Ian Benouis's avatar

Toad Talks: Conservation and Ecology of the Sonoran Desert Toad in the USA Monsoon 2025

Toad Talk Series presented by the Church of the Sacred Synthesis. 5 Episodes during the Monsoon of 2025 in Southeastern, AZ around Tucson.


Episode 1 Monsoon Season & The Emergence of the Sonoran Desert Toad July 9, 2025

In this episode of our limited series entitled Toad Talk, Ian Benouis from The Sacred Synthesis explores the annual arrival of monsoon season in Arizona and the biological awakening of the Sonoran Desert toad (Incilius alvarius)—a unique amphibian known for carrying 5-MeO-DMT in its natural secretion. We discuss:

  • Why the toads surface only during the monsoon season
  • The environmental conditions that support their emergence
  • An overview of the secretion and its use in sacramental, spiritual, and therapeutic settings
  • Ethical considerations, conservation concerns, and synthetic alternatives
  • The importance of informed, respectful engagement with this potent medicine
  • Ways The Sacred Synthesis works with this medicine in Church sacraments

Episode 2 The American Bullfrog Invasion July 23, 2025

Join Ian Benouis & Benjamin Moore for an eye-opening episode of the Toad Talk Series as they explore one of the greatest threats facing the Sonoran Desert Toad (Incilius alvarius) today: The American Bullfrog.

Once introduced for commercial farming, this invasive species has become an apex predator in the Southwest, devouring native insects, amphibians, and even young Sonoran Desert Toads.

Its presence threatens not only ecological balance but the survival of a creature many hold sacred for its natural production of 5-MeO-DMT.

Episode 3 Harvest, Habitat, and the Fight for the Toad July 30, 2025

This week on Toad Talk, Ian is joined by Joe Paul, a longtime toad tracker and ecological witness. He’s giving us the inside scoop on what’s really happening out there: how the changing climate and delayed monsoon are impacting the toad’s delicate life cycle, and how human behavior, especially the rising presence of Mexican nationals crossing the border to collect toads on behalf of cartels, is placing even greater stress on the species.

Joe will also be sharing what he has learned from conversations with other collectors and facilitators, offering a candid look at the shifts in habitat, the ethics of harvest, and what we must consider as sacred stewards of this powerful medicine.

Episode 4 Conservation in the Desert August 12, 2025

Hosted by members of the Sacred Synthesis team, our Toad Talk Series returns with live conversations on current topics related to the Incilius Alvarius toad and sacred entheogenic practice. While the monsoon rains have been slow to arrive—and with mating still tricky to track—we’re moving full steam ahead on conservation.

The Sacred Synthesis Team is joined again by Joe Paul, who’s as ready, willing, and able as ever to share updates. Hear about the efforts to rescue tadpoles (some of which have already metamorphosed into young toads thriving in a backyard) and the ongoing work building ponds in the wild to restore and restock native toad populations.

It’s a conversation about hands-on stewardship, resilience, and giving these remarkable creatures a fighting chance.

Episode 5 Last Rains, Last Toad Talk August 19, 2025

Join us for the closing Toad Talk of the year as we gather around the last rains of the monsoon. With about half an inch expected in the Tucson leading up to the talk, the Sacred Synthesis will share first hand knowledge from the Sonoran Desert. We’ll also touch on the conservation side of the season, including reestablishing some of the toadlets in pools.

Leave a comment

Unknown's avatar

About Ian Benouis

Ian is a West Point graduate, former US Army officer, Blackhawk helicopter pilot and combat veteran. He is Patient Number One at the Mission Within which treats special operators with PTSD, TBI and addiction using iboga and toad (5-meo-dmt) in Mexico.  He is an advisor there, after being the General Counsel and spearheading the veteran healing program.  Ian has been helping wounded veterans for over 9 years. Ian has moderated numerous veteran’s panels including the MAPS Psychedelic Science conference in 2018 in Austin and the World Bufo Alvarius Congress in 2019 in Mexico City. He founded an ONAC church chapter which was later returned to the parent church.  He is a founder of a Santo Daime church which is the US chapter of a Brazilian government approved church and between himself and his law partner Greg Lake, have created over sixty entheogenic churches in the US. Ian participated in Operation Just Cause in the Republic of Panama.  This operation was the largest combat operation in US history focused directly on the War on Drugs and was the largest special operations deployment ever conducted. He was a pilot-in-command and his aviation brigade flew more night vision goggle hours than any unit in the military except for the Task Force 160 Special Operations which his unit was ultimately rolled up into when the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, California military base was shut down. Ian grew up in Hawaii in the 1970’s where cannabis and mushrooms were decriminalized and integrated into the culture.  He has been healing himself for over 30 years with sacred medicines, a spiritual practice, and being a student and practitioner of ethnobotany. Ian was a pharmaceutical representative for Pfizer after he got out of the Army witnessing firsthand the rise of the SSRI’s and synthetic opioids in the early 1990’s. He is a casualty of the drug war having been arrested for cannabis while in law school.  Ian is an intellectual property attorney who worked in the corporate world for over 20 years in the primary roles of VP of Sales and Marketing and General Counsel. He is a political activist in the cannabis and entheogenic medicine space nationally and locally in Texas.  Ian was previously the Chairman of the Board for a public policy foundation in Texas for over 7 years. Ian was featured in the Spike Jonze produced episode Stoned Vets on Weediquette the cannabis focused series on Viceland on HBO with a number of other veterans protesting the VA’s policy on medical cannabis and working to end the veteran suicide epidemic. In 2016 Ian organized a trip for six veterans with PTSD to Peru in May for a 10-day plant diet including ayahuasca and other plant medicines with three Shipibo trained shaman brothers.  Ian also took some of the same veterans to Mexico for treatment with iboga and 5-Meo-DMT.  This experience was captured on video and was released as a documentary in March 2017 entitled Soldiers of the Vine. He is member of the team that created the movie From Shock to Awe a feature-length documentary that chronicled the journeys of military veterans as they sought relief from PTSD with the help of ayahuasca and MDMA. Ian is a Co-Founder of the Church of the Sacred Synthesis which offers the sacrament psilomethoxin and he is the first human being to ingest it through bioassay.