DMT The Spirit Molecule - Rick Strassman-pages

Page 100 of 369

Page 100 of 369
DMT The Spirit Molecule - Rick Strassman-pages

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THE PSYCHEDELIC PINEAL + 85 In 1987 my University of New Mexico mentor, Glenn Peake, died suddenly on a snowy Christmas day while returning from his morning run. Saddened and grieving, I saw my research trajectory waver. There had been a split between the research I believed was "respectable" and what I personally felt most inclined to study. There was my melatonin research, and then there was my interest in psyehedelics. Glenn's prema- ture death hastened the closing of that gap. During his memorial service, Iremembered some of his most direct advice: "Do what you really want in research. Who cares what other people think?" I decided to stop my melatonin research and attempt a DMT project. I talked these ideas over with the chairmen, directors, and heads of the university divisions supporting my melatonin experiments. They all be- lieved a change in fields involved a real but reasonable risk. However, all were supportive of a psychedelic research project, "if that's what you really want to do." The years of preparation were over. It was now or never. It was 1988.