Fatality Due to Acute α-Methyltryptamine Intoxication
Journal of Analytical Toxicology July 1, 2005 Diane M. Boland, Wilmo Andollo, George W. Hime et al. 62 citations
Alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT), an indole analogue of amphetamine originally investigated as an antidepressant and monoamine oxidase inhibitor, caused the first known death in the United States when a young college student in Miami-Dade County died after ingesting the drug. The student told his roommate he was taking hallucinating drugs and had discovered the secret of the universe; about 12 hours later he was found unresponsive in bed with an empty 1-gram vial of AMT. Postmortem blood showed 2.0 mg/L of AMT, the liver contained 24.7 mg/kg, and the brain contained 7.8 mg/kg. AMT was emergency-scheduled as a Schedule 1 controlled substance shortly after this death.