"DMT: The Spirit Molecule" by Rick Strassman

What surprised me was to finally find a critique of psychedelics by an avid proponent of the substances. As opposed to the usual praise towards the psychedelics discussed, Rick notes various reasons why he stopped the research of DMT and the risks that he uncovered. However, the risks are mostly having bad trips, which nowadays people aren't that afraid of, and maybe they think of them as therapeutic too.

If you want to learn about how psychedelic research was conducted in the post-war-on-drug era, this is the book for you. Strassman includes various anecdotes about how he dealt with government agencies and how cumbersome it was to find a source of DMT.

I found the reports by the people who took DMT in the study amusing. I might seek more similar literature to get more opinions from those who have undergone the studies.

On the other hand, Rick's speculations on DMT and explanations of why people see what they see under its influence are admirable, at least. After all, this book was written in 2001, at the very beginning of the neo-psychedelic era, when not much was known about how they work.

Overall, if you want to learn about where the DMT studies began or even how the psychedelic studies were conducted, pick up this book!