Bufo alvarius
toad venom has hallucinogenic properties
Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran Desert
If you have
ever heard of the Psychedelic Toad or about people licking toads to
get high, it is most likely they were talking about Bufo Alvarius.
Also called the Sonoran Desert toad and the Colorado River toad,
Bufo Alvarius is unique because of its venom. These large toads have
glands that produce a milky white venom that is composed of as much
as fifteen percent the alkaloid 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine
(5-MEO-DMT). This is a powerful hallucinogen, the mind altering
effects of which were discovered in the late 1950s. 5-MEO-DMT is the
active ingredient of hallucinogens used traditionally by several
South American tribes.
The fact that
a toad secretes a substance that can alter the human mind may lead
to speculation about the "Frog Prince" fairy tale. In this folk
legend, a woman finds a frog in the wild, kisses it, and it turns
into a handsome prince. Could this ancient tale actually be based on
fact? After all, if someone were to lick not a frog but the right
kind of a toad, perhaps she might experience hallucinations that
made her imagine the amphibian was transforming into a handsome
prince. This theory is merely speculation, of course. In reality,
licking the venom of toads or any other animal may be highly
dangerous and is certainly not recommended.
Albert Most,
the author of "Bufo Alvarius: The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran
Desert" does not discuss the licking of toad venom in his text.
Rather, his information involves drying and then smoking the toad
venom in order to achieve what he calls "almost overwhelming
psychedelic effects." These effects are evidently not unlike those
generated by LSD, in which hallucinations, visual illusions and
distortions of the perception occur. The episode is relatively
short, however, perhaps as little as fifteen minutes, after which,
Most writes, "There is no hangover or harmful effect."
It has been
reported that Bufo Alvarius toads have been an element in the
rituals of native shamans for hundreds of years. Returning to
ancient European folklore, witches are often associated with toads.
Toads supposedly give warts to people, and witches were frequently
portrayed with large warts. In our more enlightened age, it is now
known that so-called witches were more like wise women, possessing
useful knowledge about medicinal herbs and plants. Could it be that
these wise women were also aware of the powerful effects of toad
venom?
Literature
published by the California State Department of Fish and Game states
that the problem of people trying to become intoxicated from licking
the skin of toads or smoking dried toad venom is sufficiently
extensive that laws against toad licking have been passed by some
states, and that toad venom is currently classified as a controlled
substance.
Marlie Parsons
is a freelance journalist and consultant for the
Bufo
Alvarius Report web site. For more information visit
http://www.bufoalvariusreport.com.
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