You read that right. It is illegal to lick a toad. But not just any toad.

Specifically, it is illegal for a person to lick the Colorado River Toad, aka the Sonoran Desert toad, aka Bufo alvarius.

This species of toad secretes a venom that contains bufotenine which, when ingested, can cause hallucinogenic effects.

Bufotenine is a controlled substance in the United States. There were many arrests that were bufotenine-related throughout the Southwestern states, during the 1980s and 1990s. There was actually a toad-licking heyday during the 1960s and arrests were numerous..

A Kansas City, Missouri man was arrested in 2007 for being in possession of a Colorado River Toad, allegedly with the intention of using the frog to get high from the hallucinogenic venom. The young man, 21-year-old David Theiss, was released on bail following his arrest.

The toad licking problem has even reached the continent of Australia with the cane toad. Cane toads were brought into Australia in 1935 as a way to control scarab beetles that were wreaking havoc on sugar cane crops. The toads are native to the warmer regions of the United States.

In the 1980s, there were many pleasure-seekers who were using the toads as a means for getting high by licking or smoking their hallucinogenic secretions. Those eager for some out-of-mind experiences will get venom from the toads by applying pressure behind the frog’s eardrums, where the paratoid glands are located.

But even the hippies of the 1960s and 70s were not pioneers in the field of toad licking. Archaeologists have found evidence that South American Indian tribes were using the venom of Colorado River toads during religious ceremonies as far back as 1150 B.C.

While the thought of licking a slimy toad like an ice cream cone can be good for a laugh, the reality of it can be far more serious than a recreational drug user bargains for. The toxin responsible for the hallucinogenic effects is a natural defensive toxin against predators, which means it can be deadly.

Even if a person is lucky enough not to ingest deadly amounts of toxin, the fun and exciting trip that they hope for will more likely be an extremely frightening experience and end up hurting themselves or others. And when that happens, they can be looking at even more charges to tack onto their toad-licking drug charges.