5-MeO-DMT was first discovered in Dictyoloma incanescens and later was isolated from Anadenanthera peregrina as well. It occurs in a very large number of plants, often in association with N,N-DMT. Its effects are somewhat more potent than those of N,N-DMT. When the two are administered simultaneously, 5-MeO-DMT more quickly occupies the specific receptors. 5-MeO-DMT is a natural neurotransmitter in the human nervous system. When 5-MeO-DMT (10 to 20 mg) is smoked or vaporized and inhaled, the effects are almost immediately apparent, are incredibly extreme, and last about ten minutes. Many people report having shamanic experiences with this substance as well as experiencing states of enlightenment and the clear light of nirvana (Metzner 1988). The Colorado River toad (Bufo alvarius) is native to the area around Tucson, Arizona. These toads spend nine months of the year underground, buried in the mud that keeps them protected from the burning desert sun. The toads emerge from their hiding places with the first rains and begin their courtship (Smith 1982,97-100). They remain visible for only three months. Like all toads, Bufo alvarius develops mucous secretions in two glands that are located on the neck The secretions of the Colorado River toad, however, do not contain bufotoxine, the toxic substance that is found in the secretions of most other toads. Instead, the dried mass contains 15% 5-MeO-DMT (Erspamer et al. 1965, 1967). The native tribes that lived in the North American Southwest made fetishes of this Bufo alvarius. However, it was only in recent times that the toad's cultural importance and its psychedelic use were discovered, or more likely rediscovered (cf. Davis and Weil 1992). The toad is "milked" by being held firmly without being crushed. Both glands are then massaged gently until a fat stream of the secretion squirts out. The secretion is caught on a piece of glass, where it is allowed to dry and crystallize. The yellowish crystalline mass then can be scraped off, mixed with different herbs (such as damiana [Turnera diffusa] ), and smoked. The toad, which is released unharmed, is quickly able to replenish the loss in its secretions. When taken orally, Bufo alvarius secretions are apparently toxic, whereas they are not poisonous when smoked (Weil and Davis 1994). Davis and Weil have suggested that the dried secretions of Bufo alvarius were traded to Mexico in preColumbian times and that the priests and shamans there smoked or used it in some other manner (Davis and Weil1992; cf. balche', bufotenine). In Arizona, there is now a Church of the Toad of Light, which uses the secretions of Bufo alvarius as a sacrament (Most 1984; Ott 1993,396*).
