Two Toads and a Fatal Mistake

Misidentification of the Cane Toad

Two people died in Central Mexico in the past year after smoking toad venom. Both people suffered paralysis among other symptoms and lost the ability to breathe. Why did this happen?

Those people unintentionally smoked Cane Toad Secretions instead of secretions from the Sonoran Desert Toad. Cane Toads look similar to Sonoran Desert Toads and have large poison glands in the exact position as Sonoran Desert Toads. These toads are often misidentified online as Sonoran Desert Toads with even famous media publications using photos of Cane Toads to accompany their articles on "Psychedelic Toads".  To make it even more confusing there is a history of Cane Toads being used in Vera Cruz, Mexico, in spiritual rituals. Cane Toads are also hallucinogenic and contain bufotenine, however, the poison they contain counteract the benefit of the psychedelic experience. 

So why would someone milk a Cane Toad instead of the Sonoran Desert Toad? The easy answer is that they did not know the difference. There is a fantasy that toads are milked with respect and medicine is being lovingly collected. The reality is that this medicine is collected like a fisherman catches fish. It is collected by individuals who are usually uneducated and very poor. To collect this medicine they risk being arrested by the police or being harassed by criminal groups.  To avoid detection they will drive around, put toads in a bag, and go to another location to milk the animals as quickly as possible. This is bad for the toads as they only have an internal compass of 1-2 miles. If they are taken beyond this distance they have very little chance of making it home to their burrow.  The collected medicine is then sold on Facebook with a gram costing a fraction of the price of one bufo ceremony. Facilitators in Mexico, the United States, and Europe buy the venom bartering for the lowest price.

Movements to empower and benefit indigenous groups of Mexico in selling toad venom have been halted due to influx of collectors selling medicine online.  

The majority of collectors have never used the toad medicine and often have personal beliefs that are clouded with drug stigma that people smoke the toad "to get high".  Many people in Mexico even think the practice of milking and smoking toad venom is spiritually evil. The people who collect the medicine are doing so for financial purposes and are unaware that they too are being exploited, as providers would pay 3-5 times the cost for a single gram if that was the going price. 

How much Cane Toad Venom is being smoked? This is a difficult question to answer as some of the effects of ingesting Cane Toad Secretion mimic smoking the Sonoran Desert Toad. Overlapping symptoms of Cane Toad Poisoning include tremoring, shaking, drooling, and nystagmus or eye flickering. Cane Toads are found throughout the world including Southern Sonora and Northern Sinaloa, where Sonoran Desert Toads are also found. 

An easy way to avoid accidental poisonings is for facilitators to have more of a connection with the animal and to collect all of the medicine they serve. To ethically do this sanctuaries need to be built and conservation practiced. It is vital not only for the protection of the Sonoran Desert Toad but also for the safety of the plant medicine community. 

Question the motives of people who work with this medicine who do not actively practice conservation.  This drug is incredibly powerful and can alter someone's mindset and perspective long after it has worn off.  As 5-MeO-DMT becomes more trendy, there is an idea that the person who serves it should be a spiritual guru. The medicine is powerful enough it does not need a guru to serve it. It needs someone who respects the animals it is obtained from and the people they work with enough to only serve them medicine that they know is safe.  

​This medicine can alter someone's perspective so dramatically that they feel an intense bond with it and become a provider after using it a few times. There is no regulation on who can provide this medicine or stipulation that they must obtain it from a good source. It is valid to question if facilitating toad venom is the true calling of these people or a delusion of taking such a powerful mind altering substance. Facilitators who fall into this category are likely unaware of the exploitation and danger that they participate in by being disconnected from where the medicine comes from.
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Further deaths from smoking Cane Toad Venom will create drug stigma surrounding the use of 5-MeO-DMT leading to unnecessary fears and biases and can be prevented with conservation and preservation of the Sonoran Desert Toad.