The poisonous toad Bufo marinus is native to the New World, where it is a common denizen of low swampy habitats ranging from Florida west along the Gulf Coast to Mexico, then south to Panama and northern South America. In other words, even assuming that a folk preparation could eliminate the toxic constituents in the toad venom, it became questionable whether bufotenin alone would be hallucinogenic. This issue was never resolved by a full range of experiments, including different techniques of administering the drug, but the doubts cast on the psychoactive properties of bufotenin led many to conclude that Bufo marinus could not have been used as a ritual narcotic, let alone serving as the basis of a state religion. Crosscutting this negative evidence, however, and perhaps beginning to resolve the matter once and for all is the important recent discovery by Dr. Andrew Weil of the University of Arizona (pers. comm.) of a group of individuals in New Mexico, U.S.A. who apparently have been using the toad as a ritual hallucinogen for several years. Their means of administration is simple and direct. They milk the paratoid glands by hand, taking some care to avoid contact between the secretions and their mucous membranes. They then smoke the toad venom and, according to preliminary reports, the psychoactive effects are unmistakeable while the noxious side effects one might expect from the associated compounds in the secretions are negligible. If true, this discovery suggests that the cardioactive steroids bufogenin and bufotoxin may be denatured by smoking, while the potential of the active constituent, presumably bufotenin, is fully realised. The form of administration is consistent with the known pharmacological properties of other tryptamines. In general, those compounds may be smoked or absorbed as snuffs;ingested orally they are in most instances inactive. The full significance of Weil’s discovery will be determined by a battery of field and laboratory experiments.