Rick Strassman, M.D.

Rick Strassman is a U.S. psychiatrist who conducted DMT and psilocybin studies at the University of New Mexico from 1990 to 1995. His 1994 clinical IV DMT dose-response study with colleagues examined dose-related subjective effects in twelve experienced volunteers and tested the Hallucinogen Rating Scale. The study is solid evidence that DMT can produce rapid, intense, and temporary changes in perception, affect, and consciousness; it is not a test for other dimensions or independently existing beings. In his later book DMT: The Spirit Molecule and public conversations, Strassman also discussed possible spiritual, parallel-universe, or non-material interpretations of some participants’ reports. Those ideas are relevant as the views of a study author and public writer, but must be distinguished from the findings of his clinical publications. UNM confirms a 1990–1995 period for his studies. Several practical and ethical reasons are described for a subsequent research phase that did not take place; the assertion that research was stopped because studies proved contact with external entities is not supported by the original sources examined here.