'Complete Merging with God': New Psychedelic Drug Gains Popularity Among New Yorkers

Sitting cross-legged on a blanket in his apartment in Soho, Barrett Pall inhaled smoke with toad venom through a glass pipe.

Thirty seconds later, he cried.

“I cried a lot and screamed 'I'm so sorry' over and over again,” Pall recalls of his first experiment with an illegal psychedelic drug last year. (He has tried it twice since then.)

“Delirious, I saw myself in my youth with my parents and ex-boyfriends in painful places for me,” he added.

According to him, after 45 minutes of “flight through the universe”, and then “revival”, the effect of the narcotic substance ends.

The effect of the poison extracted from the toads of the Colorado River, also known as the toads of the Sonora Desert, manifests itself immediately. According to researchers and drug users, this substance leaves a person motionless, and can also cause strong emotional reactions, euphoria and vomiting.

One user described the experience of using the poison of this toad as "a complete merger with God."

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“This is such a powerful effect that it’s not safe to use it at a party in most cases,” said Alan C. Davis, clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins University.

“This is not a recreational drug,” he added.

However, this did not stop psychedelic drug lovers in New York from locating a substance on the 1 List of psychotropic drugs, for possession of which threatens 10 years in prison.

Toxic liquid is extracted by "milking" the toxic glands of the toad, and then drying the mass to a paste.

Users, such as Pall, buy this extremely rare resin from foreign shamans, often from Mexico, who travel the United States and distribute the substance at ceremonies for which entry costs 200 to 500 dollars per person.

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Here's how such a ceremony goes: a group of people in white robes gather in a house to smoke this substance with a shaman. Pall recently attended a ceremony at a mansion in Hamptons. While someone was beating a drum in the background, the shaman read a prayer for love and brought the receiver to the lips of each guest.

“Some people moaned, cried or convulsed,” said one of the 21 participants, who asked to remain anonymous. "Others ... started dancing, singing or chanting."

As soon as the poison runs out, people experience pleasant sensations that can push them to serious life changes.

“I immediately broke up with my boyfriend,” said Pall, who, after using the poison, also ordered a trip around the world and decided to reunite with his father, whom he had not talked to before.

But the poison of the toad is unsafe. According to Davis, some shamans act "more like drug dealers" than spiritual healers, and do not follow the participants properly.

“If people are given too much dose, they can turn white and separate from the body and mind,” he said.

According to Davis, it is very important to be under the control of a conscious person while taking poison, which can help with depression and anxiety.

About 80 percent of the 362 consumers surveyed by him and his team for a new study said they felt relieved after taking the drug.

“One of the hallmarks of depression is feelings of alienation and isolation,” he said. “5-MeO-DMT (the active ingredient in the venom) pulls you into something meaningful and makes people feel involved,” he added.

At least Pall says the effect of the poison on him had a positive effect: "My life has never been the same since."