Johns Hopkins Report on Salvia divinorum

Human psychopharmacology and dose-effects of Salvinorin A. A kappa opioid agonist hallucinogen in the plant Salvia divinorum.
By Johnson, M.W.,et al. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Journal (2010)

READ THE COMPLETE PAPER: HERE

In what is believed to be the first controlled human study of the effects of Salvinorin A, the primary active constituent in Salvia divinorum. Johns Hopkins researchers report that the effects are surprisingly strong, brief, and intensely disorienting, but without apparent short-term adverse effects in healthy people.

Since the NIH-funded research was done with four mentally and physically healthy hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a safe medical environment, researchers say they are limited in their conclusions about the compound’s safety, according to Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s lead author.

Johnson and the Hopkins team say they undertook the research to try and put some rigorous scientific information into current concerns over the growing recreational use of Salvia divinorum, which is an herb in mint family. The plant, which has been used for centuries by shamans in Mexico for spiritual healing, is the target of increased nationwide legal efforts to restrict its availability and use. Though little is known about the compound’s effects in humans, some legislators have been spurred to action after watching one of thousands of online videos chronicling the uncontrolled behavior that sometimes follows its use. However, because animal studies show that Salvinorin A has unique effects in the brain, some scientists believe that the drug or a modified version of it may lead to medical advances in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain and drug addiction.

Salvia leaves are typically smoked. Often the quantity of Salvinorin A in the leaves has been boosted by the addition of a concentrated extract of the compound. The drug is available online or in “head shops” and is legal in most states. More than a dozen states have outright bans on the product and eight others have restrictions such as prohibitions for minors. About a dozen nations have also outlawed it. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration has included it in their list of “drugs and chemicals of concern,” but to date there is no federal prohibition against it.

The findings of the Hopkins study are published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

“Everything we knew up to this point about the effects of this drug in humans, other than a few surveys or anecdotal case reports, comes from accounts on websites or YouTube videos,” Johnson says. “Those are hardly scientific sources enabling a rigorous understanding of the effects of the drug. Even though the sample size in this study is small, we used an extremely well-controlled methodology, which provided a clear picture of the drug’s basic effects.”

Johnson and his team say this is not just a first step toward greater understanding of the unique compound and its effects, but of the kappa opioid receptors in the brain, which animal studies have suggested Salvinorin A targets. Researchers see potential in kappa opioid receptors — which are different from the receptors targeted by other hallucinogens or opiates like morphine and heroin — for the development of therapeutic medications.

“We’re opening the door for systematic study of this class of compounds, about which we know precious little,” says Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the study’s senior investigator.

The study found that salvia’s effects begin almost immediately after inhaled, are very short acting — with a peak of strength after two minutes and very little effect remaining after 20 — and get more powerful as more of the drug is administered. Salvinorin A produced no significant changes in heart rate or blood pressure, no tremors and no adverse events were reported. But, Johnson cautions, the sample size was small and only healthy and hallucinogen-experienced volunteers participated, so conclusions of safety are limited.

The study was conducted on four healthy, paid subjects — two men and two women — who had taken hallucinogens in the past. Each participant completed 20 sessions over the course of two-to-three months. They inhaled a wide range of doses of the drug in its pure form. At some sessions, they were given a placebo. Participants were asked to rate the strength of peak drug effect on a scale of 1 to 10. Participants were allowed to drop out of the study at any time if they felt they could not tolerate a stronger dose on the following visit. No one withdrew.

Researchers say they were struck by the reaction of two participants who rated the strength of a high dose a 10, or “as strong as imaginable for this drug.” It is unusual, the investigators said, for volunteers with prior hallucinogen experience to report such intensity. Despite these strong experiences, heart rate and blood pressure were unaffected.

While no adverse effects were noted in the controlled laboratory environment, Johnson says, the drug’s effects could be disastrous if a person were, for example, driving a car while on salvia. Few emergency room visits have been linked to its use, which researchers believe is because it wears off so quickly.

He says subjects in the study reported very different experiences from those caused by hallucinogens like LSD and so-called “magic mushrooms.” Those drugs, Johnson says, tend to have powerful effects, but the person is typically still aware of the external world and can interact with it . “With salvia, the subjects described leaving this reality completely and going to other worlds or dimensions and interacting with entities,” Johnson says. “These are very powerful, very intense experiences.”

Animal data suggests the drug is not addictive, Griffiths says, and its intensity could keep people from returning to the drug again and again. “Many people take it once and it produces such profound dysphoria that they don’t want to do it again,” he says.

