Rick Strassman

In 1990, Rick Strassman began the first new human research with psychedelic, or hallucinogenic, drugs in the United States in over 20 years. These studies investigated the effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an extremely short-acting and powerful psychedelic produced by the human brain and an active ingredient in ayahuasca, an entheogenic brew consumed by Latin American indigenous peoples as part of religious ceremonies. 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, where he was tenured Associate Professor of Psychiatry. Strassman has conjectured that when a person is approaching death, the pineal gland releases DMT, thus accounting for much of the imagery reported by survivors of near-death experiences.

Strassman has also conducted similar research using Psilocybin, a psychedelic alkaloid found in hallucinogenic mushrooms.