Psychedelic species under threat: Are psychoactive plants and toads facing a conservation crisis ?
- Drug Science
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Author
Isabel Faulkner
We are in the midst of what is often referred to as the “psychedelic renaissance”. Research into psychoactive substances is increasing, and day by day more medicinal uses for these drugs are being discovered. Alongside this, more people are trying psychedelics for the first time and attending psychedelic retreats. Whilst this surge in interest is advancing research and creating patient benefits, it is also raising concerns over the conservation status of many plants, fungi, and animals that produce psychedelic substances. I spoke to Dr Anya Ermakova and Dr Sam Gandy about a recent review article that they published which highlights the important message that the psychedelic tourism and growing demand surrounding these incredible species might be posing a threat to their survival.
Psychedelics such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and LSD have become very popular in the western world in both a street and research setting, however as interest increases so does curiosity into different and traditional psychedelic species. Ermakova and Gandy focus on four of these: the Sonoran Desert toad, whose milky secretions contain 5-Meo-DMT; the ayahuasca vine, popular in ceremonial rituals originating from the Amazon, harbouring beta-carboline alkaloids; peyote, a slow growing cactus containing the psychoactive alkaloid mescaline; and iboga, the ever more popular shrub containing ibogaine.
Speaking with Ermakova and Gandy, they explained how these species face a variety of threats to their survival due to increased demand and overharvesting, habitat loss, and climate change, among other pressures . Each species shares these threats, but they also have unique individual pressures. Gandy, a PhD ecologist and independent researcher explained how sources of iboga in Central Africa are drastically depleting. He says that this is due to a combination of factors including deforestation, poaching of animals such as elephants who eat the iboga fruit and distribute its seeds, and drier forests due to climate change. He stressed that it would be a “terrible loss to lose that plant both bio-culturally and ecologically”.
Peyote faces possibly the biggest threat to its existence out of the four species. Across Texas and Mexico, conservationist and neurobiologist Ermakova explained the serious situation that is unfolding and how “habitat loss has been ongoing for years” for peyote cacti. Ermakova works closely with the Cactus Conservation Institute in Texas, and has witnessed first-hand how new infrastructure, root-ploughing and replacing native vegetation with invasive grasses, the oil industry, and land use change are all having a huge impact on peyote’s survival.
The Sonoran Desert toad is listed as being of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which is alarming because there is still an unawareness among biologists (for example on the IUCN webpage it says “There are no records of this species being utilized ”) that their secretions are indeed used for their psychedelic properties. Ermakova explained “the earlier you raise awareness, the more likely that potential damage can be mitigated”. Both Ermakova and Gandy are keen to address the research gap that has unfolded, with the feeling that there is a disconnect between the research into the medicinal value of these compounds and their underlying biology and ecology. Gandy states that “if we are going to conserve these species and their wild populations, we have to do that research”, and we must address this gap to be able to move forward.
These traditional compounds are becoming increasingly popular, “toad churches” have begun popping up over the United States, Amazonian ayahuasca tourism is on the rise, and more people are attending spiritual psychedelic retreats all over the world. However, this increase in demand has led to over-harvesting and harmful harvesting practices. Ayahuasca vine and iboga, for example, take a minimum of five years growing time, and for peyote multiple decades, before they are ready for harvesting , and supplies are already scarce . Therefore, we must look at what we can do to sustainably harvest or safeguard the wild populations of these species before we lose them altogether.
Many people within Indigenous communities feel a spiritual connection to these species and believe in the properties of the full natural plant and the spirit connected to it. However, for western users, Ermakova and Gandy highlight some alternatives. In an ideal world you would be able to grow the plants yourself in a greenhouse, where they would thrive in optimal conditions and grow quite quickly. But, in many parts of the world this is prohibited by strict drug laws. In a medical context, however, the synthetic production of these chemicals is an option.
As psychedelics go, 5-Meo-DMT is relatively easy to synthesise. Mescaline was the first psychedelic to be synthesised in the lab in 1919, and there have been recent breakthroughs pertaining to the lab synthesis of ibogaine. These are what are used in a medical setting , and are yielding impressive results, such as 5-MeO-DMT for depression and ibogaine for addiction and other psychedelic-assisted therapies. That being said, all ibogaine used in clinical research is extracted from the iboga root bark.
Some people argue that you need the natural plant, as there might be an entourage effect of all the various alkaloids present, and Ermakova states that many people report noticeable and tangible difference between the full spectrum plant and an isolated synthetic compound. However, while the various plant species discussed in this article harbour a range of alkaloids that may contribute to an entourage effect, this phenomenon is very unlikely to occur to any significant degree when vaping toad secretion compared to synthetic 5-MeO-DMT. Although some argue for the superiority of the natural substance, it is important not to advocate for toad secretion over the synthetic alternative on this basis. Any potential entourage effect from the toad's other alkaloids, such as bufotenine, is considered negligible. To this point, Gandy has highlighted that transgenic options could theoretically biosynthesise alkaloids together, but the primary solution lies elsewhere. Switching to synthetic 5-MeO-DMT is a crucial step for conservation, as it alleviates pressure on the toad and allows for much more accurate and consistent dosing.
Alternatively, western users could switch to different species for their psychedelic needs. For mescaline, why not switch focus to the San Pedro cactus, which grows much quicker and doesn’t take away from Indigenous users of peyote, who already experience shortages with their sacrament. As for ayahuasca vine, an alternative is the Syrian rue plant, which has beta-carboline alkaloid rich seeds which are far easier and less destructive to the plant to harvest when compared to harvesting ayahuasca vine. Syrian rue has a long history of spiritual use, with claims that it wards off the “evil eye” and is used in so called “pharmahuasca brews”, containing monoamine oxidase inhibitors which enhance DMT in the same way that ayahuasca vine does.
Following my conversations with Ermakova and Gandy, I concluded that they were keen to emphasise a harm-reduction approach. Their goal is to protect these species as the psychedelic movement continues to expand, and to take responsibility as public interest inevitably soars.
Ermakova’s key messages were to pause and question:
Where do your psychedelics come from?
Were they sustainably sourced?
How have local communities been impacted?
Secondly, she argued that we must bridge the knowledge gap concerning the underlying biology, ecology, pharmacology, and conservation of these species. Otherwise, we stand to lose the very organisms that have been healing people across the globe for decades, and which have been used by Indigenous groups for a variety of purposes for centuries. It is therefore imperative that we understand and protect them before it is too late.