Toad venom smokers urged to go vegan

In an unusual turn for an unassuming species, a desert amphibian is at the center of both a potential ecological crisis and an evolving question of drug policy. The creature in question is the Colorado River toad, Incilius alvarius, which lives throughout the American Southwest, and evolved a unique way to deter predators: synthesizing a potent psychedelic venom whose psychoactive ingredient is known as 5-MeO-DMT.

While a coyote or hawk might freak out from ingesting this toxin, allowing the toad to escape, more and more humans are seeking out the powerful drug the toad secretes. 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is a psychedelic substance that has been used for centuries in traditional shamanic practices, particularly in the Amazon Basin, where it is found naturally in numerous plants.

In the Sonoran desert, which straddles Arizona and northern Mexico, Colorado River toads (also known by the outdated taxonomic name Bufo alvarius) are the only animal known to science to naturally produce 5-MeO-DMT. Despite the name, it is very different from the drug DMT (dimethyltryptamine), although both substances yield a high that lasts about the same length of time, approximately 20-30 minutes. But while DMT is characterized by bright hallucinations in which encounters with otherworldly beings are a regular occurrence, 5-MeO-DMT drug experiences are often likened to entering a "void" that completely dissolves the self or ego.