What Is Pharmahuasca?
Ahh, ayahuasca.
An Amazonian brew known to be particularly foul-tasting (and smelling) while simultaneously giving you visions of the known and unknown world, connecting you to yourself and the Earth and all the energy around you, providing spiritual guidance and potentially answering all your questions.
Or so I’ve heard— I’ve never tried it.
Maybe it’s the near-unavoidable (indeed, more often than not guaranteed) promise of group vomiting, or maybe it’s the turn off of retreats (I think I’m just more of a solo flier), but while I did entertain the idea of an ayahuasca journey last summer, I came to the conclusion that it was simply not time for me (yet). But while for some time I did think it was time, I did a hefty bit of research in preparation for the journey, and this research took me down the hole of pharmahuasca, a DIY dorm room version of ayahuasca, which, with some basic science knowledge, you can easily make at home, because anyone can be a shaman.
But should you?
What the hell is pharmahuasca?
Pharmahuasca, now well-known enough in the psychonaut community to have its own Wikipedia page, is basically a stripped-down, pharmaceutical version of ayahuasca, possibly devoid of any spiritual purpose, but with the same chemical and biological effects.
Let’s break it down — from the beginning.
Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca, like Vietnamese pho and Indian biryani, has as many recipes as there are brewers, servers, and shamans. Typically, however, it is prepared with Banisteriopsis caapi, a South American vine widely associated with ayahuasca, which is boiled down and often mixed with other plants, such as chacruna or Mimosa tenuiflora, which both contain DMT, or really any number of assorted plants and herbs that vary radically based on the brewer/cook/shaman.
The psychoactive effects of ayahuasca come from the DMT, which most of us know as a fairly short-acting psychedelic. It’s also not typically orally active — you can’t just have a DMT gummy bear, for instance (but imagine!). DMT must be mixed with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) to prolong its effects and make it work orally. In this case, it’s caapi vine, which contains three harmala alkaloids: harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine, which act as MAOIs.
This was a quick overview of ayahuasca and how it works.
Now, back to the pharmacy.
Making pharmahuasca
Now that you have a basic idea of how ayahuasca works and a (very, very) basic idea of the science and chemical reaction that occurs in it, you might be able to see that, well, taking any MAOI and mixing it with DMT would create the same type of concoction.
Great idea.
Essentially, anyone with a decent understanding of chemistry, a safe place to play scientist, and access to both DMT (although, it’s worth noting that many people advocate for making their own DMT, which, apparently, is something that most people with a certain knowledge of basic chemistry can do— although I myself have never done this, not possessing said knowledge) and harmine can prepare their own Frankenstein version of ayahuasca in their belly.
Here’s how you do it.
First, acquire (or make) DMT. These days, DMT, both in vape and crystal form, is fairly accessible online. Just be careful when buying and ordering — make sure you can trust your source.
Second, acquire harmine, harmaline, or a synthetic MAOI.
Harmine can be found in a lot of organisms, mostly plants; Syrian rue is a common one. It can be extracted via a variety of methods and then placed in capsules, but some folks on Reddit recommend making a Syrian rue tea. Some people take just the Syrian rue seeds.
Dosages of each of these substances vary, but many threads have suggested starting with 30mg of DMT and 4g of Syrian rue (or whatever MAOI you’re using). Others have said that 100mg of DMT is the bare minimum to start tripping. As with most drugs, experience and ideal dosages vary wildly, but, in the name of harm reduction, we at Shroomtown advise you to start low and go slow. 30 to 50mg seems like a common enough “standard” dose. In any case, the oral dose of DMT will always be higher than what you would normally smoke or vape.
A general rule of thumb seems to be the more MAOI, the less nausea; the more DMT, the more intense the visual trip, and, of course, the less MAOI, the more DMT you’ll need to actually trip.
So, how do you take it?
First, you’d consume your MAOI. If it’s a capsule of harmine, just take that with some water. If it’s Syrian rue tea, just, uh, drink it like normal.
About 15 to 30 minutes later is when most people seem to say they take the oral DMT. Adepteus Psychonautica has a fairly detailed video on how to make your own pharmahuasca here if you’re interested in diving a bit deeper into the actual science and process.
Why Pharmahuasca?
First off, not everyone wants to (or can) go on an ayahuasca retreat, whether it’s in a Brooklyn apartment, LA mansion, or Mexican resort. Some people just want the freedom and opportunity to experiment with psychedelics on their own in their rooms. And we support that.
Some folks also prefer DMT to the often nausea-inducing (and long-lasting) shrooms and acid, both for the visuals and the time itself. The trips offered by DMT can be incredibly emotional and profound, but the general lack of duration (really, typically maxing out at around 30-ish minutes when vaped) makes it difficult for people to really retain what they’ve collected and seen there and to bring it back. The appeal of pharmahuasca, then, is not always to replicate a synthetic ayahuasca experience, but to prolong an authentic DMT experience.
Warnings
Pharmahuasca isn’t super popular, and it’s for good reason. Personally, any backroom interest I ever had in concocting my own disappeared for good after watching this video of Hamilton Morris’ pharmahuasca experience.
If you go on this journey, you will most likely throw up.
MAOIs also come with their own set of side effects; taking too high a dose can lead to dry mouth, headache, dizziness, diarrhea, and some serious nausea. In drug form, MAOIs were the first-ever type of antidepressants prescribed, and they were eventually replaced by ones that had fewer side effects.
Remember, these are drugs. As always, practice drug safety and harm reduction and let someone know what you are doing — or, better yet, have someone supervise you.
Sources
Pharmahuasca; a discussion (Reddit)
Is pharmahuasca easy? (Reddit)
Pharmahuasca: human pharmacology of oral DMT plus harmine
What Is Pharmahuasca? Everything You Need to Know (Tripsitter)
Sofie Mikhaylova is a psychedelics, pop culture, and travel writer, among other things. Her writing has appeared in Vice, leafie, Psychedelic Spotlight, The Washington Post, Fodor's Travel, Double Dot Magazine, and more. Find her on Instagram, her newsletter Sofieland, her podcast Sofieland, and her website.