Blast - The story of Salvia - The Online Magazine

This is a Blast Magazine enterprise piece.

Anthony* sits on his bed across from two friends in his Boston apartment. There’s a fan blowing next to his bed. Dave Matthews Band is playing in the background as he takes out his bong and begins to pack it with Salvia extract, a legal drug that grows in the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Anthony purchased the drug earlier that day at Kang’s Corner, a head shop and convenience store located on the corner of Gainsborough Street and St. Stephen Street.

The senior music major at Northeastern University takes two hits from the bong and looks at his friends and shrugs. He hasn’t felt anything yet. He then packs the bong again and takes another two hits, this time inhaling more deeply, and for a few moments he appears to be in another world.

“Can I have a glass of water?” Anthony asks his friend. He grips the glass with both hands and seems to be struggling to bring it to his mouth, claiming that the fan is going to blow him away.

Anthony gives up on trying to drink the water. Still holding the glass, he is staring at his friends with a confused look. As he is clearly entering into a deeper stage in his trip Anthony asks, “Who put on the tribal music?”

His reaction demonstrates just some of the effects of smoking Salvia divinorum leaves or extract, sometimes know as Diviner’s Sage. Besides hallucinations, other effects include altered perceptions, change in body temperature and panic. Often among college students like Anthony, Salvia has recently become popular because of its unique effects. It’s also legal in almost every state.

“It’s like your mind is thrown into a centripetal force. Like it’s being pulled away from itself,” said Chris*, who extracts and sells Salvia on his Web site, www.salvialight.com.

Salvia is legal in most states. Other drugs like cocaine, LSD and ecstasy were once legal as well. They were used in a controlled manner for scientific, medicinal and therapeutic purposes. But once the general public got a hold of these drugs and began abusing them, they became regulated and controlled substances.

Dr. Ara DerMarderosian believes the popularity of Salvia has increased because other drugs are not readily available.

“Young people decided they’d get high on something else,” said the professor of pharmacology at University of the Sciences in Pennsylvania.

The recreational misuse of Salvia might lead to increased regulations in the rest of the country, according to DerMarderosian.

“It depends on the generation. If enough people get hurt, eventually it will become illegal,” said DerMarderosian.

Brett Chidester, 17, of Wilmington, Del., committed suicide earlier this year after smoking Salvia. He left a suicide note describing the experiences he had with Salvia, claiming he knew the secrets of life. Sen. Karen Peterson (D - DE) is now trying to get a bill passed that will ban Salvia in the state.

So far, Chidester’s is the only reported incident in which injury appears to be a direct result from using Salvia. For now, Salvia continues to be sold legally, mostly available on the Internet and in head shops.

In 2004, researchers conducted a survey on Salvia, which questioned 500 people and found that certain effects of the drug lingered in some people. For example, 47 percent of those questioned claimed to have increased insight. Also, about 32 percent of users felt like they were floating and claimed that things felt unreal to them.

“I expected it would have the same effect on the brain as LSD does, and was very surprised when they found out it did not. It was very different than anything we’d seen before,” said Jay McLaughlin, a psychology professor at Northeastern University. “Right now, the psychological effects differ, but many people will suffer hallucinations.”

Why Salvia affects the brain the way it does remains a mystery to scientists.

About five minutes after Anthony took those last two hits from his bong, he came back to reality.

“Whoa. That was ridiculous,” he said groggily, rubbing his eyes. He looks at his friends. “I swear you two turned into trees and I was walking through a forest in this like Tarzan outfit. I mean, I could feel myself sitting on the bed, but I was definitely not here.”

Although not primarily popular in the United States in the past, Salvia has been around for hundreds of years, experts say.

Salvia is a plant native to the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, according to Eduardo Butelman, a research assistant professor at Rockefeller University in New York. Indigenous people use it for traditional medicinal practices, Butelman said.

Salvia has been associated with the Mazatec people, who likely used it in healing rituals, researchers say. According to Butelman, Salvia was used under specific conditions, prescribed in the form of a leaf. The Mazatecs used it to ease the suffering that the sick and dying felt. It was also used to treat certain medical conditions, including headaches, anemia and rheumatoidism, as well as in divination rituals.

Salvia has been found to grow specifically in the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca. The Aztec people inhabited this region between the 13th and 16th centuries, so there has been some speculation as to whether or not they knew of Salvia as well.

“It’s a form of communication with a higher force,” said Chris, who uses Salvia as well as sells it.

