Does Licking Toads Really Make You High?

PLEASE, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

Licking toads to get high. It's a bizarre practice most people are obscurely aware of thanks to television; by licking the slime of toads (and sometimes frogs) it is supposedly possible to experience a high thanks to the psychoactive chemicals produced by the amphibian. But what is the truth to these claims? Over the years, quite a few of our museum guests have asked me about the details of toad-licking; does it work? Do people actually do it? Is it dangerous? Considering the number of times I have answered these questions for guests, I was rather surprised to realized I had never done a steemit post on the subject. So here it is, steemians: the scoop on licking toads!

So, can toad secretions actually make you high?

The answer is technically yes, BUT you can't just go licking any frog or toad you find. There are actually only a few species of toads known to produce toxins that can send you on a hallucinatory trip; species like the cane toad and Colorado River toad produce toxins that contain hallucinogenic tryptamines, substances that can result in psychoactive effects when ingested. 

 The stuff itself is called 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine. The chemical gets into the body and acts as a serotonin agonist, binding to serotonin receptors and releasing a lot of the feel-good substance into the body. People who take 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine report a full-body rush and powerful hallucinations. Source

However, generally people who get high of these amphibians do not pick toads up and just lick them. There is actually a process by which individuals collect the toxins and purify it; by stroking the toad under the chin, they are able to initiate a defensive response and the toad secretes poison. The poison can be safely scraped off the toad (the toad will produce more in about a month) and is dried before it is inhaled, injected or ingested (though there are a few crazier people out there who prefect to just take the simple route and lick a toad...).

Is it dangerous?

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES. There are a LOT of reasons why getting high off a toad is just a horrible idea. 

First, let's look at the cane toad for example. Now while certain compounds in the toads toxin can cause a hallucinatory trip, there are other chemical compounds present as well. Remember, this defensive toxin is meant to be a deterrent against predators, so getting people high is not exactly in the best interest of the amphibian. One of the additional chemicals we can find in cane toad toxin is a cardiotoxic steroid that is very similar to digitalis (the chemical produced by the foxglove); medicinally, this chemical is used to treat people with irregular heartbeats. 

Maybe avoid licking any animal that has toxins that are known to have ANY heart-related effect...

In a hospital setting, digitalis is closely measured and calibrated; there isn't a large range of difference between the dose that can save a life and the dose that is ultimately lethal. The toad's cardiotoxin causes a release of massive bursts of adrenalin in the unfortunate creature (or human) that ingests it. The adrenaline will quickly increase the heart rate before causing fibrillation; too much of the toxin will result in irregular heartbeat, seizures, and death (source). Many people have died after ingesting the poison of the cane toad for recreation.

For those of you who have seen the show Breaking Bad, you know that some drugs, like methamphetamines, require very precise measurements and calibrations to be even remotely "safe" for consumption (and still many people die from using these drugs). A toad completely lacks this sense of pharmacology; there is no "measurement" of their toxic cocktail. The composition of a toad is dependent on its health, diet and environment. This makes toad-licking even more dangerous as there is no way to safely gauge the levels of different compounds that make up this poison. Even if you are "lucky" and do get high off the toad, it will likely come at the cost of weakened muscles and extreme nausea.

Besides the risk of physical harm, there is a huge legal risk here. In the 1980s, the Australian government made it illegal to consume any cane toad excretions under their Drug Misuse Act. Similarly, in the United States there are laws surrounding the toxins of the Colorado River toad; while it isn't illegal to own or possess one of these animals, their bufotoxin (the same chemical as the cane toad) is categorized as a controlled substance (source). 

 Bufotenine-related drug arrests reappeared in Southwestern states such as Arizona in the mid-1980s and '90s, following its original heyday in the 1960s. Source

You don't wanna be known around the cell block as the "Toad Guy".

Licking toads is not something you should ever try, no matter what you saw on TV. Disregarding the fact that it is illegal, it is incredibly dangerous even if you use the correct species and take all the possible precautions. In general, it's not considered to be a great idea to put a live animal near your mouth; when that animal is covered in a poison meant to deter other animals from putting them in their mouth, doing so for the sake of recreation seems incredibly idiotic. So yes, in summary, you CAN lick a toad to go on a hallucinatory trip...but doing so can cost you your health, freedom, or even your life.

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