Man arrested for toad tripping
David Theiss, 21, of Kansas City, Missouri, was arrested for keeping a pet toad with the intent of licking it to get high. The skin and venom glands of Colorado River toads produce powerful hallucinogens called tryptamines. Theiss was released on bond, but the toad remains in police custody. From KBMC.com:
Most pet stores don't sell the Colorado River toad because the venom can sicken humans and kill household animals.Link
"People used to do it all the time, but it got faded out awhile, but came back as a fad. Not a smart one," animal expert Danny Snyder told KMBC's Dion Lim. "The toxins in it can kill a lot of stuff."
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The perp was charged with ... what?
"There is no current federal law or legislation which prohibits the selling or distribution of Bufo alvarius." (Source: Wikipedia.)
The toad is legal. Possessing the toad with intent to lick is not legal?
I'm reminded of a George Carlin routine:
"Selling is legal. Sex is legal. Selling sex is not legal. Go figure ...."
-kgj
It is important to note that, while many species of toads produce psychoactive compounds, i.e. bufotenin, which is highly toxic, there is one species - the bufo alvarius - that also excretes dimethyl-tryptamine. The DMT can be extracted from the excretions and smoked safely for a remarkable pyschedelic experience. See the Erowid Psychoactive Toad Vault: http://www.erowid.org/animals/toads/toads.shtml
P.S. the bufo alvarius is the Sonoran Desert Toad and not the Colorado River Toad mentioned in this article. Perhaps that lack of a law does not apply in this case.
Oh, please get that little part about tryptamines correct, otherwise people will think they can dose on melatonin or the amino acid tryptophan in spinach.
Most tryptamines are psycho-inactive.
The psychoactives are alkyl tryptamines like DMT, psilocybin, psilocin, and bufotenin (5-hydroxy DMT). The un-alkylated analog of bufotenin only makes you sleepy.
For entirely too much information on this distinction, read Shulgin's "Tihkal," whose title is an acronym for "Tryptamines I have known and loved."
Hawaiian/Australian Cane Toads have a similar hallucenogenic toxin. If you want to know way too much abotu them and their history check out the 1988 documentary "Cane Toads" - it is lovely.
IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130529/
I subscribe to the theory that anything that can kill you can also get you high...
Why are they arresting this guy? It's natural selection - let the idiots kill himself doing dumb things like this. I hate laws that protect people from themselves.
Eating Aqua Dots might be more safe. And creative, too!
According to this 1994 Wall Street Journal article,
"Bufotenine, as a hallucinogen, has been on federal and state dangerous-drug lists for years, and its possession is illegal."
Of course, according to some of the discussion at this frog-keeping site, it's an endangered/protected species in several states, but you may possess up to 20 wild-caught in Arizona with a fishing license. How that interacts with the federal illegality of the compound the frog secretes, I don't know.
The Colorado River toad and Sonoran Desert toad are the same thing. See Wikipedia on the first entry. It might be possible that Missouri has its own laws regarding it. It is native to western Arizona area, so it must have been imported (mailed, driven, etc.) into Missouri. I went with some people and got a burlap sack with 11 of them in it one night, out in the desert. I didn't use the venom, but several people I was with did. They didn't talk at all for about the first ten minutes.
I'm not not licking toads...
Post is inaccurate. Tryptamines are not hallucinogenic. Tryptamines are a class of chemical structures that include many hallucinogens, but also hormones such as Melatonin.
So, what was the guy charged with? It seems that its a charge by the state, not the feds, but no mention of what the actual law is...
@ xspook
I defy you to get high utilizing a speeding bus.
Also there might be more to this arrest than meets the eye. I know that at least at one point under Florida law if you were caught with mushrooms, they couldn't charge you unless you admitted that you were taking them for their hallucinogenic properties. I watched a friend swear up and down for half an hour that his only intent for the grocery bag of mushrooms he had was to go home and make some soup.
If the guy (stupidly) said that he was licking the toad to get high, that might have been enough to arrest him.
