There is some validity to the popular myth about certain toads possessing hallucinogenic qualities, but touching them with your tongue is ill-advised.
The Colorado River toad is recognized for excreting a powerful hallucinogen.(Image credit: Mark Newman via Getty Images)Subscribe to our newsletter
In 2022, the U.S. National Park Service shared a grainy image of a toad, captured by nocturnal wildlife equipment and accompanied by a humorous caution:
As is the case with most things you encounter within a national park, whether it’s a banana slug, an unknown fungus, or a sizable toad with illuminated eyes in the deep of night, please abstain from licking. We appreciate it.
It is accurate that a specific toad species inhabiting the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico produces a potent psychoactive compound on its skin — however, licking these amphibians is more likely to result in a hospital visit than a hallucinogenic experience.
The Colorado River toad (Incilius alvarius), also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, possesses venom glands on its head that release the compound 5-MeO-DMT.
“I consider it to be among the most powerful psychedelics available,” stated David E. Nichols, a distinguished professor of pharmacology at Purdue University and the first to synthesize a chemical relative of 5-MeO-DMT.
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5-MeO-DMT is a substance that influences the brain by attaching to serotonin receptors. The effects of the drug persist for approximately 15 to 30 minutes and can induce feelings of intense happiness, a sense of non-existence, experiences akin to near-death, and memory loss. According to Nichols, the drug can even cause a complete erasure of one’s sense of self, to the extent that an individual forgets they have consumed any substance.
Nevertheless, 5-MeO-DMT does not produce hallucinogenic effects when taken orally; therefore, tasting the chemical from a toad would not lead to intoxication — more complex methods, such as inhalation, are required. Furthermore, touching these toads can be exceedingly hazardous, experts caution.
“Licking a toad is not advisable,” Haley Dourron, a postdoctoral researcher at Linköping University in Sweden, informed Live Science via email. “Even household pets that have licked the toad have required emergency medical treatment.”
This is due to the fact that Colorado River toads also exude compounds known as cardiac glycosides. These substances enhance the force of heart muscle contractions, and their impact on cardiac function can rapidly become perilous, leading to potentially fatal heart rhythm abnormalities.
Despite the potential health hazards, poachers have continued to capture Colorado River toads in an effort to extract the 5-MeO-DMT from their skin for recreational consumption.
“Toads are being systematically taken by poachers for the purpose of extracting their secretions for illicit trade,” Robert Villa, a community outreach assistant at the University of Arizona, communicated to Live Science in an email. Colorado River toads are already facing threats from altered rainfall patterns, habitat destruction, fungal infections, and contamination, Villa noted, and poachers exacerbate the danger to their survival.
The potential of 5-MeO-DMT
While acquiring 5-MeO-DMT from wild toads is both unsafe and prohibited, scientists are exploring the therapeutic possibilities of synthetic 5-MeO-DMT, which shares similarities with the hallucinogenic substance DMT. In comparison to more conventional hallucinogens like LSD or psilocybin, there is comparatively limited understanding of 5-MeO-DMT and its effects on the brain.
“At this juncture, over 100 individuals have undergone brain imaging during experiences with common psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin,” Dourron elaborated. “There are no peer-reviewed brain scanning studies detailing the mechanisms of 5-MeO-DMT.”
Subjective accounts of 5-MeO-DMT experiences often differ significantly from those reported with typical psychedelics. Instead of encountering characteristic visual distortions like geometric patterns, some individuals who have used 5-MeO-DMT describe a complete “white-out.”
“They may feel as though they have entered a ‘void’ or experienced a state of utter emptiness,” Dourron clarified.
The unusual effects of this compound have prompted Dourron to investigate whether the manifestations of 5-MeO-DMT originate from neural pathways comparable to those affected in certain types of epileptic seizures. Other researchers are examining the potential of 5-MeO-DMT as a treatment for depression. Initial findings suggest that the compound alleviates depressive symptoms within 24 hours, with the benefits persisting for at least a week post-treatment. Compared to other psychedelic drugs being researched for their antidepressant qualities, such as psilocybin, the duration of 5-MeO-DMT’s effects is considerably shorter, allowing for more rapid completion of therapeutic sessions.
“5-MeO-DMT represents a highly intriguing compound, but ultimately, I suspect it operates under a distinct set of principles compared to other, more extensively studied psychedelic substances,” Dourron commented. “Only through scientific inquiry will we uncover the specifics of its operational framework.”