The Mazatecs believed that Salvia had magical powers and that spiritualists could travel to heaven and communicate with God and other religious figures when taking it.

“It was used for thousands of years in Mexico, not as frivolously, but in a more religious and cautious way. It was used occasionally, they had no problems with it,” said DerMarderosian.

In the 1960s, the plant was not widely known in the United States, but this is when it was first brought to the attention of western ethnobotanists.

“Once it came here, it was more prevalent in psychedelic communities,” said Prisinzano.

As a result of limited research and little data, there were some unclear reports made about the psychoactivity of Salvia, according to Butelman.

The psychoactivity of Salvia was confirmed in the early 1990s. It became very popular in the states, mainly due to its being legal. The increasing popularity of the Internet allowed the plant to be sold commercially. Although there was an increasing scientific interest in Salvia at this time, the careless usage of the drug also began.

“It’s not going to be safe in all situations, said Butelman. “Uncontrolled use will probably lead to problems.”

Salvia has positive, neutral and negative effects on its users. People may experience all three kinds of effects while they’re smoking, while some only experience one type.

Some positive effects include a dreamlike experience and heightened insight. Neutral effects consist of a change in consciousness, the feeling of entering an alternate reality and a sensation of pressure or wind.

The negative effects, which are often the most intense, include strong feelings of panic or terror in the user.

“It produces disphoria—which is the opposite of euphoria,” said McLaughlin. “It’s been tested in animal models, and I can tell you that they hate this drug and will do a great deal to get away from it.”

Each letter of Salvia represents one of the six stages of the trip many users experience.

According to Chris, Salvia is like Zen. It teaches the mind to get to a quiet state of nothingness, and changes a person’s ability to think and perceive. People tend to lose reality.

“The experiences one has on Salvia are out of this world. Literally,” said Chris.

The first stage is called ‘subtle effects.’ When this stage is reached, many users feel extremely relaxed. They know that something is happening, but they cannot quite say what it is. It is the mildest level of Salvia, and can be used for meditation.

The experience that electrical engineering major Thomas* had could be considered the first stage of Salvia.

“It didn’t really have much an effect on me,” the Northeastern University sophomore said. “I felt pretty chill, but that’s it. I saw some people do some crazy shit when they smoked it though.”

The next stage is called the ‘altered perception’ stage, during which users pay close attention to colors around them and also may have a greater appreciation to music. There are no visions or hallucinations during this stage. Also, people who reach this stage have trouble rationalizing a situation.

When Stephanie* tried Salvia in her dorm, she remembers thinking to herself after one hit, “Where am I? Why am I here?”

‘Light visionary state’ is the third stage of Salvia. Many users will see things, but only with their eyes closed. They might see objects, patterns or designs. Apparently, at this stage the person will not mistake these images for reality.

After Stephanie* took that first hit, her friend told her to try it again.

“That’s when it really hit me,” said the freshman in the school of general studies at Northeastern. “I turned around from the window and free fell backwards onto the floor. I guess I was just like feeling the rug and staring at my friends, but I didn’t see them, I saw crazy things– like my parents dragging me away saying I was on drugs and this woman dressed in orange. It was definitely a trip.”

Stephanie was experiencing the fourth stage, or ‘vivid visionary state.’ During this stage, seemingly realistic scenes can occur and voices can be heard. Everything is three-dimensional. The user won’t be completely disconnected with reality if his or her eyes are kept open. There is a chance one will enter into a surreal atmosphere or scene. If the user’s eyes are closed, he or she may believe what they are seeing or feeling is really happening.

“The hallucinations can be anything. It depends how mature the person is,” said DerMarderosian. “You could end up harming yourself because your sensory system is disturbed. Who knows, you can end up electrocuting yourself.”

Steve*, a Northeastern University sophomore civil and environment engineering major, said he had a very unpleasant experience with Salvia and vows never to smoke Salvia again. After he took a hit, he looked down and saw that his legs turned into his bed posts, his feet cinderblocks.

“I tried, but there was no way for me to move my feet,” Steve said.

When he looked around this room, he did not recognize his surroundings, and a sense of fear came over him. He believed he saw a cartoon-like house with a station wagon in the driveway.

“Three dancing shapes came out of the house, a circle, a square and a triangle. They had legs and arms; they kind of looked like stick figures. They were like dancing back and forth singing some weird song,” he said.