Provided by Johns Hopkins University (news : web)
FROM: www.physorg.com

Scientific American Magazine on Salvia

Salvia on Schedule: Law, Medicine and a Hallucinogen
Scheduling the mind-altering herb as a controlled substance could slow medical research
By David Jay Brown
From: Scientific American Magazine

As the source of the most powerful natural hallucinogen known, salvia is drawing scrutiny from U.S. authorities who want to restrict this Mexican herb, now used recreation­ally by some. But neuro­scientists worry that controlling it before studies have determined its safety profile is premature and could hamper research of the drug's medicinal value. Increasingly, evidence is piling up that it could lead to new and safer anti­depressants and pain relievers, as well as even help in improving treatments for such mental illnesses as schizophrenia and addiction.

The plant, formally known as Salvia divinorum, has a long tradition of shamanic usage by the Mazatec people of central Mexico. Salvinorin A, the primary psychoactive component, is part of a class of naturally occurring organic chemicals called diterpenoids, and it affects neural receptors in the brain similar to those that respond to opiate painkillers such as morphine—but without euphoric and addictive properties. That is because salvinorin A binds mostly to only one type of receptor (the so-called kappa opioid receptor) and not significantly to receptors that could lead to addiction (such as the mu opioid receptor).

As the popularity of salvia has risen over the past 16 years—its psychoactive properties were discovered in 1993 by Daniel Siebert, an independent ethnobotanist based in Malibu, Calif.—calls to treat the plant as an illegal drug have grown louder. Twelve states have recently placed S. divinorum in their most restrictive controlled substance category, and four others have laws restricting sales. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has listed salvia as “a drug of concern” and is looking into the drug to determine whether it should be declared a Schedule I controlled substance, on par with heroin and LSD.

The unusual properties of salvinorin A intrigue scientists. Psychiatric researcher Bruce Cohen and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School have been developing analogues of salvinorin A and studying their possible mood-modulating properties. The team’s work with salvinorin A in animals suggests “that a drug that would block kappa opioid receptors might be an antidepressant drug—probably a nonaddictive one—or a mood stabilizer for patients with bipolar disorder,” Cohen remarks. By activating the kappa opioid receptors, drugs such as salvinorin A could reduce dependence on stimulants and the mood-elevating and mood-rewarding effects of cocaine. Because salvinorin A can produce distortions of thinking and perception, researchers speculate that blocking the receptors might alleviate some symptoms of psychoses and dissociative disorders.

Some investigators, including the team at Harvard, believe that modified forms of salvinorin A could bolster its medicinal value. Tom Prisinzano, a medicinal chemist at the University of Kansas, points out that some chemical transformations of salvinorin A have different pharmacological abilities—such as a longer-lasting action or an enhanced ability to bind to receptors—and no hallucinogenic properties. Modifying its novel structure, he says, “could potentially treat a number of different central nervous system disorders.”

But if salvinorin A becomes a federally scheduled drug, research on it would become “much more difficult,” predicts Rick Doblin, director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit based in Santa Cruz, ­Calif. Prisinzano agrees, saying that “there will be a lot more paperwork involved,” subsequently making approval for clinical studies harder to obtain. For example, human studies with LSD were essentially blocked for more than 35 years because of federal restrictions, and currently only one human study with LSD is being conducted in the world. As Doblin puts it, approval boards at universities and research institutions view proposals involving criminalized drugs with extreme caution. “And funders are reluctant to look at potentially beneficial uses of drugs of abuse,” he adds.

Right now only two labs conduct human studies with salvinorin A: one run by psychiatric researchers Deepak Cyril D’Souza and Mohini Ranganathan, both at the Yale University School of Medicine, and the other by pharmacologist John Mendelson of the University of California, San Francisco. Both groups are performing preliminary tests to determine how best to administer salvinorin A to human volunteers and collect basic data. D’Souza and Ranganathan argue that scheduling the drug should wait until evidence about its effects and toxicity become clear.

The neuroscience community has yet to throw its collective weight behind formal battles against legal restrictions. “This has been more of a simmering back-burner than a flaming front-burner issue. Still, the issue is a serious one, with implications for policy, drug enforcement and research,” Cohen says. Many people have begun letter-writing campaigns to their representatives in Washington, D.C. Scientists as much as salvia fans undoubtedly hope that such grassroots activity could eventually alter the government’s mind.

Note: This article was originally printed with the title, "Salvia On Schedule."

