A year later, Willem finished school and became a clock repairer. He worked in a warehouse five days a week, eventually saving the €1,500 [$1,709] he needed to buy professional cooking equipment. He spent entire weekends at home alone, teaching himself how to cook DMT. "Aside from the drug itself, I developed an enormous amount of love and fascination for chemistry," he says. "I could look at DMT for hours while it crystallized in a glass jar. It turns chemistry into pornography," he beams.

The sun is starting to set as we make our way back to his trailer. "When something fascinates me, I dive a bit too deep into it," he says.

Soon, all his cupboards were filled with jars of sodium hydroxide, bottles of vinegar, and large conical flasks. There were plastic measuring syringes everywhere, and folders stuffed with recipes and research notes. While he's listing all the things he used to keep in his house, Willem laughs. "It was pretty reckless at the beginning to just have everything lying around in such a disorganized way. My friends who came over were a bit freaked out at first. But I was never secretive about it, and ultimately they also found it exciting."