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permits. 108 +» CONCEPTION AND BIRTH human-grade DMT before starting the study. The DEA still held con- trol over whether I could possess human-grade DMT, because this was to be a different batch of drug. In March 1989, within a week of obtaining university approvals for the DMT study and just after mailing in my forms to the DEA, I called Sigma Laboratories in St. Louis, Missouri. Sigma was the chemical supply house that had provided melatonin for my human pineal project. There was a listing for DMT in their catalog, and I asked if they would sell some to me. Irequested laboratory-grade DMT for our efforts to measure DMT in body fluids. I also asked for clinical-grade drug for human use. Sigma told me that there was no problem in purchasing laboratory-grade DMT—the only requirement was a Schedule I permit from the DEA. Obtaining human-grade DMT was going to be more complicated, as it called for Sigma putting together specific documentation for the FDA, a "drug master file." Sigma recommended contacting the investigators who administered DMT to humans in previous studies to find out who had supplied them. Sigma then would know how much detail to provide the FDA. If there were problems finding out who used to have those files, they recommended utilizing the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. This law allows citizens to request privileged information as long as it does not threaten American national security interests. I obtained a list of all the currently active investigational drug per- mits in the country so that I could contact anyone who possessed one for DMT. Unfortunately, there weren't any. My request to find out about the existence of old permits, using the Freedom of Information Act, was not successful. There were no records or files at the FDA for previous DMT My application to give DMT to humans went in to the FDA in late April. I asked for a reactivation of the old DMT permits that the first generation of researchers had used, hoping the FDA itself might be able to find those old hidden files. One of the scientists who had given humans DMT, a co-author of the "decent burial" paper, agreed to let the FDA look at his old records on my behalf. However, in later correspondence, he