5-MeO-DMT
May 1, 2025 Angelica Ukaigwe, Abhishek Chauhan, S. Vinod Kumar
5-MeO-DMT is a psychoactive compound from the Sonoran Desert toad's venom and certain plants, now used as a spiritual sacrament in some churches. It may help process anxiety, depression, PTSD, drug use disorder, and existential crisis, and shows promise in palliative care for improving quality of life and end-of-life attitudes. Side effects include adrenergic responses and a reactivation phenomenon where drug-induced experiences recur weeks to months later. Synthetic forms enable standardized dosing. Legal status is unclear; it could be illegal as a DMT derivative under U.S. law, with possible religious exemptions. Demand threatens the toad population, making synthetic production imperative.