Top quality Salvia divinorum available at
www.GaianBotanicals.com

Salvia's changing legal status in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Ohio

FROM THE SALVIA DIVINORUM OBSERVER
By Daniel Siebert

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 / volume 7 number 1
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The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center (SDRIC)
http://sagewisdom.org

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SALVIA IS NOW ILLEGAL IN SOUTH DAKOTA
House Bill 1090 was signed into law by Governor Marion Michael Rounds (R) today, March 11, 2009, and became immediately effective. This legislation makes possession of 2 ounces of Salvia divinorum or less a Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying a maximum penalty of 1 year in jail and a $2000 fine; possession of more than 2 ounces would be a Class 6 felony, with a maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and a $4000 fine.

OHIO SALVIA BAN GOES INTO EFFECT NEXT MONTH
House Bill 215 was signed into law by Governor Strickland (D) on January 6, 2009. This bill adds Salvia divinorum to the State’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. It goes into effect 90 days later, which would be April 5th.

SALVIA SOON TO BE ILLEGAL IN NEBRASKA
Legislative Bill 123 was signed into law by Governor Dave Heineman (R) on February 26, 2009. This bill adds Salvia divinorum to the State’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. The new law will go into effect in September 2009.

Excellent News Article on Salvia divinorum

This is an outstanding news article about the current legal situation facing Salvia divinorum. I wish more members of the media actually reported on the facts like Christopher Patton has done instead of regurgitating fear based stereotypes that are most commonly conveyed in the news and pontificated by the authorities. The world would be a far better & more human place. Stop criminalizing nature and the prohibition of cognitive liberty. Stop incarcerating good people over victimless "crimes". Salvia divinorum should remain legal as there is NO scientific evidence that it poses any threat to public safety. The ancient and still practicing religion of Shamanism is a guaranteed right under the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Why is this unalienable right not honored by our current government? Thank you Christopher & The Daily Iowan for having the courage to not only speak, but to publish the truth.

Best regards to you,
EROCx1

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The Daily Iowan: Keep Salvia legal
BY CHRISTOPHER PATTON MARCH 6, 2009

When smoked, Salvia divinorum can yank out the rational mind, throw it to the ground, stamp on it and finally rub one’s nose in the resulting mess.

I recommend giving it a try — especially because the experience only lasts a few minutes.

But adventurous Iowan psychonauts who are interested in exploring the mysterious realms that consuming this potent hallucinogenic plant can open up may want to do so soon. The Iowa Legislature is considering a bill criminalizing the sale and possession of the unique herb.

According to Dale Woolery, the associate director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, the state must ban Salvia in order to preclude the possibility of it ever harming anyone.

However, the state’s own Legislative Services Agency notes in a document explaining the background behind the proposal to criminalize Salvia that the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Substance Abuse and Prevention Division has not received a single report of Salvia divinorum abuse in Iowa — ever. The document also highlights that throughout fiscal 2008, there was not even one prison admission for the hallucinogenic drugs that are illegal.

“This is more about prevention than it is punishment,” Woolery said. “We’re not hearing anything about a widespread epidemic or widespread use like the prevalence of marijuana or meth.”

However, he said, his office is beginning to get more information about Salvia from the law-enforcement and drug-treatment communities.

“There’s probably more of it out there than we hear about,” he said. “Right now, our research has turned up impairment issues, and we’d hate for anyone to become injured or worse as a result of this.”

Those who have experienced a Salvia trip firsthand are fully aware of the “impairment issues” to which Woolery so ominously alludes. But those effects are precisely what drives inquisitive minds to experiment with this substance.

Anthony Fippinger, 24, who graduated in 2007 from the UI with a double major in art and English, currently lives in Mingo, Iowa. Having tried Salvia, he refers to it as an enigmatic substance.

“The time it takes to articulate its effects on you usually lasts longer than the high itself,” he said. “Yet, while under its spell many describe a world devoid of time and infinitely spacious, me included — I liken the experience to one of those acid-dipped music videos with an endless number of replicated shapes perpetually coming at you.”

Another Salvia user is Tanner Faaborg, a 25-year-old Iowa City resident who has a degree in political science and is currently taking English courses. He described his first Salvia experience as shocking.

“When it hit me, and it hit hard, the effects were … fast as hell and targeting every sense I had,” Faaborg said. “I leaned over to express the sensation to my buddies to discover they weren’t there.”

Like Fippinger, Faaborg also perceived the passage of time in a distorted fashion.

“Time cannot exist in a place like that; time can only exist in preconceived concepts of order,” he said. “With Salvia there is no order, it simply is, and you simply are.”

