhibited by a short peptide found in rabbit brain/blood.
Historical Context — DMT’s Discovery
- 1852: Richard Spruce drinks ayahuasca (caapi) but not enough for a full visionary effect.
- For over a century, scientists struggled to identify the active compound behind this “gateway to the spirit world.”
- 1956: Stephen Szára isolates and identifies DMT as the active molecule, previously thought to be harmala alkaloids or bufotenin.
- 1950s: William Burroughs travels to Colombia seeking yage (Ayahuasca) and discovers Chacruna as the DMT-containing plant.
- Homer Pinkley, a student of Richard Schultes, later receives much of the credit.
- Researchers initially found DMT orally inactive, only understanding it a decade later when the role of MAO inhibitors was uncovered.
- Dennis McKenna later demonstrated that combining DMT with MAO inhibitors (harmala alkaloids) made it orally active — confirming earlier hypotheses about ayahuasca.
- 1978: American ethnobotanist Jeremy Bigwood tested this by ingesting 100 mg DMT freebase with a similar dose of harmaline, confirming the synergistic effect.
Full article: Nature’s Strangest Psychedelic Is Everywhere — Literary Hub