These shapes apparently asked him to get into their car, but because he believed his feet were cinderblocks, he could not move to do so. His friend, who was sleeping on the floor during this entire time, suddenly yelled, “What the hell are you doing?” and brought him back to reality.

Steve had apparently picked up a fan that was in the window and threw it at his friend. Only then did he realize the house and the shapes were only hallucinations.

“I looked down and saw that my legs were back to normal,” he said. “But I had a throbbing headache and my clothes were drenched in sweat.”

Steve had also experienced the ‘vivid visionary state’ of Salvia.

The fifth stage is called the ‘immaterial existence’ stage. The user’s individuality can be lost at this stage, something Chris experienced.

“All of a sudden I saw myself split into two people, then four, then eight, then 16. Within two minutes, I saw billions of me all over the earth. I was thinking, there’s no way I’m going to find me,” he said. “I didn’t even realize I was me because I kept splitting into pieces.”

It was this specific time that Chris smoked Salvia that he was determined to not let it control him. Doing this made his experience much worse.

“Just see wherever it takes you,” he said. “If you try to fight it, you’re going to lose.”

At this stage, some people also feel they merge with God or even an inanimate object, like a wall or chair. One time, Anthony felt like the whole left side of his body somehow became part of his couch.

This can be a dangerous stage because it is nearly impossible to function in reality. This may be terrifying or pleasant to the person who has taken Salvia.

“It’s like your brain shuts off and reboots,” said Anthony.

The final and most dangerous stage of Salvia is called the ‘amnesic effects’ stage. Consciousness is lost. If it isn’t, the user may not be able to recall what they have experienced. The can also obtain injuries without feeling any pain.

“It’s what I could call a natural anesthetic,” said Chris. “It numbs you.”

Northeastern students Seth* and Lucas* first heard about Salvia from a friend in January.

“I was like ‘oh man, I’ve got to get some of that,’” said Seth, a freshman criminal justice major.

So he went to Kang’s Corner and bought Salvia extract. The pair headed over to the Back Bay Fens on Park Drive with another friend one night to try it out.

“It hit me so fast,” said Seth. “I felt like I wasn’t in the same place anymore, I was in this new world. I remember feeling like I was a stone statue. I touched my arm and it felt rough, kind of like the corner of a sidewalk.”

Seth also said he thought that he and his two friends were part of a KFC sculpture. He passed the bowl to Lucas, who then took two hits of Salvia.

“After the hits, I suddenly felt it come over me. The sky turned bright, and when I looked over at my friends, they were characters in a children’s book and the pages were flipping and I thought if the last page turned the world would end,” said Lucas, a freshman business major.

It also seemed like “one big deja vu” for Lucas. He knew everything that was going to happen before it did.

Seth recalls when one of his other friends tried Salvia for the first time.

“Another time, the first time one of my other friends did it, he thought he was building a house with toilet paper,” he said. “He thought the toilet paper was like flowing from his mouth…and he kept asking everyone to get out of his house.”

As for the future of Salvia, no one can really predict what is to come.

Because it’s controlled in other countries and a few states, there’s a good chance it will become illegal in all 50 states soon enough. At first, the government was not sure of the effects Salvia had on the mind, but now they can classify it, which means they can control it.

“There’s too much hype now,” according to Chris, who claims Salvia has become more of a household name in the past five years. He believes it will become illegal sooner than later because of its growing popularity.

Some people believe that herbals should not be used unless they are controlled. Dr. Eugene Bernstein, professor of alternative medicine at Northeastern University, believes that everything in nature is toxic.

“There are no innocent substances in nature,” said Bernstein. “Anyway, they are not so natural, being contaminated by the changing environment…but the general public regards herbals as natural and good for their health.”

He describes many herbals as having “honeymoon periods.” At first, everything is fine, but after the honeymoon, life happens, he said. It’s not so nice after that.

“Herbals can be harmful, he said. “They are potent, dangerous.”

There are some indications, however, that Salvia might be useful for depression, pain relief or to help cure opium addiction. But because it is still fairly new in the United States, there are no formal studies that have been done on humans to support these ideas.

For now, the main reasons people seem to smoke Salvia are either to get high legally, or to partake in a spiritual experience. It is not only students who are attracted to these strange effects of Salvia. Many people are interested in this mysterious drug.

“It’s a spiritual type of altered reality,” Chris said. “It attracts all types of people. I’ve sold it to judges, politicians, officers, attorneys, punk rockers.”