Because of the extent to which tripping on Salvia temporarily annihilates one’s ability to interact with the world in an ordinary way, those who are experienced with the plant suggest it should only be used in a safe and carefully monitored environment.

Smoking Salvia to aid him in meditation and stress relief, Ori Fienberg, a 25-year-old Iowa City resident who in 2008 graduated from the UI with an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing, said he thinks health and safety concerns dictate that the potent herb be properly studied and regulated.

“I think Salvia divinorum is a useful natural aid to self-exploration,” he said. “However, choosing to ban it rather than studying it and making appropriate laws will create an unregulated black market and ultimately increase the number of people who will abuse it by not giving it the respect it deserves as a powerful empathogen.”

Feinberg is right. Despite the value some find in Salvia’s intriguing mind-altering effects, its astounding potency demands respect. Thus, the government should regulate it in such a way as to protect public safety.

But when asked about the possibility of slowing down the legislative process and allowing a more thorough investigation into how Iowa could best regulate Salvia, Woolery remained firm in his prohibitionist stance.

“I don’t think I need scientific research to convince me, based on what I’ve seen, that Salvia should be banned,” he said.

If you haven't already done so, please read my case in defense of Salvia divinorum and continue to fight the injustice of prohibition.

Daniel Siebert: Salvia divinorum from A–Z

Daniel Siebert
Everything you've ever wanted to know about Salvia divinorum.

From the Entheogenic Evolution

Part 1: MP3 Download
Part 2: MP3 Download

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Part 1 focuses on the Mazatec Shamans and their ceremonial use of Salvia and Psilocybin mushrooms. Since most of Salvia plants are propagated from cutting, technically all the worlds Salvia is from the same plant. Daniel also shares his thoughts and evidence that this "mother" plant may not even be originally from the Sierra Mazatec as commonly believed. Salvia divinorum is truly a mystery. 

Part 2 tells the story of how Salvia divinorum made her way in to modern western civilization and more recently to the global market. From the earliest specimens first brought back to the isolation and discovery of Salvinorin A. Daniel also talks about his pioneering experiments with Salvia and the possible future of the Sage.

You may also find my recent interview about the ethnobotanical industry of interest. I can be found at: EROCx1 discusses ethnobotanicals on the Entheogenic Evolution.

Please be aware that our friend Martin Ball's new book, The Entheogenic Evolution: Psychedelics, Consciousness and Awakening the Human Spirit is now available in paperback and PDF. I encourage everyone to consider purchasing a copy and help support the the Entheogenic Evolution!

If your interested in obtaining the very highest quality Salvia divinorum leaf and extracts. Please help support this blog by making a purchase from Gaian Botanicals.

EROCx1 discusses ethnobotanicals on the Entheogenic Evolution

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Recently I was a guest on the Entheogenic Evolution hosted by Martin W. Ball. For those of you who do not already know. Martin holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies with an emphasis on Shamanism, Native American Traditions, Entheogens, and Eastern Philosophy and Meditation. He is a musician and author of several books including Mushroom Wisdom: How Shamans Cultivate Spiritual Consciousness and Sage Spirit: Salvia Divinorum and the Entheogenic Experience.

I have shared correspondence with Martin for quite some time and have made a few posts about some of his work in this blog. So it was an honor for him to invite me on his show to discuss the FDA and the recent escalation of their role in the prohibition of legal ethnobotanicals and tradition plant medicines.

I would like to apologize for all my ummms and pauses in our conversation. It was pretty burned out when we spoke and this was my first time using Skype. I typically listen to Martin's weekly show on the same headphones I was using for the call. A few times I felt like I was listening to his podcast and thought, why isn't any one answering Martin? Wait he's talking to me! LOL. Also considering the potential legal risks that haunt the subject of conversation, I was a little hesitant about how much personal information was wise to publicly share. If I am ever invited on another podcast, I promise to do better ;-)

In this episode of the Entheogenic Evolution we discuss:

• The origin of Gaian Botanicals and my passion for entheogens
• The ethnobotacial market, regulation & prohibition
• Thoughts on Amanita muscaria, Salvia divinorum and Kratom
• My New York Times interview on Salvia divinroum
• The Internet as a tool for for sharing and learning about ethnogens

I would like to expand a little more on the prohibition of plant medicines. This practice is in direct conflict with the ideals held by the Founding Fathers and framers of the supposed supreme law of our nation, The US Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson himself wrote, "If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." and "The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture."

Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Surgeon General under George Washington said, "The Constitution of this Republic should make special provision for medical freedom. To restrict the art of healing to one class will constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic. ... Unless we put medical freedom into the constitution the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship and force people who wish doctors and treatment of their own choice to submit to only what the dictating outfit offers."

