Salvia divinorum

 

• 1Introduction to Salvia Divinorum
  • 1.1Psychoactive Compounds
  • 1.2Effects of Salvia Divinorum
• 2Using Salvia Divinorum
  • 2.1Dosage
  • 2.2Combinations with Salvia divinorum
  • 2.3Ways of using Salvia divinorum
  • 2.4Uses of Salvia Divinorum
    • 2.4.1Recreational
    • 2.4.2Medicinal
    • 2.4.3Spiritual
• 3The dangers of Salvia Divinorum
  • 3.1Guidelines for safe use
  • 3.2Toxicity
  • 3.3Contraindications, side effects, and addiction
• 4Growing/Producing Salvia divinorum
  • 4.1General Growing
  • 4.2Taking care of the plant
  • 4.3Producing Salvia divininorum extract
• 5Forms of Salvia Divinorum
  • 5.1Fresh Leaf
  • 5.2Dried Leaf
    • 5.2.1Extracts
    • 5.2.2Non-standardized extract
    • 5.2.3Standardized extract
  • 5.3Tincture
• 6 Legal status of Salvia divinorum
• 7History of Salvia divinorum
• 8More Salvia divinorum Sections
  • 8.1Drug Price Calculator
• 9The latest Salvia divinorum threads
• 10References

[top]Introduction to Salvia Divinorum

Salvia Divinorum, also called Diviner's Sage, Sage of the Seers, Sally-D, Ska Pastora, and magic mint is a psychoactive plant in the Lamiaceae family (mint). The plant's use as a spiritual healer has been an everlasting tradition to the Mazatec shamans in Oaxaca, Mexico, where the plant grows natively. Today, salvia is being used around the world for its spiritual and hallucinogenic effects. Salvia Divinorum’s intense and short effects are gaining popularity. The plant has been banned in several countries, yet overall most countries have barely heard about the plant. Due to its rise in popularity, it is receiving legal attention. However, few studies have been done on salvia to conclude its negative consequences or medical uses. Studies have so far mostly been made by private researchers and a few universities. The DEA has also recently begun conducting research to determine its legality in the United States.

[top]Psychoactive Compounds

Salvia Divinorum contains the Salvinorin compounds A-F. However, out of all these only salvinorin A and salvinorin C are suspected to be psychoactive [citation needed]. Salvinorin A, at the moment, has been concluded to be the main psychoactive ingredient in the salvia divinorum experience. It was isolated by Alfredo Ortega in 1982 in Mexico and in 1984 by Leander J. Valdes III in the United States [citation needed]. Unlike most hallucinogens, salvinorin A is not an alkaloid, it is a trans-neoclerodane diterpenoid (it’s missing a nitrogenous group). Salvinorin A is a selective kappa opioid receptor agonist. It’s also effective at doses as low as 200ug [1], making it the most potent naturally-occurring psychoactive compound. Salvinorin A is also currently the only naturally-occuring nonnitrogenous compound to cause hallucinations via the kappa opioid receptor [2].

[top]Effects of Salvia Divinorum

While some people would classify salvia divinorum as a dissociative and others would say it’s more of a psychedelic, most people can agree that the salvia divinorum experience is completely unique. Physically, one can get elevated blood pressure, sweatiness, uncontrollable laughter, heavy breathing, somnambulant behavior, and the feeling of immense gravity. However, what represents the physical experience of salvia divinorum can completely contradict the mental state. The onset is pretty quick, usually about 1 minute, and after that for a period of one to eight minutes one can experience out of body/near death experiences, form into an object, visit other dimensions, meet divine entities, see vivid colors or geometric patters, hear voices, and achieve flashbacks. After the intense part of the experience subsides, one feels an “afterglow” from salvia. As salvia wears off there is a feeling of a slight body high, possibly some confusion or disorientation, and elevated mood. If salvia is ingested sublingually, the effects are much mellower, but can last up to an hour rather than less than thirty minutes.

A web-based survey of 500 people noted the following effects:

feelings of increased insight (47%)
improved mood (44.8%)
calmness (42.2%)
increased sense of connection with the universe or nature (39.8%)
weird thoughts (36.4%)
things seem unreal (32.4%)
floating feeling (32%)
increased sweating (28.2%)
body felt warm or hot (25.2%)
reported persisting ( 24 hr) positive effects (usually an increased sense of
well-being) on at least 1 occasion, 25.8%.
4.4% had persisting negative effects (most often anxiety). [3]

[top]Using Salvia Divinorum

This section will go over all there is to know about using Salvia divinorum.

