Why does snake venom give a ‘kick’ to ‘psychonauts’?

Photo Courtesy: @ElvishYadav/Twitter

YouTuber Elvish Yadav was arrested by the Noida Police on March 17, 2024, and sent to a 14-day police remand on charges of allegedly providing snake venom for a rave party in Noida’s Sector 51 on November 3 last year.

The social media star, along with five others, had been booked under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and Section 120A (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The five other accused had been arrested while Yadav’s role was being probed, according to media reports.

The party, conducted at a banquet hall in Noida near New Delhi, was part of a sting operation conducted by non-profit organisation, People for Animals.

Nine snakes — mostly cobras and kraits — were recovered at the party. The venom glands of eight had been removed.

But why snake venom? Contrary to what one might think, snake venom use for intoxication and recreation is relatively common in India, although less reported in medical literature.

This is according to a paper published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine in 2022.

Snake venom – An unconventional recreational substance for psychonauts in India was published by Devendra Jadav, Rutwik Shedge, Vikas P Meshram, Tanuj Kanchan and Raghvendra Singh Shekhawat.

All of them were associated with the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur at the time of publication.

Psychoactive elements & ‘psychonauts’

The researchers describe in detail about why certain substances have always been used by humans to intoxicate themselves. Such elements mostly act on the central nervous system. In the process, they alter an individual’s mood, perception and consciousness.

The authors elaborate on these ‘hallucinogens’ or ‘psychedelics’:

Depending on the nature of psychoactive substances, they produce either a modest type of psychological effects such as euphoria, anxiolysis, dissociation, emotional blunting, etc. or more unusual effects such as hallucination, synaesthesia, altered space-time continuum, and mystical experience.

Some of the most commonly used hallucinogens include mushrooms, cannabis, mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

However, in the last century, humans discovered newer types of hallucinogens or psychedelics. Many of these were synthetic derivatives of naturally-occurring psychoactive substances.

Many individuals also searched and experimented with secretions or body parts of certain animals that can be mind-altering when taken in ample doses.

Such animals, say the researchers, are called ‘psychoactive fauna’:

Some of the commonly used psychoactive fauna are hallucinogenic fish such as clownfish and Rabbitfish, amphibians such as toads, ants such as Red Harvester Ants, reptiles such as the Indian Wall Lizard, and liver and bone marrow of giraffe.

Why do people indulge in such activity? The authors say as one consumes psychoactive substances regularly, they can develop tolerance towards them and no longer ‘get a kick’.

This desire to experience newer forms of intoxication forces such individuals to search for and experiment with newer types of substances, including those from psychoactive fauna. Such people, say the researchers, are called ‘psychonauts’.

Snake venom chemistry

So how does snake venom work? It usually intoxicates through nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), say the authors.

Neurotoxic snake venom, found in elapid snakes such as cobras and kraits, “is primarily composed of a highly strong presynaptic neurotoxin that prevents impulses from nerve terminals from being transferred to muscle receptors”, according to the United States National Institutes of Health.

“After entering the body, snake venom releases active chemicals such as 5-hydroxytryptamine, bradykinin, slow-reacting substances, prostaglandins and Lysophosphatides. One of the most pleasant effects for psychonauts is drowsiness, one of the earliest symptoms of an elapid snake bite, especially a cobra. It is also a commonly recorded symptom in Australian and Indian snakebite literature,” note the scientists.

Psychonauts also experience “muscular paralysis and centrally mediated opiate independent analgesia”. The analgesia means that the person loses the ability to feel pain while still conscious. 

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However, the scientists warn that “the habit of getting high from snake venom is probably the most deadly among psychoactive fauna”.

Snakes and the law

The use and trade of most psychoactive ‘substances of abuse’ come under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. But not snake venom. Instead, “matters related to snakes and their venom come under the purview of the Wildlife Protection Act”, write the authors.

Under the WPA, derivation, collection, preparation or dealing in snake venom is strictly prohibited without a license. Only snake catchers can catch and retrieve a snake and that too if it has entered a human settlement. Permission has to be sought from the forest department for the same.

Snake venom of so-called ‘medically-important’ snakes is “usually sold to Pharmaceutical companies to make Anti-snake venom”. India, of course, has a huge snakebite problem. Snakebites (envenomation) is classified as a Neglected Tropical Disease by the UN. Most deaths happen because of the timing of the delivery or the quality of antivenom delivered to a patient.

However, the authors of the paper note that “illegal trading and illicit use (of snake venom) like use for the narcosis and as an additive to drugs like cocaine and marijuana” is a matter of concern.

“Use of snake venom can often be seen at rave parties. The Narcotic Control Bureau of India has the power to raid and seize such illegal consumption. Despite such legislations and controlling authorities, the illicit use and trade of snake venom is still continuing,” they add.

They cite “a literature survey” that showed 13 cases of use of snake venom as a recreational substance from India.

Most users were men from the 18-52 years age group. “The reported cases include four from Mumbai, two from Ranchi, two from Salem, and one each from Mangalore, Chandigarh, Wardha, Marwar region of Rajasthan and Bangalore,” the authors note.