Hi all, first I'd like to say that it's a pleasure to be here. I have used the boards here as a valuable and extremely interesting source of information for some time and thought I would join as I would like to contribute where I can and certainly keep on learning. I have used psychedelics, both for fun and as tools, for many years and have found them, particularly mescaline and lsd, to have been of great help in relation to maintaining personal balance and insight in a difficult world.
Something that particularly interests me is the use of psychedelics as a tool for preparing for death and facing ones own mortality. I am a support worker and many of my clients are in the last stages of life, suffering from terminal illness. Difficult transitions that most of us must face, perhaps not made easier by western culture in which death is somewhat taboo.
I am much looking forward to becoming part of the community here and hope to contribute as well as learn.
Thankyou for having me everyone.

Tony

Hey Tony, that sounds like quite the job. Welcome to the Nexus!

Thankyou ragabr.

welcome to the Nexus Tony!!

well, Tony, you appear to have some company...you have heard the story of Aldous Huxley's final hours?

That sounds like a very engaging job. DMT is definitely worth exploring in that context.

Thankyou very much for all the replies, I have been made to feel most welcome! My work certainly is engaging, rewarding on some levels, deeply saddening and frustrating on others. Hopefully I shall get to know you all and I look forward to meeting and talking through the forum. There seems to be a huge wealth of knowledge here and some great minds.
Peace and good thoughts.
Tony

Have you used DMT yet? I'll look forward to hearing your take on it when you do. I'm sure your job and frame of reference will provide a pretty interesting backdrop from which to begin to explore.

No, I haven't used DMT, but have wanted to for many years. I live in a fairly small pacific nation and have limited access. The plant materials available have been heat treated before being allowed into the country as part of our agricultural laws, so I haven't obtained any as I'm not sure whether they will still be active.

welcome friend! nice to have such a diverse community with people from all around

Indeed psychedelics can help us face our own mortality. Death has been the theme of several of my experiences and it can help us appreciate each moment even more. Its interesting how in different cultures, like with the Sufis, for example, visualization of one's own death was used as an active kind of meditation to help one become more aware and to promote inner growth through the realizations these thoughts can bring. Interesting that you are a support worker, im sure you have learned a lot in this work, about humanity, emotions, and about yourself too. Ill be glad to read what more you have to say about your experiences.

btw, as for the dmt and plants comment.. how are the imported plants treated? If you can find this out, we can check whether this affects alkaloids or not. If its just heat, then how much heat?

you can maybe import mimosa and it possibly wont even be treated, if its not specifically labelled in the package that its plant material. Mimosa is often sold as clothes dye, so maybe it would pass unnoticed (or even if it is treated, it could be its no problem, depending how its treated, as I mentioned)

See you around

Thankyou endlessness, I had some profound experiences with Datura myself, some years ago, in which death was the predominant theme, more so than any other entheogen I have experienced, perhaps because it's so toxic. I found what I took from the experiences to be more positive than anything else, at least with regards to my perception of the world and place in it.
I am learning all the time with my work, and life, as we all should. The people I meet through my work can be extremely vulnerable but also quite amazing in the essence of themselves. The dignity I see is remarkably humbling and I am constantly amazed at the resilience of the human spirit.


About the import of plant matter, My understanding of the heat treatment process is that the material is kept at about 90d celcius for 15 hours. I would be interested to hear what effect that would have on the alkaloids, it certainly is not friendly towards ergine alkaloids in Hawaiian baby woodrose! But I think I'm right in saying that DMT and Bufotenine alkaloids are more stable in this regard and therefore more tolerant of heat, up to a point? Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

90c should be no problem to DMT. In the plant, it is present as some kind of salt form (some people speculate probably dmt tannate due to tannins in plant, but nobody really knows for sure), and in this salt form it is quite heat stable. Think about it, in a typical A/B extraction or when making a mimosa brew, people boil (100c) a mimosa solution for several hours without any problem! That dmt salt's boiling point seems significantly higher than water's boiling point. If it was in freebase form (i.e. already extracted, which isnt the case), it could be different. There is some controversy on what's dmt freebase's boiling point, as in some places its stated that its quite under 100c but experiments from people seem to point out pretty clearly that its even higher than 100c. Just to continue the thought here, even though this is not your case, if dmt freebase was exposed to heat for this long, it would quite possibly turn it into dmt n-oxide, which is an oily product, but still perfectly psychoactive.

As for bufotenine (which is not present in mimosa, im sure you know that... maybe you were thinking of importing yopo/cebil seeds?), its even safer! Even in freebase form, its boiling point is ridiculously high, as you can see here: 320c ! So it would be really no problem there.

So summing up: If that 'mild' heat is all that they do to plant sources, importing these ethnobotanicals would be no problem.

Good luck!

Thanks endlessness. Sorry it's taken so long to reply, I seem to have been particularly busy of late and only checking this forum for information occasionally. That's good to know regarding the heat etc. I was somewhat worried about the matter sitting for so long at such a temperature but after further reading and your own reply that obviously won't be a problem. It's amazing just how much misleading information there is out there!
You are quite right about the bufo, I have some Cebil seeds now and they are active so quite obviously stand up to heat treatment very well. I am much looking forward to getting some mimosa in the next few weeks and experimenting.

Tony

Please report back.

One of the things psychedelics have awakened in me and that DMT has very much reinforced is the idea that perhaps when we die there is something. It sounds benign, for me it's not. I've long been convinced that there was nothing before and after this, and I even wished for that, but DMT has participated in changing that fundamental view. In that sense, it does very much relate to death, in a very complex and colorful way