5-MeO-DMT: Light and Shadow in the Psychedelic Toad

This article on the psychedelic toad is a guest post by Sean Lawlor (@seanplawlor). Sean is a writer and student of Transpersonal Counseling at Naropa University, with intention to practice ethical, above-ground psychedelic therapy. His journalism focuses on psychedelic medicine, drug policy, and issues around diversity, and his work has been featured in Chacruna, The Rumpus, and Rooster Magazine.

If you hang around psychedelic communities these days, you’ll probably hear someone talking about “the toad.” Even if you don’t hang in such circles, you might still hear about it, cause folks ranging from Tony Robbins to Mike Tyson are claiming the toad obliterates the ego, drastically altering perception on life as a whole.

This psychedelic toad is Bufo alvarius—better known as the Sonoran Desert Toad—and its venom contains the highest naturally-occurring concentration of the psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT in the known universe. When this venom is sun dried and vaporized, it incites what many deem the most powerful psychedelic experience one can experience, powerful enough to KO Tyson’s ego within seconds, then facilitate his re-emerging as if reborn.

But don’t mistake it for “regular” DMT, the substance known to blast people beyond their bodies within seconds of ingestion into fractal-morphing landscapes of alien entities and Joe Rogan. That’s N,N-dimethyltryptamine, and we’re talking about 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine. It appears almost identical both in structure and name, and also acts within seconds, but that extra methoxy group is sufficient enough to facilitate an experience of an entirely different nature.

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