Here we discuss cultural appropriation and ethics, when it comes to the use of psychedelics. If you choose to explore some of these natural plant medicines, please consider the risks involved as well as the environmental impact of supporting this every-growing industry. Most natural sources of psychedelics simply cannot withstand ever-increasing global demand. Many plant and animal species are already endangered or near extinction.
To have a hope of stemming the tide, we need to revise our psychedelic “menu,” – to offer options that are eco-friendly instead of eco-destructive and ethical instead of inadvertently abusive. If enough people make a few simple switches, we can mitigate and possibly reverse the trend of ecological damage.
There are also questions of animal abuse, and while some practices are ethically justifiable for small indigenous populations, they are catastrophic if expanded to even tens of thousands of people. It is inviting disaster to copy and paste from a tribe in the Amazon—as just one example—to NYC, LA, London, Sydney, or any other large city. It’s very easy to go from taking one tree to taking a forest or to go from grabbing one toad to extirpating an entire species.So let’s make some changes.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: These plants and compounds are illegal in many countries, and even possession can carry severe criminal penalties. None of this info constitutes medical advice or should be construed as a recommendation to use psychedelics. There are serious legal, psychological, and physical risks. Psychedelics are not for everyone—they can exacerbate certain emotional problems and there have been, in very rare cases, fatalities. This info is simply intended for harm-reduction through education.
– Peyote. Instead of peyote, which is nearly extinct and can take decades to regrow, consider using huachuma/San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi), which is more easily regenerated, faster growing, and more widespread in distribution. Unless you are a long-standing member of the Native American Church (NAC) or indigenous groups that have used peyote for generations, you shouldn’t consider peyote as an option. Leave the few remaining plants for the Native populations who revere and need it most.
To more fully understand the plight of the indigenous who treat this as a sacrament, please read this piece from the LA Times: “Why are some Native Americans fighting efforts to decriminalize peyote?”
Options like San Pedro largely avoid the ecological, ethical, and cultural challenges of peyote. Synthetic mescaline is also an outstanding substitute. It’s easy to forget that, in some respects, the psychedelic movement in the English-speaking world was catalyzed by The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, who eloquently wrote about his experience of beauty on synthetic mescaline.
– Iboga/ibogaine. Unless you are an opiate addict, please consider other compounds and treatments. As is the case with peyote, wild-harvested and farmed iboga are both at the breaking point. For the chemically inclined, ibogaine can be extracted and semi-synthesized from the far less threatened Voacanga africana tree, as I learned in Hamilton Morris’ excellent episode on Iboga/Ibogaine in Season Three of Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia.
Iboga/ibogaine is also one of the few psychedelics with real cardiac risk and associated fatalities, so you should always have a cardiac screening, a cardiac specialist, cardiac monitoring, and related meds on site. Iboga can be a life-saver, but I think of it as a last resort for those who are otherwise likely to die of overdose.
– 5-MeO-DMT (aka “Toad”). Request synthetic instead of animal-sourced. 5-MeO-DMT is commonly extracted from the venom glands of the Sonoran Desert toad, a species now under multiple threats. One solution is straightforward: synthetic 5-MeO-DMT, the chemistry of which is both affordable and scalable. Why put an at-risk species in the gristmill?
From the Wikipedia page for the Sonoran Desert toad (aka Colorado River toad):
In California, I. alvarius has been designated as “endangered,” and possession of this toad is illegal. “It is unlawful to capture, collect, intentionally kill or injure, possess, purchase, propagate, sell, transport, import or export any native reptile or amphibian, or part thereof….”
In New Mexico, this toad is listed as “threatened” and taking I. alvarius is unlawful in that state.
For those who would like to more visually understand why toad-derived 5-MeO-DMT is a bad idea, I highly recommend watching A Brief History of 5-MeO-DMT by chemist and filmmaker Hamilton Morris, who has extensively studied the compound, its history, and its means of production. The most important part of this presentation begins at 12:45 (click here to begin at 12:45).
A few additional factors to consider:
– ~20–30% of people who inhale “toad” appear to be “thrashers” and thrash about uncontrollably. For video footage of one such person, see the first two minutes of this. It is not rare.
– For many people, the 5-MeO-DMT experience of ~5–20 minutes provides less “workspace” for therapeutic exploration, and recall of insight, than other options like psilocybin (as found in psilocybe or “magic” mushrooms), LSD, etc.
– Kambo. We are aware that kambo is *not* a psychedelic in any classical sense, however it is frequently incorporated into the menu of people who do and administer psychedelics.
We do not endorse the use of kambo, given the most common methods used to gather the secretions from the giant leaf frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor). Despite what you’ve been told, the frogs are not unharmed. Imagine doing the below to another animal, like a dog or a cat. Many practitioners will put the frogs over or near an open flame, as these methods are explicitly intended to induce stress and prompt release of the skin secretions. Yes, there are a few tribes with less aggressive methods, but the below photo is not an outlier. You can easily find dozens of similar photos online.
If we have other options, is this really what we want “expanded consciousness” or “evolved consciousness” to involve?
We don’t object to indigenous peoples using this frog sparingly for their own use. Such groups are small and, in some respects, have fewer options available to them for certain conditions. If you’re reading this, you have more ethical alternatives easily within reach. Frogs are also probably the most at-risk group of animals threatened by both climate change and chytrid fungi, yet another reason not to stress or harm them.
If you really want a purgative/emetic (i.e., something to make you vomit), there are dozens, hundreds, or thousands of plant options (e.g., yawar panga—use sparingly and under supervision), particularly those rich in saponins. But it need not sound exotic.
Rather than asking some version of “How can I have the most powerful/helpful experience possible [without regard for environmental consequences]?,” We suggest we all first ask ourselves, “Is this an ethical tool that could really help me to improve?” There are many excellent options that will give you a solid “yes” to the latter.
In the pursuit of healing or expanded consciousness, we would like to suggest that we all take the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm.
If we truly care for Mother Nature, the best thing we can do is the least necessary, not the most possible. Perhaps we should seek the least exotic treatment that will do the job, not the most exotic treatment that nature can provide. There are plenty of great options.
There will always be powerful forces pulling us towards the wrong reasons, so it requires effort to ensure we’re doing things for the right reasons.These things require constant self-inquiry, ego-checks, and uncomfortable reminders.
The future of these healing tools is literally in our hands. It’s up to each of us to do our part, and together, we can do a lot of good.
*Excerpt taken from article written by TIM FERRISS