A new book tells the story of physician Octavio Rettig Hinojosa, who popularized the use of 5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic substance secreted by toads in the Sonoran desert. Rettig Hinojosa presented the drug as an ancient practice of Mexico's Seri people and claimed it could treat addiction and trauma, promising his followers it would reveal new planes of enlightenment.
However, according to author Kimon de Greef in his book The Ego Trip, Rettig Hinojosa's narrative is full of fictions and his supposedly curative practices are dark and dangerous. De Greef describes 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) as the "Everest" of psychedelics, a substance that, unlike LSD, does not distort reality but instead completely annihilates perception and sense of self. The experience lasts less than half an hour but produces total ego obliteration.
Rettig Hinojosa claimed the practice was ancient and was once performed by the Seri, although it was forgotten. De Greef convincingly argues that there is very little evidence for this, and that the notion of ancestral toad psychedelics is a modern invention. Many Seri have since distanced themselves from Rettig Hinojosa, asking him to stop using their name to promote the drug.
De Greef documents how Rettig Hinojosa acted with growing contempt towards those who bought drugs from him. At one point, according to the book, Rettig Hinojosa physically struggles with a client to force him to take more 5-MeO-DMT, and angrily orders a 14-year-old child to inhale another dose. On another occasion, he pushes a bleeding, mud-covered woman who was under the influence of the drug into a swimming pool. De Greef admits that Rettig Hinojosa deceived him into taking psychedelics during his research, falsely telling him the substance was essential oil.
The book traces Rettig Hinojosa's journey and how his status as a "guru" enabled the rise of 5-MeO-DMT, while exploring its commercialization. Although no medical use of the drug has been proven and 5-MeO-DMT remains illegal in the United States, United Kingdom and elsewhere, it has shown impressive results in clinical trials as a treatment for treatment-resistant depression.