Why then are people not only restricted from access to, but are also incarcerated for choosing to use plants as medicines or for spiritual purposes?

This is more of a rhetorical question as a serious effort to answer this question would be far too lengthily for a blog entry. I highly recommend reading Dr. Timothy Leary: Criminalizing the Natural. Also The Emperor Wears No Clothes or more relevant to entheogens is The Proemium from Jonathan Ott's Pharmacotheon. It is well established that the authorities do NOT want people using any plant that may cause euphoria or induce a visionary experience.

I believe we are now witnessing a new approach by the federal government to further restrict its citizens use and access to traditional plant medicines. The traditional process of of making plants illegal under the Controlled Substances Act is supposed to require sufficient scientific evidence that a substance is not only a dangerous, but has no accepted medical use. NO ethnobotanicals can honestly be scheduled under this criteria as they all have a long history of being safely as medicines for thousands of years (if not longer).

Thus a new prohibition tactic is to have Customs stop the import of ethnobotanicals and turn the shipment over to the FDA who challenges the shipment legality as "unapproved drugs". The Dietary Supplement Act clearly states the FDA is to regulate herbs as food, not as drugs. They only have the lawful authority to ban or restrict a herb if it has been openly proven harmful. Also be aware that the description used for the sale of any botanical product could classify it as an "unauthorized new drug".

The FDA has taken steps to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs. Even massage oils and tools would be classified as "medical devices" and require FDA approval. Another alarming example of the FDA's new authority is the Bioterrorism Act signed into law by President Bush June 12, 2002. This requires foreign botanical exporters to have a registered resident agent. If they do not have one, the recipient is listed as the registered agent.

So far most cases of Customs and / or the FDA holding imported ethnobotanicals have been eventually released if contested by the recipient. Sometimes the receiver is required to submit signed statements that the material in question is not for human consumption. However some imports have be straight out refused entry and the shipment must be either returned to the sender, re-routed to an alternate location outside of the United States or destroyed. Since there are no real clear rules or regulations being made available. It is important for the ethnobotanical / herbal medicine communities to communicate their experiences and insight with each other to prevent abuse by the authorities.

I one other idea I wanted to share about Salvia divinorum's remaining legal on a Federal level in the US. Over the years I have observed the governments response to Salvia divinorum with complete astonishment that it has not been scheduled or banned by the DEA or FDA. Could this be an experiment to see how states would react if the Federal Government did not criminalize a psychoactive plant or to see how the states may re-act should there ever be a repeal of the Federal Drug laws? Laws built upon a foundation of lies can not last forever. Especially in the information age. I have no evidence to support this, nor do I necessarily believe it. Its merely speculation on my part. But I thought I would put it out there to hear your feedback on the idea?

Links:
Gaian Botanicals
EROCx1 Homepage
Entheogenic Evolution

A Case in Defense of Salvia divinorum

I was recently approached by Brent McDonald & Kevin Sack from the New York Times who were producing a newspaper article and video story on Salvia divinorum with an emphasis on its current legal struggles. One of the producers contacted me to arrange a telephone interview which after reviewing some of Brent and Kevin's work, I accepted and conducted on August 1, 2008. While I believe these journalist and film makers are honorable people wanting to share a fair and honest story. I have some trepidation as to how the editors and executives of national news corporation will influence the final version of the story. So as soon as the interview concluded. I wrote down my version of what was said. This entry was written from those notes.

I did my interview today and am pretty pleased with how it went. At first it seemed their primary interest in me was my perspective as the proprietor of Gaian Botanicals. However I tried not to focus too much on that and steered our conversation more towards the plant and the issues that encompass it.

The first thing I said was go to Entheogen.com and read what the members had to say about this interview. I consulted them the day prior, seeking their input and wisdom.
I asked the journalist interviewing me if he had tried Salvia divinorum? Unfortunately he replied with a no. I recommended that any professional investigator preparing a national story on an ineffable experience should at least invest 15 minutes and try the herb. It's like someone reporting on a religion and the person being interviewed said, "Do you want to meet my god?" And the interviewer says, "No." Why wouldn't you? It’s safe and legal. I honestly do not believe anyone could possibly comprehend Salvia divinorum without directly experiencing it. Maybe he will try it, maybe he won’t. That’s his personal and private choice, but I hope he does.

He was familiar with most of the major the scientific literature already so there was really no point in repeating what he already knew. I made it clear the Salvia divinorum is NOT like any other psychedelic.

