SALVIA! WTF is it and where did it come from?

Question

I see many people on you-tube smoke this stuff and then (excuse me if I offend anyone) and instantly upon exhaling act like a retarded 3 year old. Its said that this stuff is supposed to be for spiritual purposes and takes you on a psychedelic dream trip. What about this sickening drug butthash?

Answer 1

It is commonly called Mexican Mint. It is from Mexico and was originaly used by the Aztecs in their religious ceremonies. Many people abuse it for intoxication, but it can be a much more spiritual drug and used to find direction in one's life. It might sound strange to look to a drug for life direction, or stupid, or scary, and I wouldn't argue against any of that. But I have seen my friends use it and have experiences that lead them in their life direction, or to at least make momentous choces for themselves--for the better.

There is one common halucination that is shared by many users of a female goddess. For many people to see the same kind of thing like this may be the reason why the Aztecs worshipped her as a god. All I know is it can be life changing, or it can beused to turn yourself into a r****d. It's not the drug that creates that behavior, but how it is chosen to be used.

Answer 2

Salvia divinorum, also known as Diviner’s Sage, Sage of the Seers, or simply by the genus name, Salvia, is a psychoactive herb which can induce strong dissociative effects. It is a member of the sage genus and the Lamiaceae (mint) family. The Latin name Salvia divinorum literally translates to “sage of the seers”.

Salvia divinorum has a long continuing tradition of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions. The plant is found in isolated, shaded, and moist plots in Oaxaca, Mexico. It grows to well over a meter in height, has large green leaves, and hollow square stems with occasional white and purple flowers. It is thought to be a cultigen.

Its primary psychoactive constituent is a diterpenoid known as salvinorin A—a potent κ-opioid receptor agonist. Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a visionary state this way. Salvia divinorum can be chewed, smoked, or taken as a tincture to produce experiences ranging from uncontrollable laughter to much more intense and profoundly altered states. The duration is much shorter than for some other more well known psychedelics; the effects of smoked salvia typically last for only a few minutes. The most commonly reported after-effects include an increased feeling of insight and improved mood, and a sense of calmness and increased sense of connection with nature—though much less often it may also cause dysphoria (unpleasant or uncomfortable mood). Salvia divinorum is not generally understood to be toxic or addictive. As a κ-opioid agonist, it may have potential as an analgesic and as therapy for drug addictions.

Salvia divinorum has become increasingly well-known and more widely available in modern culture. The rise of the Internet since the 1990s has seen the growth of many businesses selling live salvia plants, dried leaves, extracts, and other preparations. During this time medical experts and accident and emergency rooms have not been reporting cases that suggest particular health concerns, and police have not been reporting it as a significant issue with regard to public order offences. Yet Salvia divinorum has attracted increasing attention from the media and some lawmakers.

Media stories generally raise alarms over salvia’s legal status, headlining, for example, with not necessarily well-supported comparisons to LSD. Parental concerns are raised by focus on salvia’s use by younger teens—the emergence of YouTube videos purporting to depict its use being an area of particular concern in this respect. The isolated and controversial case of Brett Chidester, a 17-year-old Delaware student who purchased salvia some four months prior to committing suicide in January 2006, has received continued attention. Salvia divinorum remains legal in most countries and, within the United States, legal in the majority of states. However, some have called for its prohibition. Most proposed bills have not made it into law, with motions having been voted down in committee, failed, died, or otherwise stalled. Other more recent bills are as yet still at the early proposal stage. There have not been any publicised prosecutions of anti-salvia laws in the few countries and states where it has been made illegal.

Psychedelic experiences are necessarily somewhat subjective and variations in reported effects are to be expected. Aside from individual reported experiences there has been a limited amount of published work summarising the effects. D.M. Turner’s book “Salvinorin—The Psychedelic Essence of Salvia Divinorum” quotes Daniel Siebert’s summarisation, mentioning that the effects may include:

-- Visionary art

-- Uncontrollable laughter

-- Past memories, such as revisiting places from childhood memory

-- Sensations of motion, or being pulled or twisted by forces

-- Visions of membranes, films and various two-dimensional surfaces

-- Merging with or becoming objects

-- Overlapping realities, such as the perception of being in several locations at once

Common after-effects of Salvia is anxiety and depression.