Salvia Divinorum
What Is Salvia Divinorum?
Salvia Divinorum, often shortened to Salvia, is a psychoactive plant which can induce "visions" and other hallucinations. The plant itself grows to be over a meter high, has hollow square stems, large leaves, and occasional white flowers with violet calyxes. Botanists have not determined whether Salvia divinorum is a cultigen or a hybrid; native plants reproduce vegetatively, rarely producing viable seed.
Street Names
- Diviner's Sage
- Maria Pastora
- Mexican Mint
- Magic Mint
- Sally D
- Salvia
- Seer's Sage
- Herb of Mary
- The Shepherdess
- Herb of the Goddess
How is it Taken?
- Mazatec Shamans would crush the leaves to extract juice, then add it to water to drink as tea
- Dried leaves are rolled into cigarettes or smoked in pipes
- Converted to a liquid extract and vaporized
How Does the Drug Affect the Body?
- Intense hallucinations
- sensations of traveling through time and space
- floating or flying
- sensations of twisting and spinning
- heaviness or lightness of the body
Less intense effects (that occur only when the eyes are closed) include
- visual hallucinations of various patterns and shapes.
- The hallucinogenic visions produced by this herb terminate when interrupted by noise or light
Signs of Abuse
- Mood changes, more withdrawn or depressed
- Hostility and uncooperativeness
- Changing friends, dropping hobbies and activities
- Grades falling
- Sleeping and eating patterns change without a valid reason
- Hard time focusing or concentrating
- Money missing or too much money or new items appearing
- Family relationships deteriorate.
There are no reports of Salvia divinorum being either physically or psychologically addictive.
Researchers haven’t fully determined how salvia impacts long-term health and wellbeing when used over extended periods of time.
For example, one study of rats that were given salvia’s main ingredient suggests it causes depression-like symptoms by decreasing dopamine levels in the brain.