Blonde By Nature

This is a tale that goes back roughly 40 years. It is a tale of hippies, psychoactive substances and toads. One that is controversial enough that it made a debut on L.A. Law in ‘91 and is definitely funny enough to be joked about on The Simpsons and Family Guy. Nonetheless, licking toads to get high is in fact an urban legend. But do not be sad my friends because there are other ways to use the venom, so stay with me…

According to one article by Scientific America titled Bufo Abuse, 20 years prior to this hippie-hype, the US researchers synthesized bufotenine and started to test the substance on prison inmates in the 1950s. They injected them with the drug which resulted hallucinatory effects similar to LSD and mescaline. The side effects of this experiment discouraged anymore “official” research, but unofficially? That’s a whole other story.

Post-official research, the stories of toad licking traveled simultaneously from Australia to the United States to the United Kingdom and it has been an urban legend that has since taken many lives because it easily accessible. Any toad from the Bufo-family contains bufotenine which is the chemical that induces hallucinations e.g. Australian Cane Toad (Bufo Marinus) and the Sonoran Desert Toad (Bufo Alvarius). Their venom is known to kill small animals, pets and if ingested in large amounts (e.g. an egg) humans. In the case of humans, the “oil of toad” is often an ingredient in witches’ potions since it causes an intoxication. As a result, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration outlawed bufotenine as outlined in Schedule I. In other words, it is punishable if it can be proven that the toad is being milked and smoked but you are able to own them as pets.

On that note, you can read more about how users collect the venom and convert it into a smokable hallucinogenic at Erowid’s website.

I found one such description of the experience:

Two seconds after I had inhaled my first (and only) hit, the room exploded…Everything came apart like a puzzle, but the pieces were still next to each other, like it had only come apart at the seams but hadn’t scattered to the four winds. It was an extreme, instant rush; VERY INTENSE. I gripped the arms of the chair …EVERYTHING lost all meaning.

So my friends, it looks like we are no better than lemurs as mentioned in a previous post Lemurs Are Drug Abusers and like any good myth, the legend contains a shred of truth but is just twisted a bit. That said, I always get a good chuckle out of envisioning Homer Simpson not not licking toads.

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