By Helen Pow PUBLISHED: 20:55 EST, 9 December 2013 | UPDATED: 04:50 EST, 10 December 2013 A hallucinogenic drug used in shamanic rituals in the Amazon is growing in popularity in the U.S., researchers have found. Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is the active ingredient in ayahuasca, which is a plant-based mixture that can also be smoked to give users a hallucinatory 'journey' more extreme than that of LSD, ketamine or magic mushrooms. Adam Winstock, founder of the Global Drugs Survey, claims it has 'a larger proportion of new users' compared to other powerful drugs. Ayahuasca: A shaman in the Coafan region boils leaves for their psychoactive properties as used in ayahuasca, Ecuador, 2009
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Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is the active ingredient in ayahuasca, which is a plant-based mixture that can also be smoked
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The drug apparently gives users a hallucinatory 'journey' more extreme than that of LSD, ketamine or magic mushrooms
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Adam Winstock, founder of the Global Drugs Survey, claims the drug has 'a larger proportion of new users' compared to these other powerful drugs
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He says this suggests 'its popularity may increase'
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