Rick Strassman
Born	Los Angeles, California

Dr. Rick Strassman (born 1952 in Los Angeles, California, United States ^[1]) is a medical doctor specialized in psychiatry with a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research.^[1] Dr. Strassman was the first person in the United States after twenty years of intermission to embark in human research with psychedelic, hallucinogenic, or entheogenic substances. During the intermission period, research was restricted by law to animals studies only.

Contents 1 Clinical research 2 See also 3 Further reading 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Clinical research

Dr. Strassman's studies investigated the effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a powerful entheogen, or psychedelic, that he hypothesizes is produced by the human brain in the pineal gland. DMT is found naturally in various natural sources, and is closely related to human neurotransmitters such as serotonin and melatonin. During the project's five years, he administered approximately 400 doses of DMT to 60 human volunteers. This research took place at the University of New Mexico's School of Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he was tenured Associate Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Strassman has conjectured that when a person is approaching death, the pineal gland releases DMT, accounting for much of the imagery reported by survivors of near-death experiences. It should also be noted that DMT is released on the forty-ninth day of fetus development, something Dr. Strassman has attributed to being the beginning of the soul. The necessary constituents (see methyltransferases) needed to make DMT are found in the pineal. He wrote about the research program in his book DMT: The Spirit Molecule, and a documentary movie based on this book is currently in production. ^[2] Dr. Strassman has also conducted similar research using psilocybin, a psychedelic alkaloid found in hallucinogenic mushrooms.

[edit] See also

• Terence McKenna
• Jonathan Ott
• Alexander Shulgin
• David E. Nichols

[edit] Further reading

• Rick Strassman (with Slawek Wojtowicz, Luis Eduardo Luna and Ede Frecska), "Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies" , 376 pages, Park Street Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1594772245

• Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, 320 pages, Park Street Press, 2001, ISBN 0-89281-927-8

• Rick Strassman, Hallucinogens (chapter), in Mind-Altering Drugs: The Science Of Subjective Experience, 402 pages, Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-19-516531-4

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Rick Strassman". http://www.rickstrassman.com/pages/about/. 
2. ^ "DMT: The Spirit Molecule (movie)". http://www.thespiritmolecule.com. 

[edit] External links

• Official homepage
• Rick Strassman: Profile and bibliography
• Erowid Character Vaults: Rick Strassman
• Cottonwood Research Foundation
• Interview with Rick Strassman
• Interview with Rick Strassman on DMT research and its connection to near-death experiences

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