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- Newsgroups: alt.drugs
- From: jacktr@mv.mv.com (The Alpha and the Omega)
- Subject: Re: Bufo Alvarius
- Message-ID: <D3rJ9q.872@mv.mv.com>
- Date: Fri, 10 Feb 1995 02:37:02 GMT
-
- Spud Demon (lewis@lumina.mitre.org) wrote:
-
- : 1. Bufotenine is 5-OH-DMT, and it occurs in concentrations of the same
- : order-of-magnitude in B. Alvarius venom as does 5-MeO-DMT.
-
- : 2. Amphibian keepers hang out in rec.pets.herp.
- Here are some abstract summaries of articles printed in recent periodicals
- concerning the hallucinogenic toad phenomena.
-
- ---
-
- _Missionary for toad venom is facing charges (B. Shepard cherged with
- possession of hallucinogenic substance)_
-
- New York Times (Late New York Edition) p19 (Sec 1) February 20, 1994
-
- Bob Shepard, 41-year-old teacher at a local nature center, has been arrested
- for the possession of bufotenine, an illegal hallucinogenic chemical found
- in the venom of the Colorado River toads. Shepard told investigators that he
- dried and smoked the venom, the powers of which he is interested in helping
- others understand.
-
- ---
-
- _Can't Lick 'em? Then smoke 'em (Bufo toads with hallucinogenic properties)_
-
- Newsweek v199 p63 June 15, 1992
-
- Tabloids and television shows have spread the myth that licking secretions of
- the common cane toad, Bufo Marinus, will lead to hallucinations, but this idea
- was debunked in an article in the June issue of the anthropology journal
- Ancient Mesoamerica. According to one of the article's authors, Andrew Weil,
- the true hallucinogenic amphibian is Bufo Alvarius, the Sonoran desert toad.
- Weil says that the toad's secretions are a powerful hallucinogen when they are
- dried and smoked in a pipe.
-
- ---
-
- _Bufo abuse (cane toad secretions as an hallucinogenic)_
-
- Scientific American v263 p26-7 August, 1990
-
- The cane toad (Bufo Marinus), once regarded as a mere nuisance, has become the
- subject of antidrug hysteria and international trade negotiations. The toad,
- which is indigenous to the warmer regions od the Americas, was exported to
- Australia in the 1930s to control beetles infesting cane fields. It has
- become so abundant there that Australians have launched toad extermination
- campaigns. Most of the current attention, howeveer, focuses on the
- hallucinogenic venom with which the animal repels predators. Because of its
- unpleasant side effects, the toad's venom never became popular as a
- recreational drug, but unsubstantiated rumors of its use persist. The
- Australians have persuaded the Chinese, whose traditional medicine includes
- compounds from other toad species, to study the venom's therapeutic potential.
-
- ---
-
- _Smoking toad_
-
- The New York Times Magazine p48-9 June 5, 1994
-
- Those who smoke the dried venom of Bufo Alvarius, the Colorado River toad,
- experience consciousness-altering effects of considerable power. The venom
- contains huge amounts of 5-MEO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), which
- is pound for pound one of the most potent psychoactive agents concocted by
- nature. Five-methoxy was originally synthesized in 1936, but it was not
- until 1959, when it was found in the snuff of South American Indians, that
- scientists learned of it hallucinogenic properties. The drug is chemically
- similar to DMT, popular among the 60's drug cognoscenti as the "businessman's
- high", but five-methoxy's effects are considerably more terrifying than those
- of DMT. No toad-smoking casualties have been reported to date, but there has
- also been no proof that the drug is completely safe in the long run. The
- writer describes his experience trying the drug.
-
-
-