[top]Dosage

One of the things that's unique about Salvia divinorum is its complete randomness when it comes to dosage for different people. The most experienced drug user could have a wild experience on only leaves while a person new to drugs might need a powerful extract just to get a feeling. However, whether one has a natural tolerance or not, is always best to start with salvia divinorum's weakest dose to make sure one doesn't get blown away on a terrifying experience. People usually start by smoking leaves. The dosages go as follows:


Smoked Salvia divinorum Leaf Dosages (Avg: 2.5mg salvinorin A per g)


Light: .25g
Common: .5g
Strong: .75-1.00g

Onset : 30-180 seconds
Duration : 5-30 minutes
Normal After Effects : 30-60 minutes

Onset : 30-180 seconds
Duration : 5-30 minutes
Normal After Effects : 30-60 minutes


This is a summary of the basic time schedule and experience strengths for plain leaf. If one would want to calculate how much of the active chemical salvinorin A was going into his/her system, he/she would just calculate based on the salvinorin A leaf average (2.5mg per gram). This can be very useful if wanting to use a higher power extract.

[top]Combinations with Salvia divinorum

Huge list of combos, needs expansion.

[top]Ways of using Salvia divinorum

Smoking the plant material is by far the most common way of ingesting salvia. The best method (if possible) is to take a small pipe and inhale all of the hot smoke fast. The smoke must then be held in for at least 20 seconds before effects begin or taking another hit. Many people find that this smoking method is quite painful and induces coughing with substances like leaves and not so high extracts. A more common way (and sometimes more effective) is to use a water bong. The water in a water pipe cools the smoke allowing the user to take larger, deeper hits of the smoke. If more smoke can be inhaled into the lungs compared to smoke lost from hot inhalations, it's a fair trade-off. Note: There is a heated debate about the type of lighter to use when smoking salvia. Many people report better experiences using a butane torch lighter because it ignites the plant material much quicker and hotter. A torch lighter can be useful for igniting a lot of leaves quickly, allowing a lot of smoke to be produced. This also comes in handy when using a bong, that way more smoke can get through at once. When it comes to medium extracts, a normal lighter will work just as fine. The only thing that matters is that all of the material is burned and all the smoke is inhaled. A torch can also be more useful for high extracts with small doses. This is because the torch lighter can concentrate its flame at any angle so less accidents (such as blowing away the extract) are prone to happen.


There are also means of sublingual ingestion. A person can take fresh leaf (a quid) or a tincture preparation and hold it under his/her tongue. In order for the salvinorins to make it into the bloodstream, people have to hold the preparations under their tongues for at least 20 minutes. This method is healthier in that one doesn't have to smoke. But this is usually less preferred due to the weaker effects and disgusting taste of the preparations held in the mouth.

[top]Uses of Salvia Divinorum

This section will cover the main reasons for Salvia divinorum use.

[top]Recreational

Although salvia divinorum is not that popular at the moment, a large population of young adults have started using salvia for recreational purposes. Many people are drawn to its very intense psychedelic/dissociative experience caused by salvinorin A: a kappa opioid receptor agonist. Since the effects last less than an hour mostly and the intense effects last minutes, it makes it very possible to dose several times a day (not recommended). Many users feel comfortable using salvia because it's non-habit-forming. Salvia also does not form an apparent tolerance; the experience is usually of the same strength every time. However, some people report that after using salvia for a long time, its “magic” starts to disappear. In fact, a handful of people even report a reverse-tolerance. One of the things about salvia however is that a person can be naturally tolerant to salvia without having used it once, which can be very frustrating in that that person would have to use very strong extracts to achieve certain effects.

[top]Medicinal

The Mazatec Indians of Mexico used salvia divinorum in low doses for illnesses such as diarrhea, anemia, headaches and rheumatism. Today, little research has been made upon salvia's medicinal uses and so far it has not been approved for it. However, studies in psychological institutions are showing that salvia may have anti-depressant effects. PhD Karl R. Hanes reports about a “26 year old woman with treatment-resistant chronic depression who reports long lasting alleviation of symptoms with acute and chronic administration of Salvia divinorum”. Studies are also showing that neoclerodane diterpenes like salvia have medicinal potential for treating withdrawal symptoms of amphetamines and opiates. These however are still only theories and have not been legally approved as medicinal uses.

