I don't mean to stir up any controversy with this thread, but I've been giving some thought to this subject of late. I am leaning towards the conclusion that psychoactive alkaloids should not be inhaled, but rather that they should be orally consumed on all counts. This statement applies to DMT, Salvinorin-A, Cannabinoids, and any other alkaloids that have been or are commonly smoked. Vaporization is an improved means of inhalation, but I'm not talking specifically about the hazards of smoking. I'm focusing more on the actual experience itself.

I spent a lot of time, effort, and money to extract DMT from mhrb, but when I simply brewed a cup of tea and threw my head back, I found what I was really looking for all along. This mirrors my past experiences with Cannabis, and more recently with Salvia quid. I'm not saying that there isn't a time or place for inhaling psychedelics, but what I'm really getting at is that maybe that's not the point...and never was. In my experience, smoking these substances turns them into recreational drugs, while oral consumption retains the medicinal value. I might experience anxiety before smoking inhaling DMT, but I'm stricken with fear before drinking ayahuasca. I can remember being younger--I still am young--and being strongly opposed to smoking tobacco. I still refuse to do so, but I've found myself making allowances for psychedelics, and perhaps I shouldn't be.

Anyway, what do you think? I suppose this could be a case of "to each his own" or something of the like, but you can resolve almost any argument that way. I'm not saying there's a right or a wrong in this case, but certainly I'm suggesting that there's a better and a worse.

I actually tend to agree.

Its been mentioned many times before with DMT but when smoked its hard to take much of a learning experience from it. Not saying you cant because that would most definitely be inaccurate.

Its more natural to take something orally.

Coming from an evolutionary perspective when we were in forests looking to survive, we would try different herbs and plants by mouth as a source of food. Not smoked.

This notion you mention has always been something I have deeply felt as well on a personal level. I've just never verbalized it as you have.

Kind Regards

I really prefer oral to smoking. By far the biggest reason for this is the state of the launchpad. When you drink aya, you just have to drink 2 cups of liquids (you get used to the taste), and then you KNOW you have almost a full hour to get comfortable and quiet your mind. When you smoke, you KNOW that you're gonna lift off within seconds, your mind will be racing and heart will be pounding, it's gonna get difficult to operate the lighter at a point, and there's a chance that you will stay in a very uncomfortable pose when you lose awareness of your body.

Not to mention the fact that the oral experience is tenfold longer, so you have more time to be immersed in the flow and absorb. But I guess for people with very hectic and social lives, the shortness of the smoked experience is actually preferable. But that's the only good side to smoking I can think of, and it doesn't even apply to me so for me there's no good sides to it.

Well I guess there's also the issue of having a pure DMT experience vs. having a DMT + harmala experience. But I don't have enough experience yet to somehow prefer either one more than the other.

I would certainly agree that oral DMT is better than vaporized DMT, because it's less of a shock and gives more time to absorb everything.

On the other hand, with cannabis the 3 hour experience that it gives is plenty to absorb all that it has to offer, so this effect is much less dramatic. Besides, I'm pretty sure I heard that smoking cannabis 2-3 times a month increases lung capacity over both non-users and habitual users. I don't think cannabis should be used much more than weekly anyway, but that's just my opinion.

As far as Salvinorin a goes (which is actually not an alkaloid), I've only smoked it, so I can't quite comment on oral intake. However, I have had many great experiences smoking it, and I think that I've gained a lot from it. I really should try sublingual use though, it's long overdue and I kind of have a feeling that it will actually be better...

Really, each substance's preferable ROA is different, and it largely depends on the individual.