Bufo Reactivations: Be Cautious Consuming Cannabis After Smoking the Toad

Some people may incur a reactivation that replicates their initial, toad-smoking experience. Other people may experience a dialed-down or diluted reactivation. A reactivation like this may be less visual and hallucinogenic, more subtle and psychosomatic, akin to a body high, and/or involve a brief state of spiritual acuity and awareness.

Is Cannabis the Only Way to Cause Bufo Reactivation?

Psychedelic effects vary on an individual basis and are by no means one-size-fits-all. Some people may never experience a bufo reactivation, while others do. A toad reactivation can occur days, weeks, or maybe even months after “smoking the toad.”

Various spiritual practices (meditation, breathwork, etc.) and psychedelic substances can lead to a bufo reactivation. However, due to the volume of cannabis consumers in the United States, cannabis may be the likeliest reactivation pathway.

For clarity, there is no scientific proof that cannabis has the highest chance of causing a reactivation, or if cannabis can cause a reactivation for everyone. Meditation may also cause a reactivation, so bufo smokers in a Buddhist culture may appear more prone to reactivations than cannabis consumers.

A Reactivation Account

Emeline Crutcher lives in the Santa Cruz area. Besides holding a PhD in genetics, Crutcher hosts retreats through Tree of Life Temple, serves medicine, and does somatic therapy. She is no stranger to toad reactivations. She serves bufo and has done it many times.

She stresses that someone can smoke the toad once and experience a spontaneous reactivation. However, cannabis hits a little bit differently. “If I smoke cannabis and I have smoked bufo, especially within the last 24 hours, I will 100% get a reactivation.”

Crutcher recalled a potent reactivation experience. She did bufo in the morning. That evening, after she smoked cannabis, she had the strongest bufo reactivation ever. “It lasted for probably two hours, and it was seriously the most difficult time I’ve ever had holding space for myself,”  she said. “Yeah, it was nuts.”

“I would say the space that you enter is very similar, but you can still get up and move, and walk.” Crutcher continued. “But you have fewer choices in your action when you’re fully in bufo, if you just smoked bufo. It’s more like you’re being directed. Whereas when it’s being reactivated by cannabis, it’s like you do have a little bit more agency. It’s more grounded. The frequency of it, the space is the same, but for me, cannabis really pulls me into my body.”

Crutcher doesn’t have reactivation visuals. “It’s very much opening up to having a lot of information flowing through and being able to feel that in your body.” She stresses the uniqueness of toad activations for everyone. From her experience, they tend not to be visual but more energetic.

Crutcher warns cannabis consumers to be careful with their intake before and after smoking the toad. However, she notes, “A lot of people who smoke cannabis regularly don’t actually get the reactivation.”

Bufo Reactivation Probability and Window

One of the best people to speak with about reactivations is Joel Brierre. Brierre is the founder of Tandava Retreats and co-founder of F.I.V.E. (5-MeO-DMT Information and Vital Education). As F.I.V.E.’s co-founder, he’s leading the charge into further 5-MeO-DMT research.

Brierre guesses that 15-20% of people will have a post-toad reactivation. Brierre notes that reactivation pathways vary. For example, “taking 5-HTP or melatonin at night, before you go to bed,” may cause a reactivation. He does believe cannabis may cause a reactivation as well.

Brierre agrees with Crutcher on the reactivation window. He says most reactivations will usually happen “within the first few days of the experience.” But there’s a critical time that extends into the following weeks. “I think there’s this four to six week period… where 5-MeO seems to reopen that critical window, period, where we’re able to shift developmental stage patterning.” Using cannabis in the 4-6 week window after bufo may have the highest chance of causing a reactivation.

However, in rare cases, a reactivation can happen outside the integration window. Brierre comments on a heart surgeon who said he had a reactivation for years after his initial toad experience. The man had no reactivations, then, “…he had a blown, full release 5-MeO experience. He said it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was like being right back there.”

Reactivations Prefer Relaxed, Introspective States

Another leading voice regarding reactivations is Stephan Kerby. Kerby is a 5-MeO-DMT facilitator and founder of the Mindscape Psychedelic Institute. Like Brierre, Kerby thinks around 15-20% of the people he works with report having a reactivation. They usually occur when “you’re in a very relaxed state, either a meditative state, potentially with breath work,” or, perhaps, using cannabis. He estimates around 25-30% of people experience a reactivation with cannabis, a higher percentage than the general DMT-consuming population.

Cannabis heightens relaxed, introspective states that may be conducive to a reactivation, but don’t worry – cannabis consumers aren’t having alarming numbers of reactivations. Kerby said, “Not a lot of folks are having spontaneous reactivations from cannabis. It does happen. But I’m not hearing a lot of reports, and I do a lot of work in Colorado, where obviously folks have a lot of access to it.”