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84 + THE BUILDING BLOCKS The enzymes and precursors in the pineal gland are not unique to it, but the high concentrations of these compounds, and the gland's remark- ably convenient location, make it an ideal source of the spirit molecule. Lung, liver, blood, eye, and brain all possess the appropriate raw materi- als for DMT production. In fact, for some years researchers jokingly referred to schizophrenia as a lung disease because of the high concentrations of DMT-forming enzymes within the lung! These other organs may produce DMT when the same sets of circumstances exist as those that would stimu- late the pineal to do so. As radical as these theories were, I believed they could be tested using the traditional scientific method: designing experiments, analyzing data, and redefining the theories based upon results of this step-by-step re- search. So, the next step in this hypothesis-building process was to deter- mine if DMT given to people reproduced the features of those experiences. If outside-administered DMT elicited effects similar to those presumably resulting from inner-produced DMT, such as near-death and mystical states, my hypotheses would be much stronger. Therefore, I needed to find some way to perform a human research study with DMT. However, I was studying melatonin, and this pineal hormone's effects scarcely resembled those of DMT. Further studies into melatonin's physi- ology seemed futile. A paper I wrote in San Diego on adverse reactions to psychedelics, published while I was performing the melatonin project, drew the atten- tion of Rick Doblin, a tireless fund- and consciousness-raiser for psychedelic drug research. He invited me to a conference in 1985, where I met the major figures of the psychedelic research and therapy field. Representatives from a wide variety of disciplines joined together for wide- ranging, far-reaching discussions about what to make of, and do with, the psychedelic experience. These new colleagues provided support, inspi- ration, valuable experience, and crucial information. They made it much easier to begin conceptualizing how a psychedelic research project actu- ally might look.