Of course it's illegal--it causes PLEASURE.
Free toad!
So, the idea is, he can hurt himself -- possibly, but a rare effect -- so he was arrested. So he'll see jail, maybe prison, get stitched up for tens of thousands of legal fees, perhaps lose the right to vote, won't be hired for any real job after he leaves prison, soooo... probably his best option after they "save" him is to commit suicide? How many millions of people have we saved from themselves so far? How many wrecked lives?
@ #14 : PHLAVOUR...
• Driving a speeding bus.
• Standing/sitting on top of said bus.
• Narrowly avoiding being pulverised by a rogue (speeding or otherwise) bus.
All pretty much guaranteed to cause a surge of adrenaline I would've thought? A high of sorts.
I, too, am curious about how they found out he was trippin' the frog fantastic.
Puritans permanently soured our society on anything related to fun. Not that I'm a frog licker, of course, but still... there's not a very compelling case for stuff like this to be illegal.
ok but was the toad tased?
Toad lickin' is my kinda religion.
I'm with Homer Simpson.Lick the toad It didn't kill him.
Reminds me of this story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6376594
you don't lick the toad to get the altered state-you
put the liquid venom on glass, wait for it to evaporate, and smoke the residue left. It's the 5-meo-dmt that is the active ingredient, which is a relative of just ol' dmt, which was called the business man's high in the 60's, because it's over in 10 minutes, tops, and you are completely back to normal in the time it takes a business man to eat lunch. how this dude got busted is beyond me, unless the cops have been staking out amphibian supply houses.
"Farmer Bob's Good Life", published in bOING bOING #12, 1994. A heartwarming tale of free-range toad farming in the heartland.
You remember Classical Gas? It was written by Mason Williams, who also wrote "Them Toad Suckers", which may be about exactly what Mr. Theiss did.
Jim that story is a treasure. Thanks for sharing.
You guys have it all wrong - you don't lick the toad, you shove it in your anus...duh.
You know the Puritans are unfairly blamed for a lot of things, they drank and if they had that toad, would have certainly licked it.
Sheesh, I only have one brain, and I don't see the point of fucking around with it personally. It's ok though, these druggies give much amusement.
Toad - licking is yet another instance of drugs ingorance BS propagated endlessly because of the eek factor.
Licking one of these toads would probably get one poisoned- but the poison is not the psychedelic component.
The milky , venomous fluid that the toad spits out, when its venom glands are massaged, is collected and dried , then smoked.
Smoking destroys the venom and releases 5-MeO-DMT and probably bufotenine (4-OH-DMT) and related compounds. There is little or no DMT involved .
5-MeO-DMT is quite different from DMT , and for most people lacks the characteristic visions and "entity contact" that DMT often triggers. The immediate and intense effects are gone in a few minutes , but the user can expect to be pretty high for about an hour.
Toad venom is probably a wonderful psychedelic/empathogenic gift from nature , ready to use with minimal preparation.
Small amounts of these substances have wonderful anti-depressant properties, without addictiveness or any side effects. Many of them occur naturally in the body and they can be easily metabolised - they can be considered non-toxic.
A dose of 5-MeO-DMT initially increases the heart rate. The only known dangers of 5-MeO-DMT overdoses are death by heart attack (extremely rare, in susceptible individuals) and demonic possession (rare but not unheard of & subsiding after some time, usually an hour) - but these are with the pure , synthesised substance.
Toad "venom" will be a lot more balanced and forgiving in its effect, as it is not a pure synthetic drug but a a mix of psychoactive and inert material. There are other (less potent) actives apart from 5MeO, which will moderate and enhance the effect.
It's probably one of the safest natural psychedelics around thanks to its short duration and very low toxicity (when smoked).
Has anybody got any???
Hmm,, sounds like a Family Guy repeat?.. I'm pretty sure he will probably boot repeatedly and often before he hallucinated. Plus toads leave an awfully nasty taste in your mouth, I prefer blotter myself
oooo look at the pretty lights..