A short, joking warning from the U.S. National Park Service in 2022– a grainy night-vision shot of a large toad and the simple line “please refrain from licking” reignited an odd, persistent belief: can a toad’s skin give you a psychedelic high? The claim sounds like campfire lore, but it touched a real biological note, according to a report by Live Science . Scientists say there is some truth to the chemistry, yet the reality is far from the meme, and it can be dangerous. The species behind the headlines Scientists have pointed to one particular species as the source of the rumours: the Colorado River toad, also called the Sonoran Desert toad. Glands on its head release a chemical known as 5-MeO-DMT, which researchers recognise as a powerful psychoactive compound.

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