Yes this includes Marijuana, LSD, Magic Mushrooms or any other of more commonly known psychedelics. This comparison is all too commonly used by the media and is more inaccurate then claiming all food tastes the same and has the same nutritional properties or that all medicine is the same. These analogies are absurd.

I continued with the my main question, why make Salvia divinorum illegal? It is likely that over the past decade at least a million of people from around the world have tried it in some form. No one has died, became ill, addicted, mentally deranged or suffered any other from of disability due to Salvia. This is even with production of extracts and cultivation being somewhat underground. Not regulated like food or medicine offered at your retail store and still no ill effects with Salvia. The chemicals sold by your neighborhood pharmacy are probably more toxic.

The government technically does not have the authority to declare something Schedule 1 unless it’s a hazard to public safety, addictive and / or has NO medical use. Salvia divinorum is not a threat; it is the opposite of addictive and has demonstrated significant potential medical use in the treatment of depression, addiction, among other possibilities. Doctors will not be able to determine its best medicinal uses until they have had an opportunity to thoroughly investigate and research it.

This plant is unique. Fist of all Salvinorin A is a Diterpenoid which acts as a kappa opioid receptor agonist. This is important because it is the first known compound with such action that is not an alkaloid. All of the other known hallucinogens are Tryptamines and Phenethylamines which act on the Serotonergic system.

Salvinorin A practically sets a speed record for how fast it crosses the blood brain barrier. If one were developing medicines which must rapidly reach the brain, Salvinorin would be a good compound to study. What all of this means to science and medicine is that Salvia contains a completely unique pharmacological action previously unknown thus it extremely valuable to humanity. Not only to learn more on how the brain works, but also for its potential medicinal value. Shouldn’t these discoveries be celebrated instead of persecuted?

Most legislators argue Salvia is similar to illegal substances therefore it too should be illegal. The Federal government all ready has a law that makes any substance similar to illegal substances also illegal. It’s called the Analog Act. This only further proves (as previously mentioned) that Salvia is special and is not like the other classic psychedelics.

Please keep in mind when these things are made illegal, they are not only restricted for use by ordinary people. They are restricted from scientific study. Unless your a government lab trying to maintain the illegal status. Well except a few recent scientific studies which have been allowed for DMT, Psilocybin and MDMA. The authorities were finally forced to admit that the most powerful substances known to act upon the human mind may have some medical use? Something most people who have experimented with them already knew.

My friend Fraser Clark once said only two things can change a person in a single instant: Psychoactive drugs, and direct religious experience. The greatest transformation would then come via a synthesis of these two: a religious experience created by psychoactive drugs. This is a very wise and true observation. The ancient institution of Shamanism has relied on these powerful tools for such purposes since pre-history. In fact it is completely plausible that entheogens have played a significant role in our human evolution. But that’s another story for another day. When addressing the public in general, I don’t want to get too far out of their current belief system.

Back to the legal status. Today we have let some thirty-five years of potential scientific study be wasted. In a field of medicine with the potential to aid victims of war, rape, molestation, abuse, assaults and traumas. Medicines that can reduce the anxieties of the terminally ill dying from cancer and other horrible diseases. Help them come to better terms with their death.

Drug addiction and alcoholism could have been cured. Making families more loving, healthy and happy. Over 35 years of scientific and medical progress lost, all due to paranoia of entheogens? Well that’s sorta off topic of Salvia, but I wanted to lay out some of the consequences of illegalization. Lets just end this point by stating the issue is not that Salvia is threat to public safety; the issue is that the establishment fears psychedelics. Free thinking isn’t conducive to controlling a population. They want everyone to fit within the cultural paradigm of being good little consumer robots who go about playing their game and following the rules with out questioning their authority or motives. In the 60's the US government wanted to escalate the war in Vietnam and large parts of the population were using psychedelics. The authority’s propaganda was not effective and the people would not tolerate the actions of their government. Therefore the government had to put an end it to it all. Of course many mistakes were made by the drug users of that era. It was all too new. We know much more about these things now.

California and Maine have taken very reasonable and wise steps in regulating Salvia. No sales to minors. Everyone in the Salvia divinorum community applauds this. We hate to see kids acting stupid on YouTube more then anyone. I wish Salvia were inaccessible to minors. I am a parent and I don't want my kids using anything either. My wife and I are very involved with our children's life and take the responsibility to educate them and raise them to make wise decisions. My interest in entheogens is private; I don't talk about or use anything in their presence. If when they are responsible adults, they choose to explore this domain. I will be glad that I have some wisdom and guidance to offer on the topic. Not what most uninformed parents offer.

