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340 * WHAT COULD AND MIGHT BE Several early studies demonstrated promising results using high-dose psychedelic therapy sessions. The implications of our research with DMT may make work with the dying perhaps even more compelling. If DMT is released at the time of death, then administering it to the living would provide a "dry run" for the real thing. The letting go, the experience of consciousness existing inde- pendently of the body, encountering a loving and powerful presence in that state—all seemed to provide a powerful intimation of what happens as the body drops away. However, we are treading in sensitive waters when considering work with the dying. Ifa patient has frightening encounters with their own psyche or nonmaterial realms, there may be precious little time to set things straight. Furthermore, what if there is nothing at all similar between the experience of dying and a high dose of DMT? The shock, disorientation, and fear could make the dying process more difficult than would other- wise have been the case. In addition to the treatment of clinical disorders, psychedelics could be used to enhance characteristics of our normal state of being, such as cre- ativity, problem-solving abilities, spirituality, and so on. The research in- stitute I envision will carefully and responsibly take the lead in such studies. This work may ultimately serve more people, and have greater overall impact, than strictly pathology-based therapy projects. We are seeing an ever-increasing availability of relatively side- effect-free antidepressants, sexual performance enhancers, stimulants, and mood stabilizers. These new, easy-to-take chemical agents are forc- ing us to reevaluate the risks and benefits involved in making us better than average. Why not use psychedelics, too, for indications other than treating the sick? DMT elicited ideas, feelings, thoughts, and images our volunteers said they never could have imagined. Psychedelics stimulate the imagi- nation, and thus they are logical tools to enhance creativity. The problems facing our society and planet require the use of novel ideas as much as new and more powerful technology. It's impossible to overstate the urgent