[top]Spiritual

There are many users that claim to experience very spiritual trips such as meeting entities or seeing alternate supernatural realities. Certain people have taken salvia use as a form of spiritual introspection. In the plant's origin of Oaxaca, Mexico, the Mazatec shamans used to induce visions for spiritual healing. It was also used as medicine to the semi-magical disease panzon de borrego, or “swollen belly.” Certain regions of the world still continue its use as a spiritual guide and eye-opener to alternate realities.

[top]The dangers of Salvia Divinorum

At the moment, regarding research and experimentation throughout users, the only dangers identified are due to judgement. However, because of the nature of Salvia divinorum, most of the time even misjudgement will be forgiven.

[top]Guidelines for safe use

One should have a safe experience if he/she follows these guidelines posted by forum member BA:

GUIDELINES FOR USING SALVIA INTELLIGENTLY AND SAFELY
Salvia divinorum is a remarkably safe herb, provided that it is used in a safe manner. It can produce fascinating experiences that are deeply enriching, provided that it is used intelligently. Please pay careful attention to the following basic safety guidelines:

• NEVER USE SALVIA IF GUNS, KNIVES, OR OTHER DANGEROUS OBJECTS ARE WITHIN EASY REACH.
• NEVER DRIVE WHEN TAKING SALVIA.
• Choose the time and place of your salvia experience carefully. Privacy and safety are essential. Be very careful about heights, and open flames such as candles. Do not take Salvia when you may be interrupted by phone calls, visits, pets, children, etc. Turn off your telephone and set your answering machine to silently record incoming calls. You can return the calls in a couple of hours once you are sober.
• Give careful thought to how much you will take, and how you take it.
• After all smoking material is safely out, lie down in bed, on a couch, or on a carpet. You are much safer lying down than you would be stumbling around. Stay put for the rest of the experience. The visionary effects are best perceived with eyes closed.
• Have a sitter (this is especially important if you are new to Salvia, taking a high dose, smoking a strong extract, or using a very strong delivery system (such as vaporization).
• Volunteer to be a sitter for others.
• If you have mental health problems, don't take Salvia without first discussing it with your therapist, or doctor.
• Practice and encourage responsible use. don't give Salvia to minors, or to violent or unstable people. Don't share it with strangers. Know who you are giving it to and know why they want to use it.
• Never take Salvia while at work or in public. Keep it private. It's not for concerts. It is not for raves. It's not for large noisy parties. Better to use it in a quiet safe private place in the company of a close friend.
• Mixing Salvia with other drugs or large amounts of alcohol may cause out-of-control behavior, or terrifying experiences. While experienced Salvia users have experimented with combinations, these are not for Salvia beginners, and are certainly riskier than just using Salvia by itself. While there are no known toxic drug-drug interactions between Salvia and anything else, this has not been studied scientifically.
• Be extra careful of flames (candles, lighters, fire, etc.) when using Salvia.
• Be very careful about using vaporized extracts, vaporized leaves, or smoking high-potency extract-enhanced leaves. These require a sitter to be present. Chewing quid or smoking leaves is much less likely to produce out-of-control behavior than these are.
• Never use pure salvinorin A unless the dose you are taking has been weighed with an ultra-accurate balance that can weigh out doses in micrograms, and you know exactly how much you can safely take. Even if you do meet these requirements, you still should have a sitter present.

[top]Toxicity

Many researchers have found salvinorin A to be very non toxic for rodents [4]. There hasn't been one reported death under the influence of salvia. However, there are a few salvia related incidents such as a suicide in which the user frequently used salvia (citation about that brett guy). There was also a salvia related car accident where the user dosed while driving over a bridge (citation needed). Use common sense, do not drive under the influence of salvia (it causes total loss of control in high doses). The guidelines mentioned above area great way to ensure safety. (Citation needed..coming soon)

[top]Contraindications, side effects, and addiction

Since there is still isn't much research done on salvia, there aren't many contraindications between salvinorin A and other drugs. Even though there is no evidence of problems, it's still probably not a good idea to take salvia with MAOIs and it's probably not a good idea to combine with drugs that cause out of control behavior (it can make a lot of situations worse). So far there aren't many long term side effects noted. If there are, they are usually just minor things like being able to dream more often or elevated mood. As for addiction, salvia is very non-habit-forming. Almost all users are able to stop use without side effects or hints of withdrawal. Although salvia is not really addictive, it is still not recommended to take salvia very often because it can be very psychologically draining.

[top]Growing/Producing Salvia divinorum

Note: It is not worth spending time growing salvia divinorum if one wishes to make profit, produce high amounts of extracts, or support one's salvia divinorum use if he/she does not have a high sensitivity to salvia.

[top]General Growing

Salvia Divinorum is a beautiful, easy to grow, plant that produces many leaves. Salvia Divinorum is a semi-tropical perennial: it will grow every year as long as it's not exposed to extreme cold. Growing salvia divinorum inside tends to have better results. One can grow salvia divinorum outside as long the weather stays warm and there is good soil. Salvia divinorum should typically stay out of weather under 4.5 degrees Celsius. The plant also has better results when grown from cuttings rather than seeds. A healthy plant can grow several meters high and sometimes produce nine inch leaves. However this only when in good conditions. Under proper lighting conditions, salvia divinorum will also produce flowers.

[top]Taking care of the plant

The salvia divinorum plant is particularly easy to grow and take care of. The plant should be watered often to keep the soil moist (but not too moist); the water should be able to drain from the pot. Salvia divinorum will need fertilizer. A little bit of any commercial fertilizer once every six weeks. The plant is best grown when it is only exposed to sunlight a few hours a day. It can handle sunlight as long as the plant gets enough mist on its leaves and water in its soil. And lastly, keeping insects and other pests away is a must. If grown inside, this shouldn't be a problem. However if insects get on the plant, it is best to rinse them off as efficiently as possible without hurting the plant.

For more information regarding troubleshooting or anything else, refer to the Drugs Forum Salvia Divinorum Growing Thread:

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11365

Pictures coming soon!

[top]Producing Salvia divininorum extract

There is typically only one simple method of obtaining extract with mild variations. They all have the same concept: the leaves are usually bathed in a solvent to extract the salvinorins. The solvent is then evaporated and the resulting crude extract is washed until clean. The final product is then measured and re-infused onto leaves or dissolved into tincture. Other techniques of achieving pure salvinorin A can require more chemistry experience and expensive equipment. They are however unnecessary if being used for personal reasons.

Making non-standardized extract overview:

1. Leaves are placed in a solvent that can dissolve salvinorin A such as acetone or isopropyl alcohol (acetone can dissolve much more and is a superior solvent) for a certain amount of time depending on purity wanted.
2. The solvent is then evaporated, leaving a crude extract.
3. The extract is then placed in a vial and is usually washed with a solvent that can dissolve plant material but not salvinorin A (naphtha).
4. After repeated washes, the extract is usually clean enough to re-infuse onto papers, it is then dried.
5. The extract is then redissolved into a fast evaporating solvent (like acetone) and then poured over an amount of leaves. The acetone evaporates leaving the extract onto the leaves.
6. The final product is a fortified leaf.

Extracts can be regulated by strength. For example, to make 1 gram of 5X strength fortified leaf, one would perform this extraction technique on 4 grams of leaf, and evaporate the crude extract onto 1 gram of leaf (the product is 5 times as strong). This is basically the only method of extracting a decent amount of salvinorin off of the leaves. Other methods such as knocking it off the leaves with a quick water wash produce an incredibly low yield (though much purer).

An excellent guide with pictures about extracting and making fortified leaf (and achieving pure salvinorin A) can be found in the salvia divinorum archive or here.

[top]Forms of Salvia Divinorum

Pictures coming soon.

Salvia Divinorum (as opposed to other salvias) is the only salvia of its potency and psychoactive quality. It comes in different forms such as plain leaf, tincture, and strong extracts. Stronger preparations follow a certain system: the “X” system.

[top]Fresh Leaf

Fresh leaf is mostly used for making a quid of leaves and holding it under the tongue for sublingual absorption. Fresh leaf is preferred for sublingual absorption because it doesn't break up in one's mouth and it's easier to chew.

[top]Dried Leaf

Dried leaf is usually prepared by just taking leaf and leaving it out in the sun. Leaf can also be dried in the oven at about 150 degrees F for however long it takes until they become crispy. Dried salvia leaf is used for smoking. If one plans to use dried leaf for a quid, that person should soak them in water for ten minutes otherwise sublingual absorption can become a disgusting mess. Soaking them in water can lose potency.

[top]Extracts

Salvia divinorum is sold in extracted form as well as leaf. These extracts tend to be more powerful, and more useful if one wants to inhale less smoke. If users aren't satisfied by just plain leaves, they estimate how much of a certain extract they would need to achieve the experience they want. Smoking extracts can result in a much more powerful experience (especially high ones) and can have a quicker onset. This is sometimes preferable because holding in hot salvia smoke isn't always pleasant.