When it comes to teens. As it’s always been, some will be determined to get high. If Salvia is what they get their hands on. It’s allot better then what this demographic has used in the past. Paint, glue or solvent huffing, computer duster inhaling, prescription drug abuse or even worse. Dangerous and addictive drugs that poison the mind and body and can lead toward destructive and criminal lifestyles. That’s not what Salvia is, nor will it ever be. Not in the least. This distinction must be made crystal clear.

This is about Americans just surrendering their rights and not caring about freedom. We have become so conditioned to just doing what we are told. As the late Terence McKenna said. "If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include cognitive liberty, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." I didn’t have the exact quote with me in my car, but I like my version better.

He asked me of the Salvia users I knew, what are they like? Based on my circle of friends and people I know from the net. Most who choose Salvia. Do so initially because they don’t want to be made criminals. It’s a legal option as many have families and jobs that would be threatened by using illegal drugs. Also if you have just a half-hour with no kids, work or other responsibilities. You could have an effective entheogenic experience. It brings some magic and amazement to your day. An alternate perspective for self reflection and you don’t need 8 hours of nothing to do to have this experience. As I said most users I know, are responsible tax paying citizens. They just choose to make this experience part of their life. They find it a useful tool. For many reasons. Some people I know try it and never want to try it again. Salvia isn’t a match for everyone; in fact its not for most. It can be a totally boundary dissolving, reality model smashing experience. For some it totally astonishes them, they come back and can’t believe it. They run to a mirror to see if they are indeed themselves awake and not dreaming and if what they witnessed really happened. It gives one a lot to think about.

I’ve always valued entheogens for reflecting on my own self. It helps reach clarity to what’s most important in your life. What work must be performed on yourself and in your relationships. What habits you must end and what interests you should peruse. Prior to my first being turned on. I felt like a cultural robot executing the code I was programmed to follow. This was my individuality and freedom I thought I had.

Being an medically diagnosed insomniac, back in the early 90’s I ended up an underground party in search of a little fun. Upon entry someone I slightly knew handed me a piece of Starburst candy that had LSD dropped on it. I didn’t even know it until another friend said you’re going to get really high. I thought how potent could a Starburst be? I danced all night, the music, lights, colors and people where all amazing. My senses have never been so inundated. I had these thoughts I never thought before. I discovered my inner voice. Separated not only from my friends, but reality. I recall wandering the day glow lit warehouse in a state of trance, and then I heard a voice say. “Ok walk over here, find your friends. Don’t look at the two guys making out in the corner. Don't eat, drink or smoke anything. Sober up.” Then I thought. Who said that? Voices? OK Symptom A your insane. No. Once I learned I had this voice that was commanding my being. I was able to make some positive changes in my life. I was able to deal with my subconscious and change my mental programming.

Well not by this experience alone. I was greatly influenced by some really amazing people who I was fortunate enough to encounter back then. Mainly Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson and Terence McKenna along with many other individuals with extraordinary ideas and philosophies. In fact as I speak to you know I can hear the bard’s novel voice, sorta as if I am channeling him or perhaps just straight out plagiarizing. But in this case I don't think he would mind. With out this experience, I would have never taken the path I have and that would be a tragedy. To deny this experience to people should be the crime.

I must make it clear for the record. I do not use or posses any illegal substances. At this phase in my life, Salvia and psychedelic thinking are more then enough to satisfy my entheogenic needs. Mostly I enjoy the philosophy and theory of it all. I like to read, participate on forums and listen to podcasts like my friend Lorenzo’s Psychedelic Salon. By doing so I am able to benefit simply by taking in other peoples reflections on their experiences.

The thing that really bothers me most is the criminalization of plants. Who the hell do we think we are? If you are religious most likely you believe the earth and everything on it was created by a god. If you’re an atheist or evolutionist you probably believe there was a big bang, everything came together and 13 billion years of cosmic evolution labored to bring all the life found on earth in to existence. How egotistical can humans be to come along and declare parts of this miraculous creation illegal? That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. There is a total disrespect of nature. But look at the environment; this shouldn’t be news to anyone. It’s our blindly following those in power that will drive our species into extinction.

