Salvia divinorum Basics

Posted on Oct 07 in Legal Budsby Frater OzPrint

Salvia divinorum

Basics

Salvia divinorum (Diviner's Sage, ska María Pastora, Sage of the Seers, or colloquially by its genus name Salvia) is a psychoactive herb which can induce dissociative effects. It is a herbaceous perennial in the Lamiaceae (mint) family. The specific name, Salvia divinorum, was given because of its traditional use in divination and healing—it literally translates to "diviner's sage" or "seer's sage".

Salvia divinorum has a long and continuing tradition of religious use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions. Native habitat is within the isolated Sierra Mazateca cloud forest in Oaxaca, Mexico, growing within shaded and moist habitat. It grows to well over a meter in height. It has hollow square stems, large green leaves, and occasional white flowers with purple bracts. Botanists have not determined whether it is a cultigen or a hybrid.

Its primary psychoactive constituent is a diterpenoid known as salvinorin A, which is a potent ?-opioid receptor agonist. Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a hallucinatory state this way. Salvia divinorum can be chewed, smoked, or taken as a tincture to produce intense and profound hallucinatory states of consciousness, and, occasionally, unpredictable behaviors that range from laughter to unintelligible speech. The duration of effects is much briefer than those of other psychoactive compounds, typically only minutes in length.

The most commonly reported after-effects include an improved mood and sensations of insight, calmness, and connection with nature—though rarely it may also cause dysphoria. Salvia divinorum is generally understood to be of low toxicity (high LD50) and low addictive potential; as a ?-opioid agonist, it may have potential as an analgesic and as a therapeutic tool for treating drug addictions. While not currently regulated by US federal drug laws, several states have passed laws criminalizing the substance and the DEA has listed Salvia as a "drug of concern".

Ingestion

Traditional methods

Mazatec shamans crush the leaves to extract leaf juices from about 20 to 80 (about 50g/2 oz to 200g/7 oz.) or more fresh leaves. They usually mix these juices with water to create an infusion or 'tea' which they drink to induce visions in ritual healing ceremonies.

Modern methods

Salvia divinorum is becoming more widely known and used in modern culture. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual US based survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), for 2006 estimated that about 1.8 million persons aged 12 or older had used Salvia divinorum in their lifetime, of which approximately 750,000 had done so in that year. Modern methods of ingestion include smoking or chewing the leaf, or using a tincture, as described in the following sections.

Smoking

Dry leaves can be smoked in a pipe, but most users prefer the use of a water pipe to cool the smoke. The temperature required to release salvinorin from the plant material is quite high (about 240°C). A regular flame will work, but the direct application of something more intense, such as the flame produced from a butane torch lighter, is often preferred.

Some people find that untreated dried salvia leaf produces unnoticeable or only light effects. Concentrated preparations or extracts which may be smoked in place of untreated leaves, have become widely available. The enhanced leaf is often described by a number followed by an x (such as "5x," "10x," etc), the multiplication factors being generally indicative of the relative amounts of leaf concentrate. The numbers therefore may also be roughly indicative of the relative concentration of the active principle, (salvinorin A), but the measure should not be taken as absolute. Overall extract potency will depend on the (naturally varying) strength of the untreated leaf used in preparing the extract, as well as the efficiency of the extraction process itself. Extracts reduce the overall amount of inhalations needed to ingest a given amount of active principle, thus facilitating more powerful experiences.

Chewing

The method of chewing the leaves may also be employed. However, salvinorin A is generally considered to be inactive when orally ingested, as salvinorin A is effectively deactivated by the gastrointestinal system. Therefore, the 'quid' of leaves is held in the mouth as long as possible in order to facilitate absorption of the active constituents through the oral mucosa. Chewing consumes more of the plant than smoking, and produces a longer-lasting experience.

Using a tincture

Less commonly, some may ingest salvia in the form of a tincture. This is administered sublingually, usually with the aid of a glass dropper. It may be taken diluted with water just before use, which may slightly reduce the intensity of its effects, but can also serve to lessen or avoid a stinging sensation in the mouth caused by the presence of alcohol. Tinctures vary in potency, and the effects can range from inducing a mild meditative state to bringing about a more intense visionary one.

Duration of effect

If salvia is smoked the main effects are experienced quickly. The most intense 'peak' is reached within a minute or so and lasts for about 1–5 minutes, followed by a gradual tapering back. At 5–10 minutes, less intense yet still noticeable effects typically persist, but giving way to a returning sense of the everyday and familiar until back to recognizable baseline after about 15 to 20 minutes.

Chewing the leaf makes the effects come on more slowly, over a period of 10 to 20 minutes, the experience then lasting from another 30 minutes up to one and a half hours.

When taken as a tincture the effects and duration are similar to other methods of oral ingestion, though may be significantly more intense, depending on extract potency.

Effects

Psychedelic experiences are necessarily somewhat subjective and variations in reported effects are to be expected. Aside from individual reported experiences there has been a limited amount of published work summarising the effects. D.M. Turner's book Salvinorin—The Psychedelic Essence of Salvia Divinorum quotes Daniel Siebert's summarisation, mentioning that the effects may include:

• Uncontrollable laughter
• Past memories, such as revisiting places from childhood memory
• Sensations of motion, or being pulled or twisted by forces
• Visions of membranes, films and various two-dimensional surfaces
• Merging with or becoming objects
• Overlapping realities, such as the perception of being in several locations at once

A survey of salvia users found that 38% described the effects as unique. 23% said the effects were like yoga, meditation or trance.

