Although previously thought to be non-hallucinogenic and/ortoxic,ethnobotanistJonathan Ott and colleagues showed in 2001 that bufotenin is an active psychedelic similarly to DMT and 5-MeO-DMT and does not necessarily produce majoradverse effects.[6][7] Bufotenin is the only significant alkaloid present in theseeds ofAnadenanthera species, from which many snuffs are prepared, with percentages of 2.7–12.4% bufotenin relative to 0.04–0.16% for 5-MeO-DMT and DMT.[6][7] According tojournalistHamilton Morris, who has alsoself-experimented with bufotenin, the effects of pure bufotenin are like a cross between those of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, though unlike the others it tends to be accompanied by severenausea andvomiting.[8][9] Morris has stated that, due to its use in the form of hallucinogenic snuffs, bufotenin may be the psychedelic with the longest known history of human entheogenic use.[8][9] However, although bufotenin may be active as a hallucinogen, it can produce powerful and potentially dangerouscardiovascularside effects along with itsemetic effects.[10]
The use of hallucinogenic snuffs by indigenous South American people was first observed byWestern explorers likeChristopher Columbus as early as 1496.[1][3][11] Bufotenin, DMT, and 5-MeO-DMT were first isolated from hallucinogenic snuffs in the 1950s and 1960s.[1][4][11][12][13][14]
^de Smet PA (December 1983). "A multidisciplinary overview of intoxicating enema rituals in the western hemisphere".J Ethnopharmacol.9 (2–3):129–166.doi:10.1016/0378-8741(83)90031-4.PMID6677814.
^abOtt J (2001). "Pharmañopo-psychonautics: human intranasal, sublingual, intrarectal, pulmonary and oral pharmacology of bufotenine".J Psychoactive Drugs.33 (3):273–281.doi:10.1080/02791072.2001.10400574.PMID11718320.
^abHamilton Morris (1 December 2022)."A New One-Hour Talk On 5-MeO-DMT".The Hamilton Morris Podcast. Patreon. Event occurs at 6:27–8:40, 10:15–11:13. Retrieved21 January 2025.[Morris:] Bufotenine is a drug that I have tried. I've tried isolated pure bufotenine and it is a psychedelic that is both pharmacologically and experientially and chemically intermediate between DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. So it has a longer duration than actually both 5-MeO-DMT and DMT. It's yet less visual than DMT but more visual than 5-MeO-DMT, so it's kind of like in-between the two. It's also very nauseating, which is the main reason that people seem not to enjoy it very much. But it is a classical psychedelic drug that produces visionary effects. And Jonathan Ott actually liked the effect of it quite a bit.
^abHamilton Morris (1 September 2021)."PODCAST 28: A talk with Jonathan Ott".The Hamilton Morris Podcast (Podcast). Patreon. Event occurs at 49:20–50:36. Retrieved20 January 2025.[Morris:] I've used [bufotenine] a couple times, once at 50 milligrams of the freebase snorted. [...] I found it to be extremely nauseating. I found it to be qualitatively intermediate between 5-MeO-DMT and DMT in that it was more visual than my experiences with 5-MeO-DMT but less visual than my typical experiences with DMT. It had a longer duration than 5-MeO-DMT and maybe even a longer duration than DMT as well. It was about an hour. Although I don't have all that much experience snorting DMT freebase.
^Holmstedt B, Daly JW, Del Pozo EC, Horning EC, Isbel H, Szara S (1967)."Discussion on the Psychoactive Action of Various Tryptamine Derivatives".Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs. Raven Press. pp. 374–382 (377).ISBN978-0-89004-047-8.[DR. ISBELL:] It has been said that bufotenine is not a psychotomimetic drug. I don't think we should say that. The difficulty is that bufotenine is a drug that has extremely powerful and dangerous cardiovascular effects, and for that reason it is not possible to push the dose in man. Also, it would be difficult to differentiate whether psychotic reactions were due to central effects or to cardiovascular actions. Cardiovascular actions include hypertension and development of an arrhythmia which actually amounts to a ventricular standstill. The auricle does not beat, the beat drops out, and the ventricle takes over, and it is very frightening. Simultaneously with the hypertension and ventricular escapes, one sees spectacular cynanosis in the upper part of the body, similar to that which has been described in the carcinoid flush, which is presumably due to serotonin. So bufotenine is a difficult drug to work in man for this reason, and it would not be too surprising if it did not have some kind of a central action if it were possible to extract it out.
^Fish, M. S.; Johnson, N. M.; Horning, E. C. (1955). "Piptadenia Alkaloids. Indole Bases of P. peregrina (L.) Benth. and Related Species".Journal of the American Chemical Society.77 (22):5892–5895.Bibcode:1955JAChS..77.5892F.doi:10.1021/ja01627a034.ISSN0002-7863.
^Holmstedt B (August 1965). "Tryptamine derivatives in Epená, an intoxicating snuff used by some South American Indian tribes".Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther.156 (2):285–305.PMID5868939.