Many people try Salvia out of curiosity. They want to see what is going to happen. They want to experience this altered state of mind. This is not always safe, especially if an individual is to reach the final stage of Salvia.

“Something that never happened before is taking place,” said Bernstein “Now is a unique time. The population is testing the drug on itself.”

Most students who were interviewed said they enjoyed the experiences they had on Salvia.

“It was pretty intense,” said Lucas, “but I’d do it again.”

As for the future of Salvia, no one can really predict what is to come.

“There’s too much hype now,” said Chaz, who claims Salvia has become more of a household name in the past five years. He believes it will become illegal sooner than later because of its growing popularity.

He describes many herbals as having “honeymoon periods.” At first, everything is fine, but after the honeymoon, life happens, he said. It’s not so nice after that.

“Herbals can be harmful,” he said. “They are potent, dangerous.”

There are some indications however, that Salvia might be useful for depression, pain relief or to help cure opium addiction. But because it is still fairly new in the United States, there are no formal studies that have been done on humans to support these ideas.

“It’s a spiritual type of altered reality,” Chaz said. “It attracts all types of people. I’ve sold it to judges, politicians, officers, attorneys, punk rockers.”

“Something that never happened before is taking place,” said Bernstein “Now is a unique time. The population is testing the drug on itself.”

Salvia is Illegal in:

Australia since June 1, 2002
Belgium - Salvia divinorum was added to a list of “illegal products” in May 2006.
Denmark since August 23, 2003
Estonia since April 2005 - Salvia divinorum is listed as a medicinal herb that requires a doctor’s prescription
Finland since August 2002, unless with a relevant prescription from a doctor
Italy since January 11, 2005, the sale and possession of Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A are illegal
Japan - Salvinorin A is one of the thirthy-three controlled substances that has been said to be banned under a pharmaceutic law that should have taken effect since April 2007
Norway - In 2002, The National Health Council of Norway has listed Salvia divinorum as a medicinal herb that requires a doctor’s prescription
Spain since January 28, 2004
South Korea - as of January 2005, both Salvia divinorum and Salvinorin A are controlled
Sweden since April 1, 2006
The United States: Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Delaware, Maine and North Dakota are the only states in the USA that have laws prohibiting possession of Salvia divinorum. (Illinois recently passed legislation that will make Salvia divinorum a schedule I contolled substance in that state beginning January 1, 2008.) Louisiana and Oklahoma have provisions in their laws that allow possession of the plant when it is not intended for human consumption. In Oklahoma, plain Salvia divinorum is legal, but extract-enhanced leaves are not. The state of Maine only prohibits possesion by minors. Possesion remains legal for adults in Maine; however, it is illegal for adults to sell or transfer Salvia divinorum to anyone under 18 years of age. Salvia divinorum is entirely legal in all other states. However, law makers in several other states are currently considering legislative bills that seek to ban Salvia divinorum in those states (see below).
Louisiana - The new law, Act No. 159, went into effect on August 15, 2005 (Strain et al. 2005). Thus Louisiana became the first state in the USA to criminalize Salvia divinorum
Missouri - Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A also became Schedule I substances in the state of Missouri
Tennessee - A bill passed that classifies the knowing production, manufacture, distribution, or possession of the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum as a Class A crime. It went into effect on July 1, 2006
Oklahoma - On May 26, 2006 Salvia divinorum was added to the list of controlled substances
Delaware - On March 16, 2006, Salvia divinorum was made a Schedule I controlled substance in that state
Maine - A bill was signed into law on May 15, 2007, that regulates salvia in the same way tobacco products are regulated in Maine. Adults 18 and over could legally purchase and use the material. Selling or providing Salvia divinorum or salvinorin A to anyone under the age of 18 would be a criminal offense

