We gathered at WBAC 2019 beneath the hot Sonoran skies to witness something rare and vital: a global community waking up to the sacred responsibilities that come with working with the Bufo alvarius toad.
This wasn't just a panel discussion; it was a call to action, an invitation to co-create a more ethical and sustainable approach to the powerful toad medicine known for its 5-MeO-DMT secretion. And fair dinkum, the energy in the room was alive with purpose.
The atmosphere buzzed with the sense that something important was taking root. Collectors, practitioners, and community members were all grappling with the same questions, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and community.
How do we honour the toad and its habitat? How do we serve this sacred medicine without exploiting the very being that provides it? How do we ensure the long-term survival of this species, and still honour the deep healing work it enables? The answers aren't simple, but the gathering marked a profound first step toward collective responsibility. We were beginning to weave a new story, one of respect, reciprocity, and regeneration.
Rak Sets the Tone
Rak Razam opened the panel with his usual blend of grounded wisdom and cheeky charm, framing the conversation around the emergence of FairTradeToad.org.
We're not here to be elitist or hierarchical. This is a labour of love in service to the community. We are the community
FairTradeToad.org is envisioned as a grassroots nonprofit, a bit like "Greenpeace for Bufo”, with a mission to protect the toads, honour the medicine, and empower all who work with it. This is not just a conservation effort; it's a cultural movement. It seeks to create an ethical standard for harvesting and sharing the medicine, without stripping away its sacred context.
The objective is to establish an international alliance that transcends national boundaries and belief systems, unified by a collective dedication to the welfare of both the toad and individuals who utilize its medicinal properties.
There is an ecosystem here, not just in the desert, but in our global movement. Collectors are at the root of that system.
By recognising that this medicine doesn't exist in a vacuum, that it comes through a complex chain involving toads, collectors, facilitators, and ceremony participants, Rak reminded us of the responsibility each link in the chain carries. That's what Fair Trade Toad aims to support: a community ecosystem that's grounded in mutual care.
Building a Movement from the Ground Up
Joining Rak were fellow board members and visionaries: Mario Garnier, Dean Jeffery, and Fernando Suarez. Each offered their unique perspective on how we can bring structure, integrity, and real-world solutions to a rapidly expanding psychedelic culture. Their insights and perspectives are crucial to the movement, making the audience feel empowered and integral to the cause.
Mario, ever the poetic heart of the movement, reminded everyone that this work is long-term and requires dedication from all of us:
We are planting seeds. There is so much work to do, but if we believe this is the way, then it's going to work
Mario's metaphor of seed planting was no accident. What we're witnessing isn't a polished initiative with corporate logos and polished press releases; it’s something raw, grassroots, and deeply human. Fair Trade Toad is a community in formation. And like any living ecosystem, it needs care, participation, and time.
By reading aloud the mission statement, Mario helped ground the abstract idea of "fair trade" into real-life action steps: protocols for collecting, relationships with indigenous caretakers, and financial models that ensure everyone involved is respected and supported.
Fernando Suarez, a lawyer and community advocate, broke down the legal and structural side of the movement. His focus? Ensuring everything is transparent, traceable, and beneficial to all parties involved.
If we are well organized and if collectors trust us, we can create a system that only benefits the community and takes care of the ecosystem.
Fernando highlighted how a civil association in Mexico could provide a strong legal backbone for the initiative. But he went further, suggesting that emerging technologies like blockchain could offer the kind of decentralised transparency this movement needs. Imagine a world where every dose of Bufo medicine can be traced to a specific collection site, handled ethically, and linked to contributions that flow back into the land and its guardians.
This emphasis on transparency and traceability is designed to reassure and instill confidence in the audience. That's the vision: a transparent, tech-supported model of sacred reciprocity.
From Awareness to Action
Dean Jeffery brought the voice of the online community. As the moderator of one of the largest Facebook forums dedicated to the toad and 5-MeO-DMT, he's had a front-row seat to the hopes and concerns of thousands.
His reaction upon finding a dead toad in a collector's bucket, a heartbreaking moment that pushed him to advocate for change. Dan's story is sadly not unique, but what sets him apart is what he chose to do with that experience. Through online forums and real-world connections, he began creating conversations about ethics and standards.
He also proposed a 5% donation model, where facilitators contribute a small percentage of their income from ceremonies back into the conservation pot. This fund would support scientific research, toad habitat restoration, and support for the collectors and indigenous communities.
This isn't about guilt-tripping facilitators; it’s about inviting them into a deeper relationship with the entire ecosystem they work within. That small percentage, charged with the sacred energy of ceremony, could become a powerful force for regeneration if used wisely.
Protocols, Pilgrimage, and the Power of Choice
Fair Trade Toad isn't about enforcing rules with an iron fist. It's about cultivating respect. The panellists outlined best practices co-developed with herpetologists to ensure that toad collection doesn't cross ethical or ecological boundaries.
These include: only milking a portion of a toad's glands, rotating harvesting locations to allow populations to recover, and respecting the natural behaviour and breeding cycles of the toads. These are simple but vital changes that ensure we're not depleting the very source we revere. There was also emphasis on not relocating adult toads, which can lead to disorientation, stress, and even death.
Remember, this is a sacred medicine. When we bring our baggage to it, it shows up in the field. So we have to clean up our act, from the land to the ceremony.
This reminder from Rak hit home. Psychedelic work, by its nature, brings everything to the surface. If we approach it with extractive or careless intentions, that energy reflects. By honouring the toad from source to ceremony, we create a cleaner, more integrated container for healing.
Know Your Source
One of the most powerful tools for change? Community voice. That's where the hashtag #5ource comes in. Designed as both a call to action and a symbol of traceability, it invites people to share their stories, their sourcing practices, and their visions for what fair trade means.
Use it to show how you're engaging with the toad, to tell your story, to build demand for fair practices. This is a collective effort
This isn't just hashtag activism, it’s participatory culture-building. Whether you're a facilitator sharing photos of a respectful collection site, a ceremony participant raising awareness, or a researcher reporting on best practices, #5ource becomes a digital drumbeat uniting us across continents. When enough people ask, demand shifts. When enough people share, culture changes. This is how collective evolution happens, one story, one share, one ceremony at a time.
This Is Just the Beginning
Fair Trade Toad is still in its early stages. As Mario said, it's a seed. But it's being planted with intention, and watered by the community.
The psychedelic space is expanding rapidly, driven by high-profile moments such as Mike Tyson's Bufo journey and the Netflix wave of consciousness-expanding documentaries. With more eyes come more questions. And with more seekers come more responsibilities. Fair Trade Toad exists to help us meet that moment with grace.
We hope it's kept sacred. We're relying on you to help keep it that way
If you want to get involved, contribute skills or funds, or stay in the loop, visit FairTradeToad.org and join the conversation with #5ource.
Let's tread lightly and wisely with our webbed-footed teachers. The toad is calling us to evolve.