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134 SET, SETTING, AND DMT her to pick up, just in case. Tossing the used alcohol swabs and their wrappers into the nearby wastebasket, I began, "It comes on just as fast, but it's a lot stronger. It may startle you. Don't bother trying to resist, because it's usually impossible." "Okay." Alex smiled thinly but determinedly. "What do you normally do when you find yourself overwhelmed in a psychedelic experience?" "[T usually breath deeply and slowly. That's something I learned from my years of meditation. Or I may touch these," he said, fingering his necklace of Tibetan prayer beads. Other volunteers might hold a fetish, a rock or piece of wood. Some might hum, sing, or chant. A few evoked the image of a teacher, friend, or loved one. Those with a deep and sustained meditation practice started meditating before the DMT went in and tried to maintain that mental bal- ance throughout the session. I said, "Sometimes people think they've died, or are dying, or that we've overdosed them. So far, no one's been injured. This is a physically safe dose, although your blood pressure and heart rate will probably take a nice jump. We can respond if there are problems. "If you think you've died, there's two ways I tell people they can deal with it. One is 'Man, I'm dying, and I'm going to kick and scream and try and stop it.’ The other is 'Okay, I'm dying, now let's see what this is like. Very interesting.' Easier said than done, of course." "I know what you're talking about." "You probably won't notice the first blood pressure reading at 2 min- utes. You'll most likely be down enough at 5 minutes to feel that one." I was done marking my notepad: DMT-22, date, protocol number, dose. Blood pressure and heart rate columns. When all was said and done, we three—Alex, Laura, and myself— looked at each other. If a plane were flying overhead, we paused, waiting for it to pass. As the time for the injection approached, the air in the room and on the ward took on a certain density. There was little more to say. Alex put on the eyeshades, and we lowered the head of the bed. I prepared all the syringes and moved my chair closer. Laura warmed up