The rest of the talk was stuff we all know. The effects of Salvia range from mild to profound and last about 15 minutes. A little of the history of Salvia from the Mazatecan shamans, re-discovery by Wasson & Hoffman. All the way up to making her emergence onto the Internet and probably on her path to extinction. But we won’t let her go with out our best effort to keep her legal. She is an intelligent plant spirit. Evading the Inquisition and all attempts to stomp out the use of Shamanic plants. We talked about the communities’ attempts to keep Salvia legal. Being that this is not currently a Federal matter. Its difficult to organize state by state, now we must even watch county and city ordinances. Just knowing the law of the Country is difficult enough, let alone fight all the smaller battles. There is presently no national organization of Salvia users taking political action. Maybe there should be, or are we too late?

Thank you for reading this. Please feel free to share this with others. I would appreciate a link back to this blog or my website.

Namasté,
EROCx1, D.D.

www.GaianBotanicals.com

Kathleen Harrison at the WPF 2008 on Salvia divinorum

Kathleen Harrison at the WPF about Salvia [part 1 of 2]

Kathleen Harrison at the WPF about Salvia [part 2 of 2]

Kathleen Harrison at the WPF about Botanical Dimensions

Other related works of interest

The Leaves of the Shepherdess by Kathleen Harrison

Roads Where There Have Long Been Trails by Kathleen Harrison

Seeking Gaia: Kat Harrison, Botanical Dimensions, and the Shamanic Plant Mind by James Kent

scientists explore brain's reaction to salvinorin A

Salvia divinorum shows rapid uptake, short duration in animals
Written by: Kendra Snyder
From: Brookhaven National Laboratory News

UPTON, NY - Brain-imaging studies performed in animals at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provide researchers with clues about why an increasingly popular recreational drug that causes hallucinations and motor-function impairment in humans is abused. Using trace amounts of Salvia divinorum - also known as "salvia," a Mexican mint plant that can be smoked in the form of dried leaves or serum - Brookhaven scientists found that the drug's behavior in the brains of primates mimics the extremely fast and brief "high" observed in humans. Their results are now published online in the journal NeuroImage.

Quickly gaining popularity among teenagers and young adults, salvia is legal in most states, but is grabbing the attention of municipal lawmakers. Numerous states have placed controls on salvia or salvinorin A - the plant's active component - and others, including New York, are considering restrictions.

"This is probably one of the most potent hallucinogens known," said Brookhaven chemist Jacob Hooker, the lead author of the study, which is the first to look at how the drug travels through the brain. "It's really important that we study drugs like salvia and how they affect the brain in order to understand why they are abused and to investigate their medicinal relevance, both of which can inform policy makers."

Hooker and fellow researchers used positron emission tomography, or PET scanning, to watch the distribution of salvinorin A in the brains of anesthetized primates. In this technique, the scientists administer a radioactively labeled form of salvinorin A (at concentrations far below pharmacologically active doses) and use the PET scanner to track its site-specific concentrations in various brain regions.

Within 40 seconds of administration, the researchers found a peak concentration of salvinorin A in the brain - nearly 10 times faster than the rate at which cocaine enters the brain. About 16 minutes later, the drug was essentially gone. This pattern parallels the effects described by human users, who experience an almost immediate high that starts fading away within 5 to 10 minutes.

High concentrations of the drug were localized to the cerebellum and visual cortex, which are parts of the brain responsible for motor function and vision, respectively. Based on their results and published data from human use, the scientists estimate that just 10 micrograms of salvia in the brain is needed to cause psychoactive effects in humans.

PET images (color) of [11C]-salvinorin A in the baboon brain overlaid on MRI template (black and white) summed from 3-7 minutes post-injection. High concentrations (red) were observed in the cerebellum and activity was seen throughout cortical and subcortical regions. The maximum concentration of [11C]-salvinorin A in the brain occurs in 40 seconds and clears with a half-life of only 8 minutes, matching the pharmacological duration of action.

Salvia doesn't cause the typical euphoric state associated with other hallucinogens like LSD, Hooker said. The drug targets a receptor that is known to modulate pain and could be important for therapies as far reaching as mood disorders.

"Most people don't find this class of drugs very pleasurable," Hooker said. "So perhaps the main draw or reason for its appeal relates to the rapid onset and short duration of its effects, which are incredibly unique. The kinetics are often as important as the abused drug itself."

The Brookhaven team plans to conduct further studies related to salvia's abuse potential. The scientists also hope to develop radioactive tracers that can better probe the brain receptors to which salvia binds. Such studies could possibly lead to therapies for chronic pain and mood disorders.

This research was funded by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within DOE's Office of Science. DOE has a long-standing interest in research on brain chemistry gained through brain-imaging studies. Brain-imaging techniques such as PET are a direct outgrowth of DOE's support of basic physics and chemistry research.