When people see salvia extracts in the form of 5X, 10X, 15X, 21X....etc, it symbolizes exactly what it means. The extract being consumed is that many X times stronger than regular leaves (5X is 5 times as strong as regular leaf). The stronger the extract, typically the stronger the experience; use are your own risk. As far as extraction procedures are concerned, there are two types of these X factor extracts: non-standardized and standardized.

[top]Non-standardized extract

This is done by crudely extracting the psychoactive compounds of salvia along with all its other leaf components and infusing back onto a smaller amount of leaf. This is the most common way of preparing an X extract because it is easier. However, due to the inconsistency of the average amount of salvinorin A in leaf, some extracts with the same X factor can be weaker or stronger than others. For example, making a gram of 5X out of leaves with 2.5mg of sal-a per gram of leaf will be weaker than making a gram of 5X out of leaves with 3.0mg of sal-a per gram of leaf.

[top]Standardized extract

To make standardized extracts, one must first isolate the pure salvinorin A from the leaves (see “Growing and Production of Salvia Divinorum to learn how to do this). The pure chemical is then re-infused onto leaves. The difference between non-standardized is that the same amount will be infused every time. A standardized 5X will always have the same amount of salvinorin A in it since they can regulate how much to put in. These extracts are not only cleaner because there were no impurities thrown in, it is also more expensive because of the process required to get pure salvinorin A.

[top]Tincture

There is also a preparation of tincture. This is made by either dissolving pure salvinorin-A or a semi-pure form of it into ethyl alcohol. It is meant to be used sublingually by holding a certain amount under the tongue for a period of time. This type of preparation tends to cause longer but weaker effects. WARNING: holding strong tincture under the tongue for long periods of time can eventually cause blistering. It is sometimes best to dilute the pure tincture with water although potency may be decreased.

[top] Legal status of Salvia divinorum

This will definitely be updated....it will go into state by state detail for the US as well. Give me some time.

Salvia divinorum is currently illegal in certain countries and and a handful of states in the USA. These countries include Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Sweden, Spain, Japan (salvinorin A) and Italy. In the US, the following states put salvia under Schedule I: Delaware, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma (extracts), and Tenessee. Many other states have attempted to pass laws but they have failed. Other countries like the United Kingdom and Canada are giving salvia media attention.


As salvia's popularity grows, more countries' medias are creating stories making the public aware of salvia's possible dangerous effects. Because there still aren't many studies on salvia, especially ones that provide conclusive evidence of damaging side effects or medicinal uses, many regions are doing nothing with salvia legally. It is also for this reason that many laws trying to ban salvia are failing.

Due to salvia's legal status, is also not being screen for in standard drugs tests such as sports or job screenings. It was however recently added to the U.S. Military's list of prohibited substances and is therefore being screened

[top]History of Salvia divinorum

Salvia Divinorum’s origin dates back to the Mazatec Indians in the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. The plant was used there for spiritual as well as physical healing administered by Mazatec Shamans. Jean Basset Johnson first recorded salvia divinorum in 1939 when studying shamanism among the Mazatec community. It was isolated by Alfredo Ortega in 1982 in Mexico. In 1990, Daniel Siebert led a team into this region and documented the psychoactive properties of salvia divinorum. In recent years, it has been spreading around the world. Salvia divinorum hadn't drawn much attention until June 1st, 2002 when Australia became the first country to ban salvia divinorum and its psychoactive compounds. Ever since then many other countries have started to take similar legal action.

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Category: Ethnobotanicals
Category: Dissociatives

[top]References

1. Marushia, Robin (2002) Salvia divinorum: The Botany, Ethnobotany, Biochemistry and Future of a Mexican Mint
2. Bryan L. Roth, Karen Baner, Richard Westkaemper, Daniel Siebert, Kenner C. Rice, SeAnna Steinberg, Paul Ernsberger, Richard B. Rothman. (2002). Salvinorin A: A potent naturally occurring nonnitrogenous k opioid selective agonist
3. M. J. Baggott, BA, E. Erowid, F. Erowid, J. E. Mendelson, MD. USE OF SALVIA DIVINORUM, AN UNSCHEDULED HALLUCINOGENIC PLANT: A WEB-BASED SURVEY OF 500 USERS
4. Mowry, M., Mosher, M., Briner, W., 2003. Acute physiologic and chronic glandular trichomes of the psychoactive sage, Salvia divinorum. Annals of histologic changes in rats and mice exposed to the unique hallucinogen Botany 93 (6), 763 – 771.



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