Ethnobotanicals How do I discreetly extract DMT?

[UniqueUsername]

Hi,

Like the post title suggests, I need to discreetly extract DMT.

I've never extracted or used DMT.

I don't want the neighbors to think I'm cooking meth. DMT's legal to possess and extract under state law (I'm in Colorado), but I can't have neighbors knowing about it. Also, sales won't be legal except in places where you'll be required to consume them onsite. Obviously, I don't want the government or businesses knowing I use psychedelics.

I live in a standalone house, which I own, in a cul de sac. I have a backyard.

Safety-wise, the best place for extraction is my garage but I'm worried about neighbors smelling chemicals. Is this something to be concerned about?

Also, my understanding is that the garage needs to be cracked a few feet, but couldn't this look suspicious?
The garage has a backdoor, but I'm not sure how much ventilation I'll need.

I appreciate any info. Thank you

Personal information removed - Skorpio

 

[junkequation]

Dude, if you have a house to yourself, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I'm wondering if you're using a different method than I'm familiar with?

The entire reaction is done in 1 flat bottom flask or similar container. You add sodium hydroxide (sold as drain cleaner) to water to make a highly basic solution, add the root bark ground as finely as possible, then add a nonpolar solvent (you can use naptha-sold as paint thinner) to the flask, mix and allow it to separate, then use a dropper to skim the DMT that has accumulated in the nonpolar solvent. After that, you just need to evaporate 100% of the nonpolar solvent, and you're left with DMT crystals. I think I remember you have to freeze it too, but I can't remember why anymore.

Your kitchen will look like a drug lab, so don't have any guests over, lol.

Are you planning on making a huge amount or something? Why not just evaporate the nonpolar solvent in your home? In a small batch, it's not that much, and I can't imagine the smell would be strong enough for a neighbor to get suspicious or for the fumes to be a problem, even if you did it in a garage.

It's super easy, no more difficult than following a recipe to make a casserole or something.

 

[UniqueUsername]

Hey man, thank you very much for the info. That's all very good to know and reassuring. I haven't extracted it before, hence my ignorance.

What would you consider a small batch to be (something that wouldn't alert my neighbors if I made it in the garage).

 

[junkequation]

It's been years since I researched any of this. The process I think I'm remembering is that you freeze the nonpolar solvent to precipitate out DMT crystals, separate them from the solvent, then just evaporate the very scant remnants of solvent off the crystals.

I'd consider a small batch anything you could perform in a 1 liter or so flask/container to make up to a lifetime supply for personal use which, from your post, that sounds like what you're doing. The only way I'd be worried is if you were planning to do some huge batch in a 50 gallon drum or something

The extraction process used to be on Youtube, might still be, I don't know. For personal use, go with the simplest way, don't follow anything that asks you to heat up flammable liquids or anything like that. It's asking for a trouble if you're a layman wanting to do this.

There's just no part of the extraction that I'm familiar with that would have a remote possibility to alert neighbors unless you were trying to do it at an industrial scale.

edit: yes, extraction process is still on youtube.
This is simple and works fine for a personal use type amount. It's not gonna give off any level of suspicious fumes or anything. We're not doing complicated chemistry, synthesizing a new molecule like when making meth or MDMA, but simply extracting and concentrating a molecule already present in the plant.

 

[specialrelativity]

Go DMT.

 

[Skorpio]

If using small volumes of solvents indoors, be sure to have good ventilation, and keep a lid on it when it is in the freezer (even foil would be good). This will lessen flammable vapors in the freezer (and electrical appliance that is an ignition source).

Junkequation has good advice, and id like to echo the advice to not use heat to evaporate the solvent.

You should increase the safety precautions depending on your scale, as larger amounts of solvent lead to more flammable vapors, more fuel if something goes wrong, and potentially more smell.

Extracting small amounts is also a good idea so that you can get used to the prep, and any mistakes won’t be that wasteful.

 

[Cheshire_Kat]

I don't want the neighbors to think I'm cooking meth. DMT's legal to possess and extract under state law (I'm in Colorado), but I can't have neighbors knowing about it. Also, sales won't be legal except in places where you'll be required to consume them onsite. Obviously, I don't want the government or businesses knowing I use psychedelics.

I personally don't feel a need to suppress this discussion however I'd like to point out a few details about CO's "decriminalization" of DMT.

While it is legal to possess and consume DMT by State law in Co, it is still illegal by Federal law.
It is still a felony in Colorado to extract it if one uses what is termed in the law as "inherently dangerous chemicals" and those chemicals are not actually defined within that law (so that portion has yet to be "tested" in the courts.)

Article about legality of DMT in Colorado

So keep that in mind, it's not a blanket de-criminalization.

 

[Skorpio]

Looking at the law itself they define inherently dangerous chemicals as chemicals/solvents with a flash point of 100 F/ 38 C or less, and specifically mention the solvents propane, butane, and diethyl ether, while specifically exempting all alcohols.

One last thing is do wear proper protection (safety glasses/goggles and gloves at a minimum), and it would behoove you to familiarize yourself with the proper handling of each compound before you embark.

https://www.berthoud.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/1737?fileID=3868

 

[JackARoe]

Richard Pryor (RIP) should have consulted BL before freebasing cocaine. He is a good example on what not to do. But a cautionary tale on being careful.

 

[Didgital]

I personally don't feel a need to suppress this discussion however I'd like to point out a few details about CO's "decriminalization" of DMT.

