The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

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Salvinorin A: Notes of Caution
Daniel J. Siebert
(This site is created and maintained by Daniel Siebert)
(Previously published in "The Entheogen Review" Vol. 3, No.4: Winter Solstice, 1994)
Salvinorin A (the major active principal of the plant Salvia divinorum) is an extremely powerful
consciousness altering compound. In fact it is the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen thus far
isolated. But before would-be experimenters get too worked-up about it, it should be made clear that the
effects are often extremely unnerving and there is a very real potential for physical danger with its use.
When the herb Salvia divinorum is consumed either by smoking the dried leaf or chewing the fresh
leaves the effects are usually (but not always) pleasant and interesting, this is because when used this
way the amount of salvinorin A absorbed into the blood stream is usually very small and in the case of
the chewed leaves it is absorbed into the blood stream very gradually.
The pure compound salvinorin A is active at 200 - 500 mcg when vaporized and inhaled. Since very few
people have the costly equipment necessary to accurately weigh anything close to this small an amount,
it is inevitable that people will try to visually estimate the dose. Unfortunately there is little room for
error before the effects become potentially dangerous. When the dose goes above 500 - 1000 mcg the
effects can be very alarming, I have seen several people get up and lunge around the room falling over
furniture, babbling incomprehensible nonsense and knocking their heads into walls. Several people have
tried to wander out of the house. When the experience is over they have no memory of any of this. In fact
they usually remember very different events. To an outside observer people in this condition have a
blank look in their eyes as if no one is present (and perhaps no one is). It is also common for people to
have a facial expression which is probably best described as being like that of a frightened animal. It
appears that at these "larger" doses one completely loses awareness of, and control over, the physical
body and for some reason part of the brain causes the body to get up and move about recklessly while the
individual has no awareness of where their physical body is or what it is doing. It seems inevitable that
one of these days some careless person will do too large a dose without a sitter and will wander out in the
street, or hurt themselves in some way.
Because the dose is so small and insignificant looking, there is a tendency for people to think they need
more than what they are told is a safe dose. Another problem is that the technique of vaporizing and
inhaling the compound can be a bit tricky. Salvinorin A has a relatively high boiling point and people
often don't get it hot enough to remain a gas all the way down into the lungs. Another problem is that so
little is used that the vapor often disperses before it gets inhaled. Sometimes people just don't hold the
vapor in their lungs long enough for thorough absorption. Several people after trying a dose in the
recommended safe range and not getting an effect assumed that they needed a larger dose, when in fact
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