The following letter that was mailed to Representative Burr and Senator
Helms explains the dangers of Salvia divinorum.
Representative Burr
(5th District)
1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Burr:
At sixteen years of age, I have a genuine concern that an old drug grown in
the United States, Mexico, and Hawaii that is available online may be
affecting the Forsyth county area among other areas in North Carolina and
around the United States because I have seen friends using it, and I would
urge you to consider a law against possession, sells, and use of this drug.
There was a special report on Fox News that led me to investigate a legal
drug by the name of Salvia divinorum. As this drug is unscheduled it is sold
as botanical specimens that are legal to sell and possess, but people are
buying it for ingestion purposes. When I called health food stores with
concern about their selling this drug to anyone, especially minors, I
encountered users of the drug. Although they didn't sell it, there are many
sites where it is available online.
Mazatec Gardens sells thirty grams of Salvia divinorum for $30.00 plus
shipping and handling.5 That was the lowest price for leaves from Oaxaca
Mexico that I could find, but it is available at other sites such as Pure
Land Ethnobotanicals for a higher price. They also sell fortified leaves of
5x potency.13 The Sage Wisdom Salvia Shop sells twenty-eight grams for
$85.00 plus shipping and handling, but these are supposed to be higher
quality leaves because they are from "Sierra Mazateca". This same shop also
sells an extract that can cause severe hallucinations that last longer than
the smoking method with just 1/6 of an ounce undiluted material. It is known
as, "Sage Goddess Emerald Essence", and it sells for $110.00 an ounce plus
shipping and handling.6
I have found few sources that actually sell the living plant because it
requires propagation from a cutting, but Legendary Ethnobotanical Resources
sells Salvia Divinorum plants for an unknown price.7 Companion Plants sells
a potted plant for $25.00 plus shipping and handling.8
When smoked Salvia divinorum produces euphoria, hallucinations, and
impairment at doses as low as 1/2 mg. It is also being sold as extracts and
fortified leaves that are even more potent. These include fortification of
up to 10X. It can also be chewed, although that requires a much higher dose,
and it can also be made into a tea that requires an even higher dose. It can
also be vaporized, but this method is expensive, hard to do, and dangerous
because a threshold dose is only 250 mcg. A dose of just one mg vaporized
can put someone into a state that makes the user completely unaware of their
surroundings. The initial effects of "tripping" last five to ten minutes if
smoked. The effects gradually wear off in thirty minutes to an hour.1
Another site listed the effects as follows, "Onset 20-60 seconds, Coming Up
1-2 minutes, Plateau 5-10 minutes, Coming Down 20-30 minutes, After Effects
15-20 minutes."2 Some of the negative effects can be panic, terror, and
increased perspiration.2
Another problem that I would like to address is the fact that Salvia
divinorum contributes to the sale of paraphernalia such as bongs and water
cooled pipes that don't seem to serve any other purpose than smoking Salvia
divinorum or illegal substances because several pages recommend using a
water cooled pipe or bong in order to achieve the full effects, "Use a
water-cooled smoking device (a water pipe, or bong)."14 The Salvia divinorum
Faq recommends putting the plant material to be smoked in the bowl of a
small pipe, but it also references the methods used in "How to Achieve
Effects from Smoked Salvia divinorum."1
Salvinorin A is the active hallucinogenic compound first discovered in
Salvia divinorum in 1982. Salvinorin B was also isolated, but it doesn't
seem to be hallucinogenic in nature. Upon testing Salvinorin A there wasn't
any information discovered about the mechanism through which this drug works
because, "Salvinorin A did not affect any of the receptor sites tested,
which included all of the likely known receptor sites for other
psychedelics."10 Another site gives an account of pure Salvinorin A isolated
from Salvia divinorum, "when smoked, the amount of salvinorin A that would
fit into a glob on the tip of a needle could easily put a grown man into
near catatonia in seconds."9
Another site in the Erowid archives tells how to make a 20x extract with
acetone, but it also talks about some of the extracts being too powerful.3
Another question posed in the Salvia Faq was, "Is vaporization strong?"1
This was the response.
