Warning, DMT dangerous to health.
<<After one to five minutes, users report "DMT hyperspace" and "alien music".>> I now suspect that Ray C. and Jim W. had been refering to THIS substance. :-) sg
Friday, May 8, 1998
Sydney Times
Teen trippers trying dangerous "natural" drug
By LINDA DOHERTY
A powerful new hallucinogenic drug has hit NSW's coastal strip, with teenagers smoking parts of a "very common native tree" in ritual ceremonies, a drug expert warned yesterday.
Known as DMT, the drug is also being manufactured synthetically as a white crystal called dimethyltryptamine and is "so underground" that its price and availability are unknown.
Mr Paul Dillon, spokesman for the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, said drug educators were extremely concerned that information on dangerous drugs such as DMT was freely available on unregulated Internet sites.
Before the explosion of Internet information, designer drugs had taken about two years to reach Australia, but were now being seen "in a matter of months".
"One of the Net sites says as soon as you take it [DMT], you need some cushions behind you because you fall over," Mr Dillon said.
In recent months, teachers and police had reported frightened teenagers on DMT "running through fields" and several drug laboratories had been discovered.
DMT has been confined largely to the State's coastal strip, where the tree is found. Drug educators refuse to release the tree's name, fearing it would encourage experimentation by teenagers.
"It's an incredibly powerful drug," Mr Dillon said. "They tend to use it in ceremonial situations, much like young people play with ouija boards."
The Minister for Health, Dr Refshauge, said: "This is a dangerous drug that takes effect very quickly, dramatically increasing heart rate and blood pressure. The effect is both strong and unpleasant, prompting fear and paranoia."
Mr Dillon said naturally occurring hallucinogenic drugs were becoming more popular in Australia among risk-taking teenagers, because of a false perception that "natural highs" from drugs such as DMT, datura and mescaline were less harmful than synthetic drugs.
DMT causes intense visual hallucinations and powerful "trips" lasting 10 minutes followed by milder effects for another 30 minutes, according to the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.
One Internet site says the drug "tastes like burning plastic" and after 30 seconds to one minute, "users believe their heart or breathing has stopped".
After one to five minutes, users report "DMT hyperspace" and "alien music".
Few studies had been conducted on DMT, but it has been known on the British dance club scene for two years.
NSW Health says that signs of drug-taking in adolescents include unusual behaviour change over a long period, mood swings, secrecy, trouble at school or with police, a sudden change of friends, an unexplained need for money and increasing isolation.
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