What Is DMT Used For?
DMT has no approved uses in the United States. However, a certain religious group (the Santo Daime Church) in the United States have managed to win the rights in court to use DMT in their services based on religious freedom.
DMT is used for its hallucinogenic effects for spiritual reasons (users believe that their psychosis amounts to a meaningful vision, or mental clarity) or for simply seeking a “trip.” The Amazonian indigenous people continue to use it for their shamanic rituals, some Brazilian churches use it in their sacraments for inducing religious experiences and it has spread to many other countries for use in a similar capacity.
Although researchers can apply for special permission to use DMT for clinical trials, the drug has been studied very little due to its legal status. However, there is very limited, preliminary suggestion within the science community that DMT may be useful for treating addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorder, prisoner recidivism and treatment-resistant depression. Given the unsafe nature of hallucinogen use, the research community is cautious about considering their potential medical uses.
DMT Classification
DMT is a Schedule I drug in the United States, meaning that it has no approved medical uses and has addiction potential. That means that it is illegal to possess, buy, sell or manufacture DMT.
DMT drug classification as a hallucinogen can be further broken down. There are two types of hallucinogen drugs:
- Dissociatives: The individual feels “out of body” and disconnected from the real world feels out of control.
- Classic hallucinogens: Hallucinations, which are visual, auditory or touch sensations that are not real but the individual believes they are real; other psychosis symptoms such as paranoia, disorganized thought and loss of touch with reality.
DMT is a classic hallucinogen drug, similar to other classic hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin, peyote and 251-NBOMe). Dissociative drugs include PCP, ketamine, dextromethorphan and salvia.