"Of course it depends on the dose, but it can be unbelievably
strong! Dangerously so!. Since very little smoke is produced with this
technique, it is possible to inhale a very large dose with very little
effort. At large doses, one may temporarily loose all awareness of who one
is, where one is or what one is doing. Falls, fires, injuries etc. can
easily occur."1
The most thorough resource on vaporization that I have found talks about
vaporizing up to two mg of pure Salvinorin A on a piece of thick aluminum
foil. There are examples of people that have inhaled doses of up to two mg
of pure vaporized Salvinorin A, and they had experiences that they didn't
want to repeat. He also refers to using a hash oil pipe for this method, and
he says that there are many people in the psychedelic community are
experimenting with methods of ingestion. Salvinorin A is ten times more
powerful than the most potent natural psychedelics, which are 5-MeO-DMT and
psilocin. Salvinorin A is almost as potent as the "semi-synthetic
psychedelic, LSD."11 The most alarming situations have been witnessed by
Daniel Siebert, and are referenced in the book, Salvinorin-The Psychedelic
Essence of Salvia Divinorum.12
"When the dose goes above 500 to 1000 mcg the effects can be very
alarming. I have seen 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. It
is also common for people to have a facial expression which is probably best
described as being like that of a frightened animal."12
Another problem that I feel needs to be addressed is the limited amount of
information that is available about this plant. Someone posted a question
asking whether Salvia divinorum caused brain damage or not. This was the
response.
"Not so far as is known. However salvinorin [A, the active
hallucinogenic compound in Salvia divinorum,] has some phenomenological
similarities to dissociatives such as PCP and ketamine, and these
dissociatives can cause brain damage (Olney's Lesions) if taken in very high
dose. Therefore the possibility that salvinorin might cause brain damage if
taken in excessive dosage cannot be completely discounted. However, there
have been no reports of any brain damage from salvinorin in man or animals.
For those chewing quids of Salvia leaves there would seem to be no danger of
brain damage at all. Chewing leaves is the very safe traditional mode of
use. For those vaporizing pure salvinorin in high dosage who knows?
Vaporizing pure salvinorin makes possible dosages far in excess of that any
traditional user has encountered, so the safety of traditional usage
patterns cannot guarantee the safety of using pure salvinorin."1
My information also led to the possibility of a 'toxic psychosis' that
causes a person to hear things, see things, and hear voices after the
habitual use of Salvia divinorum.1 There are other sources that correspond
with this finding of toxic psychosis in a less direct manner.4
Since any type of brain damage is irreversible, I would urge you to check
into whether this herb that is being used as a drug should really be legal
to possess and sell with information about health risks so limited.
Sincerely,
James B.
cc: Representative Richard Burr, Senator Jesse Helms, East Forsyth High
School
Helms explains the dangers of Salvia divinorum.
Representative Burr
(5th District)
1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Burr:
At sixteen years of age, I have a genuine concern that an old drug grown in
the United States, Mexico, and Hawaii that is available online may be
affecting the Forsyth county area among other areas in North Carolina and
around the United States because I have seen friends using it, and I would
urge you to consider a law against possession, sells, and use of this drug.
There was a special report on Fox News that led me to investigate a legal
drug by the name of Salvia divinorum. As this drug is unscheduled it is sold
as botanical specimens that are legal to sell and possess, but people are
buying it for ingestion purposes. When I called health food stores with
concern about their selling this drug to anyone, especially minors, I
encountered users of the drug. Although they didn't sell it, there are many
sites where it is available online.
Mazatec Gardens sells thirty grams of Salvia divinorum for $30.00 plus
shipping and handling.5 That was the lowest price for leaves from Oaxaca
Mexico that I could find, but it is available at other sites such as Pure
Land Ethnobotanicals for a higher price. They also sell fortified leaves of
5x potency.13 The Sage Wisdom Salvia Shop sells twenty-eight grams for
$85.00 plus shipping and handling, but these are supposed to be higher
quality leaves because they are from "Sierra Mazateca". This same shop also
sells an extract that can cause severe hallucinations that last longer than
the smoking method with just 1/6 of an ounce undiluted material. It is known
as, "Sage Goddess Emerald Essence", and it sells for $110.00 an ounce plus
shipping and handling.6
I have found few sources that actually sell the living plant because it
requires propagation from a cutting, but Legendary Ethnobotanical Resources
sells Salvia Divinorum plants for an unknown price.7 Companion Plants sells
a potted plant for $25.00 plus shipping and handling.8
When smoked Salvia divinorum produces euphoria, hallucinations, and
impairment at doses as low as 1/2 mg. It is also being sold as extracts and
fortified leaves that are even more potent. These include fortification of
