After reading too many posts about people who describe smoking 50mg and larger doses, yet report only average/typical effects, I thought about the obvious – it’s obvious that in many cases the amount of DMT that gets into one’s blood stream is much smaller than the amount loaded into one’s smoking device.
So where does it all go? I’ve come up with six factors/sources that effectively reduce the amount of a dose:
1. Purity
The first obvious source of loss is lack of purity. Although many people sing the praises of yellow/orange spice, it’s not clear exactly what all of the impurities might be. Some impurities may be active, some may enhance activity, but others may just produce lots of noxious inactive smoke.
So, for example, if someone measures a dose of 50mg of DMT containing 10% inactive impurities, then 5mg of active dose has already been lost.
2. Pyrolysis
Thermally decomposed DMT is no longer DMT. At its most extreme, it’s mainly carbon, some simple carbon compounds, maybe a few simple nitrogen compounds, and who knows what else. These compounds are not psychoactive. Depending on technique and device used, a large portion of a dose can be lost due to pyrolysis.
Any device that slowly “cooks” DMT, such as a light bulb vaporizer, or any device that subjects DMT to direct flame or extremely high heat will tend to destroy much of a dose before it’s inhaled, producing noxious non-psychoactive byproducts in the process.
3. Condensation
DMT vapor condenses very quickly, especially on cold surfaces. It also seems that DMT condenses much more readily on a surface that is already coated with a film of previously condensed DMT.
Any device which has a long circuitous route from bowl to mouth or holds the vapor for a prolonged time will lead to more condensation than a device with a very short route (a fancy bong with all kinds of cooling attachments added vs. a short straight glass pipe).
A device with lots of old DMT condensation built up will also tend to increase the amount of condensation, so it’s important to keep things clean.
4. Flow
When DMT liquefies, it becomes very fluid and dynamic. It will move along temperature gradients from hotter areas to cooler areas. For example, if DMT is piled on several screens in a glass pipe, most of it will flow toward the glass surfaces and down the pipe stem, moving out of range of the heat source. And generally, the larger the dose, the more likely this will happen.
5. Exhalation
DMT takes a certain amount of time to move from air in the lungs to the blood stream. Very little of a dose that is quickly and shallowly inhaled then rapidly exhaled will get absorbed.
6. Rate of Consumption
Without an MAOI, DMT is quickly metabolized. A small dose of a few milligrams may be largely metabolized in 30 seconds or less. This would suggest that fewer and larger inhalations will lead to a higher peak concentration of DMT than will more numerous smaller inhalations.
If you consider that a few milligrams are lost to impurities, several more milligrams lost to pyrolysis, a couple milligrams lost to condensation, a good amount lost to flow, and more are lost to quick exhalation and small hits, then it’s easily conceivable that only a peak 20mg or so of a 50mg dose is making its way to the blood stream.
So where does it all go? I’ve come up with six factors/sources that effectively reduce the amount of a dose:
1. Purity
The first obvious source of loss is lack of purity. Although many people sing the praises of yellow/orange spice, it’s not clear exactly what all of the impurities might be. Some impurities may be active, some may enhance activity, but others may just produce lots of noxious inactive smoke.
So, for example, if someone measures a dose of 50mg of DMT containing 10% inactive impurities, then 5mg of active dose has already been lost.
2. Pyrolysis
Thermally decomposed DMT is no longer DMT. At its most extreme, it’s mainly carbon, some simple carbon compounds, maybe a few simple nitrogen compounds, and who knows what else. These compounds are not psychoactive. Depending on technique and device used, a large portion of a dose can be lost due to pyrolysis.
Any device that slowly “cooks” DMT, such as a light bulb vaporizer, or any device that subjects DMT to direct flame or extremely high heat will tend to destroy much of a dose before it’s inhaled, producing noxious non-psychoactive byproducts in the process.
3. Condensation
DMT vapor condenses very quickly, especially on cold surfaces. It also seems that DMT condenses much more readily on a surface that is already coated with a film of previously condensed DMT.
Any device which has a long circuitous route from bowl to mouth or holds the vapor for a prolonged time will lead to more condensation than a device with a very short route (a fancy bong with all kinds of cooling attachments added vs. a short straight glass pipe).
A device with lots of old DMT condensation built up will also tend to increase the amount of condensation, so it’s important to keep things clean.
4. Flow
When DMT liquefies, it becomes very fluid and dynamic. It will move along temperature gradients from hotter areas to cooler areas. For example, if DMT is piled on several screens in a glass pipe, most of it will flow toward the glass surfaces and down the pipe stem, moving out of range of the heat source. And generally, the larger the dose, the more likely this will happen.
5. Exhalation
DMT takes a certain amount of time to move from air in the lungs to the blood stream. Very little of a dose that is quickly and shallowly inhaled then rapidly exhaled will get absorbed.
6. Rate of Consumption
Without an MAOI, DMT is quickly metabolized. A small dose of a few milligrams may be largely metabolized in 30 seconds or less. This would suggest that fewer and larger inhalations will lead to a higher peak concentration of DMT than will more numerous smaller inhalations.
If you consider that a few milligrams are lost to impurities, several more milligrams lost to pyrolysis, a couple milligrams lost to condensation, a good amount lost to flow, and more are lost to quick exhalation and small hits, then it’s easily conceivable that only a peak 20mg or so of a 50mg dose is making its way to the blood stream.
