Why Are People Smoking Toad Venom?

Psychedelics are being re-examined as medications to treat a variety of complaints as the psychiatric and psychotherapeutic communities reach for more effective treatments for trauma, addiction, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, and other psychological concerns.

Over the last decade it has become trendy for people who can afford it to travel outside of the US to experience ayahuasca ceremonies. In these ritualized experiences participants are given a drink made from combining multiple plant species into a decoction or concentrated liquid including the Caapi (Banisteriopsis caapi) vine, and the leaves of the Chacruna (Psychotria viridis) shrub. The drink is said to help the person experiencing it purge their sorrows and confront meaning in a new way, via a mystical experience of ego-dissolution. Some people report encountering tiny beings or the maternal energy of all of life itself, sometimes referred to in the Incan tradition as the Pachamama.

The substance that brings this mystical experience to fruition is N,N-dimethyltryptamine or just DMT. DMT occurs naturally in many plants, and in the glands of some animals. The most well known, (and easily accessible) is that in the skin of toads of the Bufonidae family, the most common of these is the Sonoran Desert Toad (Bufo alvarius). The toad can be quite large, about three to five pounds. Some people will lick these amphibians, which can be very dangerous as this can cause muscle weakness, rapid heart rate, and vomiting. Dogs sometimes catch them, and it is recommended that they be rushed to the veterinarian. The toad excretes a form of DMT called 5-methoxy-N, N-Diemethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT).

People have taken to harvesting the venom ducts from the toads, drying them and then smoking them. While that sounds macabre and disgusting, there is new research that this version of DMT might actually be a useful future medication.

Psychedelic experiences can be transformative because people have experiences in their ego-dissolution that make them feel a deepened spiritual connectedness. It is the connection that appears to bring healing. We know from research that most mental health conditions are made worse by isolation. The sense of connectedness can help people reconnect to the reason for healing, effectively healing the nihilism that can result from suffering over a long period of time.

Most psychedelic sessions last for a long time compared to traditional therapy, this makes it complex to offer these treatments in a medical or therapeutic setting. The substances being investigated for their therapeutic benefits all have fairly long effect windows. A psilocybin experience often lasts 6-12 hours. An MDMA experience lasts approximately 6-8 hours. Ketamine, depending on its administration (oral, nasal, intramuscular injection, or IV) can last anywhere from 2-5 hours, but require multiple administrations. The 5-MeO- DMT experience is much shorter than psilosybin, between 3-5 hours.

The research shows that the 5-MeO-DMT experiences produce spiritual experiences just as intense as psilocybin, but over shorter periods of time. Participants in research programs have been given a standardized questionnaire used in research called the Mystical Experience Questionnaire. Following their experiences with 5-MeO-DMT participants reported very similar strong, positive responses as after having taken psilocybin. A moderate dose of 5-MeO-DMT had the same effect as a high dose of psilocybin in 75% of subjects.

In non-human laboratory experiments, 5-MeO-DMT has been used in experiments similar to those with psilocybin and ketamine to examine the effects on neuronal tissue with encouraging results. For a long time it was believed that the brain stopped reproducing neurons after a certain age, but research over the last two decades has demonstrated that neurogenesis continues into adulthood, thought it is slower. Many of the psychedelic compounds being researched now have been shown experimentally to aid in neurogenesis. Psilocybin and Ketamine are believed to stimulate neurogenesis in parts of the brain that may aid in the treatment of depression and PTSD. In one clinical study, mice treated with a single dose of 5-MeO-DMT had a higher number of newborn Dentate gyrus granule cells in the hippocampus and had more complex dendritic morphology after being treated with 5-Me-O-DMT than with psilocybin.

While the clinical and laboratory research is encouraging, 5-MeO-DMT is a very powerful substance, and shouldn’t be experimented with by amateurs. People with heart conditions, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions should know that there are risks to their health with any psychedelic substance. People with personality disorders or active psychosis should be discouraged from using these substances as well. In addition, there are concerns for the manner in which the 5-MeO-DMT is cultivated, and what substances might be used as substrates or preservatives- these can be dangerous. Finally, there is an environmental concern, the Sonoran Desert Toad is not on the endangered species list, but a rush to harvest these animals for their healing properties could change that, and could have impacts on their local ecosystems.

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