up to 10X. It can also be chewed, although that requires a much higher dose,
and it can also be made into a tea that requires an even higher dose. It can
also be vaporized, but this method is expensive, hard to do, and dangerous
because a threshold dose is only 250 mcg. A dose of just one mg vaporized
can put someone into a state that makes the user completely unaware of their
surroundings. The initial effects of "tripping" last five to ten minutes if
smoked. The effects gradually wear off in thirty minutes to an hour.1
Another site listed the effects as follows, "Onset 20-60 seconds, Coming Up
1-2 minutes, Plateau 5-10 minutes, Coming Down 20-30 minutes, After Effects
15-20 minutes."2 Some of the negative effects can be panic, terror, and
increased perspiration.2
Another problem that I would like to address is the fact that Salvia
divinorum contributes to the sale of paraphernalia such as bongs and water
cooled pipes that don't seem to serve any other purpose than smoking Salvia
divinorum or illegal substances because several pages recommend using a
water cooled pipe or bong in order to achieve the full effects, "Use a
water-cooled smoking device (a water pipe, or bong)."14 The Salvia divinorum
Faq recommends putting the plant material to be smoked in the bowl of a
small pipe, but it also references the methods used in "How to Achieve
Effects from Smoked Salvia divinorum."1
Salvinorin A is the active hallucinogenic compound first discovered in
Salvia divinorum in 1982. Salvinorin B was also isolated, but it doesn't
seem to be hallucinogenic in nature. Upon testing Salvinorin A there wasn't
any information discovered about the mechanism through which this drug works
because, "Salvinorin A did not affect any of the receptor sites tested,
which included all of the likely known receptor sites for other
psychedelics."10 Another site gives an account of pure Salvinorin A isolated
from Salvia divinorum, "when smoked, the amount of salvinorin A that would
fit into a glob on the tip of a needle could easily put a grown man into
near catatonia in seconds."9
Another site in the Erowid archives tells how to make a 20x extract with
acetone, but it also talks about some of the extracts being too powerful.3
Another question posed in the Salvia Faq was, "Is vaporization strong?"1
This was the response.
"Of course it depends on the dose, but it can be unbelievably
strong! Dangerously so!. Since very little smoke is produced with this
technique, it is possible to inhale a very large dose with very little
effort. At large doses, one may temporarily loose all awareness of who one
is, where one is or what one is doing. Falls, fires, injuries etc. can
easily occur."1
The most thorough resource on vaporization that I have found talks about
vaporizing up to two mg of pure Salvinorin A on a piece of thick aluminum
foil. There are examples of people that have inhaled doses of up to two mg
of pure vaporized Salvinorin A, and they had experiences that they didn't
want to repeat. He also refers to using a hash oil pipe for this method, and
he says that there are many people in the psychedelic community are
experimenting with methods of ingestion. Salvinorin A is ten times more
powerful than the most potent natural psychedelics, which are 5-MeO-DMT and
psilocin. Salvinorin A is almost as potent as the "semi-synthetic
psychedelic, LSD."11 The most alarming situations have been witnessed by
Daniel Siebert, and are referenced in the book, Salvinorin-The Psychedelic
Essence of Salvia Divinorum.12
"When the dose goes above 500 to 1000 mcg the effects can be very
alarming. I have seen 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. It
is also common for people to have a facial expression which is probably best
described as being like that of a frightened animal."12
Another problem that I feel needs to be addressed is the limited amount of
information that is available about this plant. Someone posted a question
asking whether Salvia divinorum caused brain damage or not. This was the
response.
"Not so far as is known. However salvinorin [A, the active
hallucinogenic compound in Salvia divinorum,] has some phenomenological
similarities to dissociatives such as PCP and ketamine, and these
dissociatives can cause brain damage (Olney's Lesions) if taken in very high
dose. Therefore the possibility that salvinorin might cause brain damage if
taken in excessive dosage cannot be completely discounted. However, there
have been no reports of any brain damage from salvinorin in man or animals.
For those chewing quids of Salvia leaves there would seem to be no danger of
brain damage at all. Chewing leaves is the very safe traditional mode of
use. For those vaporizing pure salvinorin in high dosage who knows?
Vaporizing pure salvinorin makes possible dosages far in excess of that any
traditional user has encountered, so the safety of traditional usage
patterns cannot guarantee the safety of using pure salvinorin."1
My information also led to the possibility of a 'toxic psychosis' that
causes a person to hear things, see things, and hear voices after the
habitual use of Salvia divinorum.1 There are other sources that correspond
with this finding of toxic psychosis in a less direct manner.4
Since any type of brain damage is irreversible, I would urge you to check
into whether this herb that is being used as a drug should really be legal
to possess and sell with information about health risks so limited.
Sincerely,
James B.
cc: Representative Richard Burr, Senator Jesse Helms, East Forsyth High
School
