Pattern of use and subjective effects of Salvia divinorum among recreational users
Introduction
Salvia divinorum (Lamiaceae) is a psychotropic mint whose leaves are used for medicinal and religious purposes by Mazatec shamans in the Mexican state of Oaxaca (Wasson, 1962, Valdes et al., 1983). The Mazatecs, who call the plant “ska pastora” or “ska Maria pastora”, meaning “leaves of the shepherdess” or “leaves of Mary the shepherdess”, traditionally ingest the plant as a water infusion or by eating the fresh leaves (Wasson, 1962, Valdes et al., 1983). Early ethnological research found that the Mazatecs regard the psychotropic effects elicited by the plant as weak and use it only in substitution of the psilocybin-containing mushrooms when these are scarce (Wasson, 1962). However, the plant's apparently weak potency could be due to limited absorption of the active principle when ingested orally (Ott, 1995).
Despite its initial reputation as a lesser drug, interest for salvia has greatly increased in recent years among recreational users for the modified state of awareness it can elicit. The use of salvia has spread to Europe and North America in a similar fashion to other natural drugs, as the DMT-containing ayahuasca did a decade ago (Riba and Barbanoj, 2005). However, unlike many ayahuasca users, current non-traditional users of salvia have accessed the plant and its preparations outside a religious context, mainly through “smart shops” and internet websites selling psychotropic plants and extracts, paraphernalia and dietary supplements (Dennehy et al., 2005). The term “smart shop” originated in The Netherlands and describes stores where natural psychoactive drugs such as ephedra, mescaline-containing cacti, psilocybian mushrooms and salvia extracts are sold. Such stores can also be found in Spain but their activities have been restricted since a decree was issued prohibiting the sale of a large number of plants, including salvia (see http://www.boe.es, number 32, 6 February 2004).
S. divinorum owes its psychoactive properties to salvinorin-A, its main active principle. This compound is a neoclerodane diterpene which was first isolated and identified by Ortega et al. (1982), and shortly after by Valdes et al. (1984). Recent pharmacological research has found it to be a highly selective full agonist of the kappa-opioid receptor (Roth et al., 2002, Butelman et al., 2004, Chavkin et al., 2004). Salvinorin-A is the only non-nitrogenous natural compound known to date to exert agonistic activity at these sites. Furthermore, in contrast with the classical psychedelics, salvinorin-A does not interact with the serotonin-2A receptor, but presumably induces its psychotropic effects through activation of the kappa-opioid receptor.
Contrary to what was initially assumed, salvinorin-A can be quite powerful. Inhalation of the vaporized active principle has been found to be active in doses as low as 200 μg (Siebert, 1994), in the same range as LSD. Recreational users have developed methods of administration that appear to lead to intense psychoactivity. These include chewing the leaves and retaining the juices in the mouth to allow absorption through the mucosa and obtaining concentrated extracts that can be administered either sublingually, applied to the buccal mucosa, or smoked (Siebert, 1994, Ott, 1995). The subjective effects described in self-experiments and case reports range widely, from increased relaxation, to laughter, colored visions, out-of-body experiences and loss of consciousness (Siebert, 1994, Bücheler et al., 2005, Dennehy et al., 2005).
In the present study we aimed to obtain systematic information on the pattern of use and the nature of the subjective effects elicited by salvia in recreational users. Self-report questionnaires were administered to the participants to obtain demographic and subjective effect data.
Section snippets
Sample
The sample was recruited by direct approach by the first author, who also conducted the interviews. Potential participants had to have used salvia at least once in their lifetime. Given the infrequent nature of the behavior under study, adaptive sampling was used with participants referring to acquaintances who had also had experience with the drug (Thompson and Collins, 2002). Several leads were followed, so participants did not belong to a single social network. After initial contact with the
Demographic characteristics of the sample
A total of 32 salvia users were recruited, 18 (56%) of whom were male and 14 (44%) were female. The mean age of the sample was 25 years (S.D.: 4.32; range: 18–40 years). Education level was high with 23 (72%) of the sample having completed high school and 7 (22%) having obtained a university degree. At the time of the survey, 22 (69%) were attending university. Seventeen participants (53%) were full-time students, 6 (19%) combined studies with part-time jobs, 7 (22%) worked exclusively, and 2
Discussion
Results from the present study show that awareness and involvement with salvia appears to be a recent phenomenon. Most participants had had their first contact with salvia during the last year, and had consumed it on average only on two occasions, mainly smoking the extract, which almost all participants had acquired in “smart shops”. It is worth mentioning here that the survey was conducted during the second half of 2003 and the first-half of 2004. In February 2004 a decree from the Spanish
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Araceli Cabrero for her help in questionnaire scoring and elaboration of the data bases. This research was supported by internal funds.
References (28)
- et al.
Response patterns of the Spanish version of the 49-item short form of the Addiction Research Center Inventory after the use of sedatives, stimulants and opioids
Drug Alcohol Depend.
(1999) - et al.
Spanish version of the 49-item short form of the Addiction Research Center Inventory
Drug Alcohol Depend.
(1994) - et al.
Psychometric assessment of the Hallucinogen Rating Scale
Drug Alcohol Depend.
(2001) Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A: new pharmacologic findings
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(1994)- et al.
Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum Epling and Játiva-M)
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(1983) - et al.
Use of nonprohibited hallucinogenic plants: increasing relevance for public health? A case report and literature review on the consumption of Salvia divinorum (Diviner's Sage)
Pharmacopsychiatry
(2005) - et al.
The plant-derived hallucinogen, salvinorin A, produces kappa-opioid agonist-like discriminative effects in rhesus monkeys
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
(2004) - et al.
Salvinorin A, an active component of the hallucinogenic sage Salvia divinorum is a highly efficacious kappa-opioid receptor agonist: structural and functional considerations
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.
(2004) - et al.
Evaluation of herbal dietary supplements marketed on the internet for recreational use
Ann. Pharmacother.
(2005) The standardized psychometric assessment of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) in humans
Pharmacopsychiatry
(1998)
Psychopathological, neuroendocrine and autonomic effects of 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDE), psilocybin and d-methamphetamine in healthy volunteers
Psychopharmacology
Physiologic, subjective, and behavioral effects of amphetamine, methamphetamine, ephedrine, phenmetrazine, and methylphenidate in man
Clin. Pharmacol. Ther.
Salvinorin, a new trans-neoclerodane diterpene from Salvia divinorum (Labiatae)
J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans.
Ethnopharmacognosy and human pharmacology of Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A
Curare
Cited by (144)
Psilocybin-induced changes in brain network integrity and segregation correlate with plasma psilocin level and psychedelic experience
2021, European NeuropsychopharmacologyPredicting the emergence of novel psychoactive substances with big data
2021, Big Data in Psychiatry and NeurologyA strategy to prioritize emerging drugs of abuse for analysis: Abuse liability testing using intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) in rats and validation with α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP)
2021, Emerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions, and HealthOpioids in Gastroenterology: Treating Adverse Effects and Creating Therapeutic Benefits
2017, Clinical Gastroenterology and HepatologyHallucinations and Hallucinogens: Psychopathology or Wisdom?
2023, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry