im glad were having this discussion.
peeps need to be aware of the full spectra of things, good or bad.

i essentially " retired" in 1999.
yes i still publish grow teks,
but after almost 3 decades of "fun with lab rabbits"
ethical considerations made me fall back to private research.

fact is, you can feed some of the people some of the time,
and some of the people all of the time,
but ya cant try and feed everyone wholesale always, or your asking for disaster.

when they look like this pic below,
you fed them too much.

High amounts of harmalas and minimal amounts of DMT are truly the way to go. Gives you a clear but introspective headspace, warm opium like feelings and no anxiety whatsoever. When i can enjoy the ride AND gain something from the experience thats a solid 10/10.

Another thing. Iam very sorry to say this but after reading many reports about Ayahuasca ceremonies online i probably wont ever participate in one. Id really like to have an authentic experience with the traditional way that its done but its just not gonna happen. Im way too paranoid to ingest such a powerfull brew thats made by someone i dont really know. Especially seeing that some add tropane alkaloids to the mix. Tropane alkaloids arent inherently bad if dosed right but theres really not much room for errors. Same pretty much goes for nicotine.

Easy solution: just ask them what is in the brew.

Also... Get a good referral from someone you trust.

Most centers brew just the vine and leaf with nothing else in it. It is easier that way when you serve big groups. Every place I ever drank at in Peru served just vine and leaf. Every place I ever drank in Peru was also excellent.

Not saying you need to go to Peru.... But if you feel the call and you want to - dont hold yourself back. There are many great places down there and I dont mind sharing my favorites

I've been the primary conduit of the spice to my friends, and from the very beginning, in order to avoid any irresponsible, potentially life shattering experiences, I did my absolute best to instill a sense of Great Respect for the spice and all things DMT. It's no where near something that one could take "causually" like say LSD at a music festival or something, it needs to be done with pure intent.

You know this.

I'd intervene the best you can even if you don't want to be a part of the mess. Also, as someone who has had numerous experiences meddling with the bad decisions of close friends, I know the apprehension you may feel. But specifically for a situation of this magnitude it may be very wise to sit in with him, or attempt to advise him against embarking upon such a journey.

Alternatively, you could give him what he wants, but this way you'll have relative control of the variables, and the spice itself, so that even if he does scare himself witless in the void, or have the time of his life, if hes got any sense he will walk away with a greater appreciation for the sacrament, and Gratitude towards you for seeing him through as a true friend.

My two cents, take it with a grain of salt.

Wish the God the Best. 3o

I'm sure this has already been mentioned in one form or another throughout the thread, but I would personally recommend that you at least guide your friend towards safety pastures. In the sense of sharing some of the more basic safety information regarding ayahuasca, it's use, origin, etc... just basic stuff so he has a positive and informative foundation before he decides to try the stuff. I understand he's done some of his own research, but I would advise at the very least to start of with a moderate (because if you say 'small' it may simply provoke a reactive response) so 'moderate' dose to get the feel for it, as the experience will be new to him.

Personally that's how I started out with my first ayahuasca brew. Albeit I've tried a few psychadelics before trying aya for the first time, and was somewhat accustomed to experiences of altered states of consciousness, I nonetheless erred on the side of caution and dialed the doses down to a respectable median where I myself felt comfortable with.... and even brewed the caapi and admixture (in pharma terms I guess that would be the extracted DMT and the MAOI inhibitor) in seperate, and moderate amounts. I would go relatively light on the DMT, and at the very least make sure that he understands not to go "balls out" on the DMT when taking pharmahuasca as it's a much more extended experience than DMT alone

Best of luck and best wishes, comfortable and pleasant setting and informed understanding would be essential

An update:

So we were hanging out the other day and eventually the topic came up on its own. I asked him what his plans were and it turns out that after doing research into the subject of pharmahuasca/ayahuasca, and extraction he started to get cold feet. The more he read the more nervous he got, especially after reading many experience reports. In the end he has decided that he wants to extract harmalas and spice and make changa. Pharma/aya is something he is still interested in but it sounds like he's going to be chill and experiment with spice and changa first. I gave him a shopping list and I will help him out with the method I have the most experience with (which to be honest isn't much).

In the end it all worked out, probably for the better. It appears as though he has a deeper respect for the molecule than I gave him credit so I guess that make me the judgmental dick. Cheers for life lessons.

It not that easy to create a monster

When it all comes down to things. You can show someone the door. It is his choice recklessly barge through, or, be invited with something to offer and gain.

Just a little uninhibited in projecting your own fears onto others. Don't be a judgemental dick on yourself either.

Take LSD casually, and you're asking for a good ass-whipping (which the acid will gladly provide).

Generally, some people use psychedelics (including DMT) totally irresponsibly, and get away with it 80% of the time. It's the 20% that is the worrying part. This is true for shrooms, true for LSD, true for mescaline, and true for the 2C-* family.

None of these compounds are in any way "light" or "casual".

we took acid in the 70s pretty casually.
but ,people had a different mindset then...............

alot of this comes down to screening people.
i think we all know who to look for, and look out for,
if we step outside of our bias of " friends",
and evaluate peeps rationally.

I for one don't think that spice and changa should be taken any more lightly than pharma/aya. A psychedelic is what it is, and a hero dose too.
Spice has been both a wonderful and a traumatizing experience for me. I relate to the extreme confusion Emptiness talked about. Too much information, some of it unintelligible, got me all confused, but it didn't last. Once the blissful end came, I had a good laugh and wrote it all down...well, writing down the ineffable bit is kinda tricky. the horror, the horror
The only change is that I haven't touched spice ever since.

Maybe you should write about what they psychedelic community was like back then, I'd love to read about it... Anyway I'm not sure the mindset has changed all that much, I'm clearly the "safety nerd" among my friends who drop substances.

There's this one guy who bought something like 4 grams of shrooms at a goa party, and decided to eat all of it right there... Ultimately he had an awesome trip and really enjoyed it, but I personally wouldn't have dared do that in an unfamiliar and unsafe setting.

Mainly my point was that putting DMT on a pedestal as the non plus ultra of psychedelics is somewhat misguided. It's a unique experience and something worth trying, but other tryptamines can be just as scary and hard to handle.