Salvia Under discussion

Germany - Since May 2006 it is illegal to sell Salvia products in shops that are not drugstores. According to Erowid, as of July 2007, the BfArM may be considering scheduling Salvia divinorum and all of its parts
Russia - Salvia divinorum is not controlled or illegal in the Russian Federation. However, information from “Timiryazevskaya Agricultural Academy” (botanical academy) and GNK officials (DEA-like organisation in Russia) suggest that the Russian authorities plan to control Salvia divinorum by mid-2007 (Erowid)
United Kingdom - On October 19, 2005, John Mann, Member of Parliament, tabled an Early Day Motion urging the government to ban Salvia divinorum under the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Anon. 2005b; Mann 2005). So far, no further steps have been taken to ban Salvia divinorum in the United Kingdom (The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center)
US - Federal Legislation - The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is presently studying Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A, and is considering whether or not they present a risk to public safety that would justify making them controlled substances (and consequently further infringing on the personal freedoms of American citizens). In July 2007, it became known that the DEA had recently initiated an Eight Factor Analysis of Salvia divinorum. The Controlled Substances Act requires that this analysis be performed before a substance can be scheduled as a controlled substance. The eight factors considered are:
- Actual and potential for abuse
- Pharmacology
- Other current scientific knowledge
- History and current pattern of abuse
- Scope, duration, and significance of abuse
- Public health risk
- Dependence liability
- If an immediate precursor of a controlled substance

Based on the results of the analysis, the DEA may recommend that Salvia divinorum be scheduled as a controlled substance. This analysis will probably take several months to be completed. If they do decide to criminalize it, it will take a minimum of 30 days after they give public notice of their intentions in the Federal Register before the change of legal status takes effect. (The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center).

Oregon
On January 25 of 2007, Representative John Lim (R) introduced House Bill 2494 to the Oregon State Legislature. If passed, this legislation would make Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A Schedule I controlled substances in that state.

New York
On February 8, 2007, the bill that would make possession of Salvia divinorum a crime punishable by a $ 50 fine passed in the senate. It is now being considered by the State Assembly.

Illinois
A proposed law that implies that any substance extracted from Salvia divinorum (water, chlorophyll, whatever) would be treated as a Schedule I controlled substance will probably go into effect on January 1, 2008.

Wyoming
Salvia divinorum is still legal here.

Alaska
On January 16, 2007, a legislation on Salvia was reintroduced but has yet not passed.

New Jersey
Two bills were introduced that would classify Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A as Schedule I controlled substances in New Jersey. As of today, neither bill has come up for a vote.

Pennsylvania
Since May 2, 2006 several “Salvia bills” have been introduced to the Pennsylvania State Legislature. None of them has passed yet.

Virginia
On January 10, 2007 a bill was introduced that seeks to add salvinorin A to that state’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. The text of the bill only mentions salvinorin A. It has not yet come up for a vote.

Iowa
On January 18, 2007, the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy introduced Senate Study Bill 1051 to the Iowa State Legislature. This bill seeks to add Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A to that state’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. If passed, the bill would make it a serious misdemeanor to manufacture, deliver, or possess Salvia.

Utah
On January 18, 2007, a bill that seeks to add Salvia divinorum to that state’s list of Schedule I controlled substances was introduced, but has not yet come up for a vote.

California
On February 5, 2007, a bill was introduced to the California State Legislature which would make Salvia divinorum a Schedule I controlled substance in that state. It was defeated by committee vote, but a reconsideration (for which no date was set) was granted.

Florida
In Spring 2007 one “Salvia bill” died in committee, so it is still a legal substance.

Georgia
On March 1, 2007, a bill was introduced that classifies the knowing production, manufacture, distribution, or possession of the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum as a Class A crime. It has not yet come up for a vote.

Texas
Two “Salvia bills” that would make Salvia into a Schedule I drug are now being considered by the House. If either bill is enacted, the new law would take effect on September 1, 2007.

Ohio
On May 9, 2007, a bill was introduced. If passed, this legislation would make Salvia divinorum a Schedule I controlled substance in that state.

*Names of some sources changed to protect their identities

In Enterprise Articles, Features on November 1, 2007 at 00:01 with with Popularity: 3% [?]

2 Responses to “The story of Salvia”

Mike on November 1st, 2007 5:54 am

FYi - Salvia is outlawed in Delaware. The state passed “Brett’s Law” in March 2006, 2 months after his death.
Even tho salvia is a herb, it’s toxic, a lethal punch to your brain. It can change the way you think, all the things you think you know, the feelings you feel, all will be changed. Scientists have proved it alters the brain chemistry in people under the age of 25 and has caused severe depression. Stay away from it.
Letter from the Editor - November - Blast, the Online Magazine on November 10th, 2007 9:28 am

[...] business. We’re running a review of a Brady Bunch porn spoof. We’re running a long-form feature story on the Salvia herbal drug [...]

Got something to say?

New readers

Share this article

Advertisement

Subscribe

Related Articles:

Related:

Most Popular Posts

Right now...

Sections