|
Toad Licking: The Latest High
NOTICE: TO ALL CONCERNED Certain text files and messages contained on this site deal with activities and devices which would be in violation of various Federal, State, and local laws if actually carried out or constructed. The webmasters of this site do not advocate the breaking of any law. Our text files and message bases are for informational purposes only. We recommend that you contact your local law enforcement officials before undertaking any project based upon any information obtained from this or any other web site. We do not guarantee that any of the information contained on this system is correct, workable, or factual. We are not responsible for, nor do we assume any liability for, damages resulting from the use of any information on this site.
Licking toads will not give you warts or produce a fairy prince,
but it might get you high. It isn't exactly an epidemic, but the
Drug Enforcement Administration says toad licking is the latest way
to hallucinate. "It sounds like a fairy tale gone wrong, doesn't
it?" said Robert K. Sager, chief of the DEA's laboratory in San
Francisco. "Now, I don't think this is going to be a great problem
because people don't go around licking toads as a habit." The
culprit: the Cane toad. "They're beautiful toads," Sager Said.
"People like them." The Cane toad, which can grow to the size of a
dinner plate, produces a toxin called bufotenine, which the toad
secretes to ward off predators. When licked raw. or cooked, the
toxin acts as a hallucinogen. In the Southwest recently, several
dogs have died after eating Cane toads, and the DEA has had
bufotenine turn up at its research labs from time to time after
drug arrests. In Washoe County, the prospect of gonzo toad lickers
in our midst produced a few chuckles in the offices of the county's
Consolidated Narcotics Unit.
"We're not aware of any toad-licking problems," said Sparks police
Lt. Tim Gonyo, who heads the unit. "As far as we're aware of,
toad-licking has not hit Washoe County." Local pet store operators
reacted with astonishment. "That's pretty gross," said Michele
Robinette, manager of Reno's Pets Unlimited. "That's a new one, and
we've heard a lot of strange things around here." Robinette said
she knew of no area pet stores that peddle the mind-altering
amphibian. The green and red toads produce the same toxin found in
amanita mushrooms, cohoba seeds and other plants. Indians in South
America have used the toxin for its hallucinogenic qualities for
years in religious ceremonies, and some tribes have used it in
blowguns to kill dinner. Bufotenine is considered a controlled,
dangerous substance and is therefore illegal.
However, it is not against the law to own a Cane toad. a favorite
of aquarium afficionados. "If you had a toad. we would have to
prove you were licking it on purpose, or you had given it to
someone to lick on purpose," Sager explained. The Cane toad has
come into some renown in Australia. where four people died last
year after partaking of its marbled flesh. (Depending on the size
of the toad and the concentrations of toxin consumed. bufotenine
can be fatal). The toad was imported to Australia from Hawaii in
1935 to kill the Greyback beetle, which was destroying sugar-can@
in Queensland. The toad adapted beautifully, multiplied in the
millions and ate everything - except for the beetle. Last fall,
officials in Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city, announced an
elaborate plan to eradicate the poisonous toads, which today pose a
major threat to the continent's fauna and wildlife. In recent
years, toad licking has become popular in the Australian outback,
prompting Queensland's government to classify the toad slime as an
illegal substance under its Drug Misuse Act. "That's how this whole
cycle started - a lack of dope in the Australian outback," Sager
said. "There, they are killing the toads, drying the skins and
making tea. Yummy, huh?"
|
|