Yopo, (also known as Cohoba, Nopo, Ñopo), is a native South American intoxicant used in ritual and sometimes recreational contexts. It is generally consumed in the form of a snuff prepared from the beans of the tree Anadenanthera peregrina. In some areas the beans are also smoked. The trees grow in open plain areas, and leaves, bark and seeds contain DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and related compounds (Schultes 1976,1977; Pachter et al. 1959).

Its usage complex is similar to that of Vilca and Epena.

Related Species

The usage complex of Yopo is almost identical to that of a related tree, Anadenanthera colubrina , commonly known as Cebíl or Vilca . The beans of Anadenanthera colubrina have a similar chemical makeup as Anadenanthera peregrina, with their primary constituent being 5-OH-DMT or Bufotenin. The traditional use of the leaves of these two trees has been discussed in detail by Jonathan Ott.

Usage

Black beans from these trees are toasted, pulverized and mixed with ashes or calcined shells to make psychedelic snuff called yopo by Indians in Orinoco basin in Colombia, Venezuela and possibly in southern part of Brazilian Amazon. Yopo is blown into the nostrils through bamboo tubes or snuffed by birdbone tubes.

Active Constituents: DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and related compounds.

Books

• Jonathan Ott - Shamanic Snuffs or Entheogenic Errhines (2001) ISBN 1888755024
• Richard Evans Schultes - Plants of the Gods (1992) ISBN 0892819790

External Links

• The Preperation of Anadenanthera Snuffs (Plot55.com)
• Growing Anadenanthera colubrina (Plot55.com)