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| <tr>
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| <td valign="top" width="50%"><strong>Other Names</strong>
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| Dimethyl-5-methoxytryptamine, 5-methoxy-DMT,
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| 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyl-tryptamine, 0-methylbufotenine,
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| 3- [2-(dimethylamino)ethyl] -5-methoxy-
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| indole, toad foam
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| Substance type: tryptamine (indole alkaloid)
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| 5-MeO-DMT was first discovered in Dictyoloma
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| incanescens DC. and later was isolated from Anadenanthera
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| peregrina as well. It occurs in a very
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| large number of plants, often in association with
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| N,N-DMT (see the table on pages 853-854). Its
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| effects are somewhat more potent than those of
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| N,N-DMT. When the two are administered simultaneously,
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| 5-MeO-DMT more quickly occupies
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| the specific receptors. 5-MeO-DMT is a natural
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| neurotransmitter in the human nervous system.
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| When 5-MeO-DMT (10 to 20 mg) is smoked or
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| vaporized and inhaled, the effects are almost
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| immediately apparent, are incredibly extreme, and
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| last about ten minutes. Many people report having
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| shamanic experiences with this substance as well
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| as experiencing states of enlightenment and the
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| clear light of nirvana (Metzner 1988).
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| The Colorado River toad (Bufo alvarius) is
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| native to the area around Tucson, Arizona. These
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| toads spend nine months of the year underground,
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| buried in the mud that keeps them protected from
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| the burning desert sun. The toads emerge from
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| their hiding places with the first rains and begin
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| their courtship (Smith 1982,97-100). They remain
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| visible for only three months. Like all toads, Bufo
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| alvarius develops mucous secretions in two glands
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| that are located on the neck The secretions of the
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| Colorado River toad, however, do not contain
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| bufotoxine, the toxic substance that is found in the
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| secretions of most other toads. Instead, the dried
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| mass contains 15% 5-MeO-DMT (Erspamer et al.
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| 1965, 1967).
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| The native tribes that lived in the North
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| American Southwest made fetishes of this Bufo
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| alvarius. However, it was only in recent times that
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| the toad's cultural importance and its psychedelic
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| use were discovered, or more likely rediscovered
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| (cf. Davis and Weil 1992). The toad is "milked" by
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| being held firmly without being crushed. Both
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| glands are then massaged gently until a fat stream
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| of the secretion squirts out. The secretion is
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| caught on a piece of glass, where it is allowed to
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| dry and crystallize. The yellowish crystalline mass
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| then can be scraped off, mixed with different herbs
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| (such as damiana [Turnera diffusa] ), and smoked.
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| The toad, which is released unharmed, is quickly
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| able to replenish the loss in its secretions.
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| When taken orally, Bufo alvarius secretions are
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| apparently toxic, whereas they are not poisonous
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| when smoked (Wei! and Davis 1994). Davis and
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| Weil have suggested that the dried secretions of
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| Bufo alvarius were traded to Mexico in preColumbian
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| times and that the priests and shamans
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| there smoked or used it in some other manner
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| (Davis and Weil1992; cf. balche', bufotenine).
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| In Arizona, there is now a Church of the Toad
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| of Light, which uses the secretions of Bufo alvarius
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| as a sacrament (Most 1984; Ott 1993,396*).</td>
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| <td valign="top" width="53%"><strong>Commercial Forms and Regulations</strong>
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| Pure 5-MeO-DMT is available from chemical
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| suppliers. While the substance is not explicitly
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| mentioned in the narcotics laws, the fact that it
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| could be interpreted as a DMT analog may result
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| in problems with the law.
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| <strong>Literature</strong>
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| See also the entries for bufotenine.
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| Davis, Wade, and Andrew T. Wei!. 1992. Identity of a
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| New World psychoactive toad. Ancient
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| Mesoamerica 3:51-59.
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| Erspamer, v., T. Vitali, M. Roseghini, and J. M. Cei.
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| 1965. 5-methoxy and 5-hydroxyindolalkylamines
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| in the skin of Bufo alvarius.
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| Experientia 21:504.
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| ---.1967. 5-methoxy- and 5-hydroxyindoles in
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| the skin of Bufo alvarius. Biochemical
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| Pharmacology 16:1149-64.
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| Metzner, Ralph. 1988. Hallucinogens in
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| contemporary North American shamanic
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| practice. In Proceedings ofthe Fourth
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| International Conference on the Study of
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| Shamanism and Alternate Modes ofHealing
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| (Independent Scholars of Asia), 170-75.
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| Most, A. 1984. Bufo alvarius: The psychedelic toad of
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| the Sonoran Desert. Denton, Texas: Venom Press.
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| Witsch, Christian. 1993. Die Krbtenmutter. In
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| Naturverehrung und Heilkunst, ed. C. R~itsch,
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| 125-28. Sudergellersen: Bruno Martin.
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| Smith, Robert 1. 1982. Venomous animals ofArizona.
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| Bulletin 8245. Tucson: The University of Arizona.
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| Weil, Andrew T., and Wade Davis. 1994. Bufo
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| alvarius: A potent hallucinogen of animal origin.
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| Journal ofEthnopharmacology 41: 1-8.</td>
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| </tr>
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| </table>
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| [[Category:Drugs]]
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| [[Category:Psychedelic]]
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