Media reporters rarely venture to take salvia themselves, but one firsthand journalistic account has been published in the UK science magazine New Scientist:

“the salvia took me on a consciousness-expanding journey unlike any other I have ever experienced. My body felt disconnected from 'me' and objects and people appeared cartoonish, surreal and marvellous. Then, as suddenly as it had began, it was over. The visions vanished and I was back in my bedroom. I spoke to my 'sitter'—the friend who was watching over me, as recommended on the packaging—but my mouth was awkward and clumsy. When I attempted to stand my coordination was off. Within a couple of minutes, however, I was fine and clear-headed, though dripping with sweat. The whole experience had lasted less than 5 minutes.”

Gaia 2006-09-29 (UK Media)

There have been few books published on the subject. One notable example is Dale Pendell's work "Phamako/Poeia—Plants Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft", which won the 1996 Firecracker Alternative Book Award  and has a chapter dedicated to Salvia divinorum. It includes some experience accounts:

“It's very intense, I call it a reality stutter, or a reality strobing. I think that having been a test pilot, and flying in that unforgiving environment with only two feet between our wingtips, helped to prepare me for this kind of exploration.

Pendell 1995

Some have written extensive prose and/or poetry about their experiences. Some describe their visions pictorially, and there exist examples of visionary art which claim to be salvia-inspired. Others claim musical inspiration from the plant: examples are the songs "Salvia divinorum" by 1200 Micrograms, "Salvia" by Deepwater Sunshine, and "Flight 77" by Paul Dereas.

Cautionary notes

Dale Pendell expresses some concerns about the use of highly concentrated forms of salvia. In its natural form salvia is more balanced and benevolent, and quite strong enough, he argues. High strength extracts on the other hand can show "a more precipitous, and more terrifying, face" and many who try it this way may never wish to repeat the experience.

The Salvia divinorum User's Guide hosted on Daniel Siebert's website recommends having a sitter present if you are new to salvia, are experimenting with a stronger form, or are using a more effective method of ingestion than you have before

“An experienced salvia user who is chewing a quid, may often choose to do it alone, and may be quite safe in doing so. But having a pleasant, sensible, sober sitter is an absolute must if you are trying vaporization, smoking high doses of extract-enhanced leaves, or using pure salvinorin.”

Salvia divinorum User's Guide

The guide says that while the effects of salvia are generally quite different from those of alcohol, like alcohol, it impairs coordination. It also emphasizes that salvia is not a party drug.

“Salvia is not 'fun' in the way that alcohol or cannabis can be. If you try to party with salvia you probably will not have a good experience. Salvia is a consciousness-changing herb that can be used in a vision quest, or in a healing ritual. In the right setting, salvia makes it possible to see visions. It is an herb with a long tradition of sacred use. It is useful for deep meditation. It is best taken in a quiet, nearly dark room; either alone, or with one or two good friends present.”

Salvia divinorum User's Guide

Short term

After the peak effects, normal awareness-of-self and the immediate surroundings return but lingering effects may be felt. These short-term lingering effects have a completely different character than the peak experience. About half of users report a pleasing 'afterglow', or pleasant state of mind following the main effects. Researchers from the University of California and California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute conducted a survey of 500 salvia users which identified that they 'sometimes or often' experience certain effects, including:

• Increased insight: 47%
• Decreased insight: 1.8%
• Improved mood: 44.8%
• Worsened mood: 4.0%
• Increased connection with Universe or Nature: 39.8%
• Decreased connection with Universe or Nature: 5.4%
• Increased sweating: 28.2%
• Decreased sweating: 1.6%
• Body felt warm or hot: 25.2%
• Body felt cold: 6.4%
• Increased self-confidence: 21.6%
• Decreased self-confidence: 2.4%
• Improved concentration: 19.4%
• Difficulty concentrating: 12.0%

Other commonly reported effects include:

• Feelings of calmness: 42.2%
• Weird thoughts: 36.4%
• Things seeming unreal: 32.4%
• Floating feelings: 32%
• Mind racing: 23.2%
• Feeling lightheaded: 22.2%

Long term

Differing studies suggest no overall consensus so far with regard to the long-term effects of Salvia divinorum on mood. It is well-established that some k-opioid agonists can cause dysphoria in humans, and research using rats in forced-swim tests (where they're forced to swim in a narrow cylinder from which they cannot escape) has been used to suggest that Salvia divinorum may have "depressive-like" effects. However, a report has been published detailing an individual case of Salvia divinorum use as self-medicated treatment for depression, and Baggott's survey of 500 people with firsthand experience of salvia found that 25.8% of respondents reported improved mood and "antidepressant-like effects" lasting 24 hours or longer. Only 4.4% reported persisting (24 hours or more) negative effects (most often anxiety) on at least one occasion.

It has been suggested that the long-term effects of Salvia use may include déjà vu. The Baggott survey found little evidence of addictive potential (chemical dependence) in its survey population. 0.6% percent of respondents reported feeling addicted to or dependent on salvia at some point, and 1.2% reported strong cravings. About this the researchers said "there were too few of these individuals to interpret their reports with any confidence".

Most users report no hangover or negative after-effects (e.g. Withdrawal, Comedown (drugs) or Rebound effect) the next day. This is consistent with the apparent low toxicity of Salvia indicated by research conducted at the University of Nebraska.

Salvia divinorum resources:

1. Salvia divinorum at Erowid
2. Salvia divinorum at Neurosoup
3. The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center at Sage Wisdom

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