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From: Somebody... Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: TOAD LICKING
Date: 4 Mar 1995 03:40:49 -0600

BagbyDsgn (bagbydsgn@aol.com) wrote:
: Does anyone know if this is for real? I've heard about a type of river
: toad in Arizona that college students have taken to licking the backs of
: to get high. I guess the toad emits some sort of hallucinogenic oils or
: toxins through its skin that is strong enough to kill a misguided dog.
: I'm looking for any articles or info people might have. Thanks.

Here is all I found...

[From the "FAQ-Tryptamines" (alt.drugs I believe)]

Psychedelic Toads

Bufotenine and related 5-hydroxy-indolethylamines are common constituents of venoms of the genera Hyla, Leptodactylus, Rana and Bufo. Bufotenine is not psychedelic in reasonable doses (with larger doses there are dangerous physiological side effects), but the skin of one species, Bufo alvarius, contains 50-160 mg 5-MeO-DMT/g of skin (Daly & Witkop 1971). It's the only Bufo species known to contain a hallucinogenic tryptamine (McKenna & Towers 1984). Most (1984) gives instructions for collecting and drying the venom:

Fresh venom can easily be collected without harm to the toad. Use a flat glass plate or any other smooth, nonporous surface at least 12-inches square. Hold the toad in front of the plate, which is fixed in a vertical position. In this manner, the venom can be collected on the glass plate, free of dirt and liquid released when the toad is handled. When you are ready to begin, hold the toad firmly with one hand and, with the thumb and forefinger of your other hand, squeeze near the base of the gland until the venom squirts out of the pores and onto the glass plate. Use this method to systematically collect the venom from each of the toad's granular glands: those on the forearm, those on the tibia and femur of the hind leg, and, of course, the parotoids on the neck. Each gland can be squeezed a second time for an additional yield of venom if you allow the toad a one-hour rest preiod. After this the glands are empty and require four to to six weeks for regeneration.
The venom is viscous and milky-white in color when first squeezed from the glands. It begins to dry within minutes and acquires the color and texture of rubber cement. Scrape the venom from the glass plate, dry it thoroughly, and store it in an airtight container until you are ready to smoke it.

Davis and Weil (1992) smoked the venom and described what happened:

In comparison to the pure compounds the toad venom appears longer lasting and, because one does not completely lose contact with reality, far more pleasant, even sensual. Shortly after inhalation I experienced warm flushing sensations, a sense of wonder and well-being, strong auditory hallucinations, which included an insect-cicada sound that ran across my mind and seemed to link my body to the earth. Though I was indoors, there was a sense of the feel of the earth, the dry desert soil passing through my fingers, the stars at midday, the scent of cactus and sage, the feel of dry leaves through hands. Strong visual hallucinations in orblike brilliance, diamond patterns that undulated across my visual field. The experience was in every sense pleasant, with no disturbing physical symptoms, no nausea, perhaps a slight sense of increased heart rate. Warm waves coursed up and down my body. The effects lasted only a few minutes but a pleasant afterglow continued for almost an hour. (Wade Davis, personal observation, January 12, 1991)

Profound alteration of consciousness within a few seconds of exhaling. I relax into a deep, peaceful interior awareness. There is nothing scary about the effects and no sense of toxicity. I try to describe my feelings but am unable to talk for the first five minutes and then only with some ANE TOAD

[From the "FAQ-Natural-High-Australia" (alt.drugs?)]

Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Bufo
Species: marinus

Introduced from Hawaii to Queensland in 1935 this toad has spread across Queensland westwards into N.T. and southwards into northern N.S.W. It is up to 20 cm long, has very warty skin and has a grey to brown, olive brown or reddish brown colour. The underside is a whitish to yellowish colour. The cane toad has a pair of large, highly visable poison glands located at the back of the head. It eats anything smaller than itself and is poisonous to anything larger that might eat it.
The bufotenin in the poison, while classed as a hallucinogen is not particularlly healthy or a nice thing to do to your body. So below is Jeremy's recipe for the conversion of bufotenin into something more interesting.

A close relative of the Cane Toad is the Sonoran Desert or Colorado River Toad (B.alvarius) which contains 6 to 16% 5-MeO-DMT (50-160 mg 5-MeO-DMT), a more useful and safer hallucinogen than bufotenin. For more information on the Sonoran Desert Toad checkout the Tryptamines FAQ.

Here is Jeremy's recipe for Cane Toads
(see also Psychedelic Chemistry, p.45)

Mix blended toad secretion with excess methanol and allow to stand a few days. Filter. Evaporate methanol. Extract residue with dilute HCl.

Basify with NaOH or NH3.
Extract into organic solvent (eg dichloromethane). Evaporate to leave crude bufotenine.

Dissolve 4.1g bufotenin in 20 ml 1M NaOH and evaporate to dryness under N2. Dry in vacuum at 90C and dissolve in 50 ml dimethoxyethane. Add to 1.9 g acetyl-Cl in 50 ml in 50 ml dimethoxyethane and stir four hours at room temperature. Add to dilute NaHCO3 and CHCl3; shake and dry, evaporate in vacuum the CHCl3 layer to get 5-Acetoxy-dimethyltryptamine. This should be active at maybe 15 mg smoked, possibly orally as well. I can't remember off hand.

Hope someone tries this one day.

Jeremy's quote on smoking bufotenin, "I'ld rather smoke paint stripper".

This is a powerful psychoactive drug, one that I think would appear to most people who like the effects of hallucinogens. For the next hour I feel slow and velvety, with a slight pressure in my head. No long-lasting effects to report. (Andrew T. Weil, personal observation, January 12, 1991)