Meta is profiting from adverts on Facebook and Instagram promoting a controversial “frog poison” detox that has been linked to a number of deaths.
The tech giant has run hundreds of adverts targeting British Instagram users marketing the drug known as Kambo.
Adverts on Meta’s social media platforms typically promote “healing” retreats in the UK or abroad, which include Kambo rituals.
Last week, The Telegraph disclosed that a British man died after a Kambo ceremony, thought to be the first victim in the UK. Kristian Trend, a 40-year-old wellness coach, is believed to have collapsed after a Kambo ritual at a flat in Leicester.
His death has prompted calls from MPs for the sale of Kambo to be banned in Britain. The frog toxin is not a licensed medicine in the UK and is not classified as a controlled drug.
The adverts on Facebook and Instagram tout the potential benefits of Kambo as part of healing retreats.
Some of the retreats promise help “navigating mental health challenges, addiction recovery, trauma healing”.
Other adverts are for Kambo courses that are intended to help “reset” and detox “high-performers”. More than 570 adverts promoting Kambo have been targeted at the UK and around a dozen were running at press time.
The drug, made from the dried secretions of the giant leaf frog, has its origins in Amazonian tribal medicine. It has grown in popularity in Europe as a wellness treatment.
It is typically applied to small burns on the skin of users in a ritualistic ceremony. The drug prompts extreme vomiting, or “purging”, which supposedly cleanses the body.
However, the chemical has been linked to multiple deaths around the world and is banned from sale in Brazil, Chile and Australia.
Officials in Australia have warned Kambo poses a small risk of “seizures and death”, even in limited doses. Other risks include rupturing the inside of the oesophagus from repeated vomiting, which is a medical emergency.
Prof Penelope Ward, from King’s College London, said: “Healers supplying this product seem to be ignorant of its potential harms and may be placing their customers at risk. It would seem to be appropriate for this product to be properly investigated with a view to considering whether its use should be banned.”
Alastair Hay, an emeritus professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, says the chemicals in Kambo can be up to 40 times more potent than morphine.
He said because the chemical is administered with varying concentrations, often taken while drinking large volumes of water, and used by those who may not be fully fit, “it doesn’t surprise me that there are fatalities”.
Meta’s advertising policies ban ads that promote illicit drugs “or other potentially unsafe drugs, products or supplements”, which it says are decided at Meta’s discretion.
There are also dozens of adverts on Meta’s UK platforms promoting similar overseas retreats for Ayahuasca ceremonies.
Ayahuasca, a drink which is made by brewing South American plant leaves, is illegal in the UK as it contains DMT, a class A drug with strong hallucinogenic properties.
The Advertising Standards Authority has said that any adverts that appear to condone illegal drug use are likely to be considered “irresponsible”. Under the Online Safety Act, posts that include offers to supply illegal drugs are considered priority illegal content.
A spokesman for Meta confirmed that selling banned drugs is illegal on its apps and that it uses proactive detection technology to remove adverts that violate its policies, as well as content reviewers. Meta said it keeps its policies under review.