While it is legal to possess and consume DMT by State law in Co, it is still illegal by Federal law.
It is still a felony in Colorado to extract it if one uses what is termed in the law as "inherently dangerous chemicals" and those chemicals are not actually defined within that law (so that portion has yet to be "tested" in the courts.)

Article about legality of DMT in Colorado

So keep that in mind, it's not a blanket de-criminalization.

Looking at the law itself they define inherently dangerous chemicals as chemicals/solvents with a flash point of 100 F/ 38 C or less, and specifically mention the solvents propane, butane, and diethyl ether, while specifically exempting all alcohols.

One last thing is do wear proper protection (safety glasses/goggles and gloves at a minimum), and it would behoove you to familiarize yourself with the proper handling of each compound before you embark.

https://www.berthoud.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/1737?fileID=3868

Ok, so as someone who is in the midst of setting up a legal* million dollar mushroom cultivation and extraction lab in colorado, I am very familiar with the Natural Medicine Act and what is and isn't allowed under state law. Doing this in your garage, relatively small scale, keep your mouth shut you will not have any problems. While it is legal in Colorado, i recommend operating like it is still illegal.

Having your own house is very good and in a cul de sac even better. If you're using naptha or heptane, i don't think the smell will really carry over. I think if you use toluene or xylene as your non polar that may be a bit different especially if your doing your extraction warm. I can never morally encourage doing this kind of chemistry in an apartment, but depending on scale it could easily be done. The one thing I imagine you will run into is having a bunch of non polar solvent at the end that you don't know what to do with. If it does come to that you're better off letting the solvent evaporate (or burning it) vs. pouring it down the drain.

 

[Skorpio]

If it does come to that you're better off letting the solvent evaporate (or burning it) vs. pouring it down the drain

Many a chemistry lab will get rid of ether or other readily evaporating solvents by using it to “clean the fume hood”

 

[junkequation]

I think the extraction is about the most simple use of chemistry to acquire a drug that's out there, and it's a good barrier to entry so that it's not teenage kids who will be making DMT and blowing their minds, giving themselves PTSD, but dedicated psychonaughts willing to commit to a certain amount of effort to educate themselves, source the materials and necessary equipment.

Terrence McKenna compared DMT to something as amazing as an alien UFO landing in your backyard, and I think that's a really good description. Like really, you have got to see this, lol. I still have no idea what it means, but it's totally incredible that human consciousness is remotely capable of experiencing the things that happen when you use DMT. I hope OP is able to follow this path and experience it. It's such a heavy experience that I think very few people will need to or want to do more than 1 good extraction. Even a small batch is gonna allow you to use it 30 times or so, and that's plenty for most.

A small batch extraction will use less than a single container of naptha, which is paint thinner. Many a garage has a container of it that's been sitting on the shelf for years. I don't think it's particularly dangerous to use or store as long as you educate yourself on what you are using and keep in mind that it is a flammable liquid with flammable fumes that you don't want to put anywhere near a heat source.

 

[Leprechaun]

Terrence McKenna compared DMT to something as amazing as an alien UFO landing in your backyard, and I think that's a really good description. Like really, you have got to see this, lol. I still have no idea what it means, but it's totally incredible that human consciousness is remotely capable of experiencing the things that happen when you use DMT.

I love this quote for Sasha's notebooks regarding DMT.

5/28/76 Constructed cigarettes, a few milligrams of finely powdered Tanacetum
Vulgare are appropriately distributed on paper, and the freebase (20mg, 100mg)
evenly distributed and mixed. Direct heat [with] an infrared lamp melts the base,
and the sl. sticky mix is rolled into a v.tight and small diameter cigarette
(4-5mm dia.) The length is marked off to determine the quantity taken. All
experiments separated by ~2hrs.

-> 5mg (inhalation) n.e.

-> 15mg (inhalation) n.e.

-> 20mg (inhal) after ~30 sec. a strange light headed-ness starts - possibly [with]
some temporal pressure. neat effect and there is a "quantitative" awareness of
the measure of the intensity - no visual - no sensory distortion - just very
much in its control. max at 3min, then rapid disappearance. Out at 7min.

-> 30mg (inhal) within 30 sec. start. - Build up to max.(?) intensity at 2 - 2 1/2
min. some yellowing of visual field - complete control given to drug - but
there is nothing to do! - no eyes closed - no imagery - the intense plateau is
left at 3-4min - still "up" but there is a clear awareness of the rate of
recovery - the radio is apparent again. 8 minutes OUT.

-> 20mg + 10 + 10 + 10 Attempt to maintain the 3-4 minute effect of the 30mg
experience above by chronic reinforcement. 20mg was inhaled - followed in a
minute by 10mg - redevelopment of the strongly intoxicated state (but not back
to the "yellow" degree) and as the effect starts waning, reinforce [with] 10mg
(at 4 min) again at 8 min and here the effects seem to be a little smoothed
out - next (and last) reinforcement at 13min (10mg) which maintained effects
for a few more minutes. rapid clearance and completely out at 20 minutes. No
residual effects. a completely stupid drug.

 

[Didgital]

“clean the fume hood”

Heh, it doesn't really clean anything, but yeah I'd agree. It's extremely common to have a "waste" beaker in the fumehood. You fill it up all day, come back the next morning, and its gone and you do it again and again. Ether is a bit pricey though I would try and redistill it.