PsychonautWiki Archive

Salvinorin A

Revision as of 19:02, 31 January 2017 by >MountainTraveler (It's considered by most to be an atypical dissociative with psychedelic qualities similar to how cannabis is considered by many to be an atypical psychedelic with dissociative qualities.)

Salvinorin A is the main active psychoactive molecule within Salvia divinorum, a Mexican plant which has a long history of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans. It is structurally distinct from other naturally occurring hallucinogens (such as DMT, psilocin and mescaline) because it contains no nitrogen atoms; hence, it is a terpenoid and not an alkaloid and cannot be rendered as a salt.

Salvinorin A
Chemical Nomenclature
Common names Salvia, Salvia divinorum, Diviner's Sage, Ska María Pastora, Seer's Sage, Sally
Substitutive name Salvinorin A
Systematic name methyl (2S,4aR,6aR,7R,9S,10aS,10bR)-9-(acetyloxy)-2-(furan-3-yl)-6a,10b-dimethyl-4,10-dioxododecahydro-2H-benzo[f]isochromene-7-carboxylate
Class Membership
Psychoactive class Hallucinogen
Chemical class Salvinorin
Routes of Administration

WARNING: Always start with lower doses due to differences between individual body weight, tolerance, metabolism, and personal sensitivity. See responsible use section.


⇣ Smoked
Dosage
Duration
Total 15 - 90 minutes
Onset 15 - 60 seconds
After effects 15 - 60 minutes



⇣ Sublingual
Dosage
Duration
Total 30 - 90 minutes
Onset 10 - 20 minutes
After effects 30 - 120 minutes







DISCLAIMER: PW's dosage information is gathered from users and resources for educational purposes only. It is not a recommendation and should be verified with other sources for accuracy.

Interactions
Summary sheet: Salvinorin A

It also differs in subjective experience compared to other hallucinogens, and has been described as an atypical dissociative although this formal classification is debatable.

Chemistry

Salvinorin A is a neoclerodane molecule, an oxygenated cyclic diterpenoid. It contains four isoprene groups bound to its oxygenated polycyclic rings. Salvinorin A is unique as it is not an alkaloid; it contains no nitrogen atoms unlike classical, natural, or synthetic hallucinogens.

Pharmacology

Salvinorin A is a potent kappa-opioid receptor agonist. It does not have any effect on the 5-HT2A receptor, the receptor targeted by most psychedelic drugs, nor does it function as an NMDA receptor antagonist as most dissociatives do. Its unique structure lacks features commonly associated with opioid ligand binding, namely it doesn't contain a quaternary carbon atom linked to a tertiary amine group by two other carbon atoms. Unlike traditional opioid agonists, salvinorin A targets the kappa-opioid receptor rather than the mu-opioid receptor. Salvinorin A is currently being researched in relation to its properties as an anti-addiction drug, and several analogs with improved pharmacokinetic profiles have been shown to have anti-addictive effects as well.[1]

However, the role of these interactions and how they result in a hallucinogenic experience continues to remain elusive.

Subjective effects

Disclaimer: The effects listed below cite the Subjective Effect Index (SEI), an open research literature based on anecdotal user reports and the personal analyses of PsychonautWiki contributors. As a result, they should be viewed with a healthy degree of skepticism.

It is also worth noting that these effects will not necessarily occur in a predictable or reliable manner, although higher doses are more liable to induce the full spectrum of effects. Likewise, adverse effects become increasingly likely with higher doses and may include addiction, severe injury, or death ☠.

Physical effects

  • Changes in gravity - The most prominent physical sensation of a salvinorin A trip is known by many people as “salvia gravity.” This is at least partially present during the mildest of trips and increases proportionally with dose until it is all-encompassing. It begins with a heavy sensation that pulls and tugs at the body. As this increases, it inevitably becomes so powerful that it swiftly lifts the tripper up and out of their body at extremely high speeds and over vast distances in a direction that often doesn't quite make sense. This feels as if the user is being pushed or pulled into a space vastly different from anything found on the classic hallucinogens.
  • Changes in felt bodily form - This effect often accompanies the onset of powerful salvinorin A gravity and can be described as non-painful sensations of being stretched horizontally or vertically into infinity, splitting into two halves, and a variety of other sudden changes. This can even include the user feeling as if they have become an intimate object within their current setting.
  • Spontaneous tactile sensations - For some unlucky people, this is sometimes accompanied by the sensation of intense, sharp and cold pins and needles all over a person's skin which can quickly become very uncomfortable. Most people, however, will never experience this feeling.
  • Spatial disorientation

Cognitive effects

The cognitive effects of salvinorin A can be broken down into several components which progressively intensify proportional to dosage. The general head space of salvia is described by many as one of extreme cognitive suppression and strong feelings of confusion. It’s these effects which create an experience devoid of personal introspection. This substance is best described as a drug that does not create profound personal insights, but simply creates powerful and interesting experiences.

The most prominent of these cognitive effects generally include:

Visual effects

Distortions

When a user of this substance keeps their eyes open throughout the duration of a moderate to strong trip, a number of open eye distortions and alterations are usually present. These are significantly more simplistic from that of open eye distortions found with other classes of hallucinogens. They seem to play heavily on different sections of the user's vision and generally include:

  • Depth perception distortions - This effect is usually characterized by a total loss of depth perception and a complete flattening of the visual field into a 2-dimensional image. It can also make objects seem further away or closer in distance than they actually are.
  • Drifting
  • Perspective distortions - This effect can be described as specific objects with the external environment or the surroundings as a whole changing in physical size and becoming impossibly huge or small in size.
  • Environmental cubism
  • Scenery slicing

Structures

At moderate to high doses in darkness or with closed eyes, a full array of level 1 - 4 hallucinatory structures becomes present once the user has become disconnected from their body. This is an effect which is most commonly found within dissociatives such as ketamine and DXM. The hallucinatory structures of salvia are distinctively different in style and significantly more likely to be based on mathematical constructs such as vast and elaborate fractals.

In terms of stylistic appearance, they also tend to contain significantly more detail in their style with a greater variety of materials and abstract detail comprising the structures.

Another key difference between the manifestation of this effect within salvia and those found within dissociatives is the extremely prominent sense that the user is the structures that they are visually perceiving. This can be described as the sensation that they have become the structure itself and can physically feel every detail and moving part across itself. In comparison, this effect is only present at level 4 within the classical dissociative drugs, but is often present across all levels within salvia.

These constructs and structures are often so huge that they appear to expand across hundreds to thousands of miles and gradually change by means of panning, zooming and rotating slowly into view as more and more detail is gradually revealed. As dose increases so does the level of detail and intricacy of these structures. This continues until level 4 when the sensation of seeing the entire universe condensed into an infinitely vast and intricate self-transforming machine form becomes present.

Hallucinatory states

Salvia produces a full range of high level hallucinatory states in a fashion that is just as consistent as that of any of the classical psychedelics. These effects include:

  • Machinescapes
  • Transformations - In comparison to psychedelics, the transformations found within salvinorin A are significantly more solid, believable and realistic in appearance. They are commonly manifested as objects within the external environment coming alive or changing in some way.
  • Internal hallucinations - The imagery on salvia is described as more solid than psychedelics and does not seem to be composed of condensed visual geometry as with the imagery found within psychedelics. It is often embedded within and across structures which often become solid fractal representations of the original image. At higher doses, this particular effect commonly contains a full array of hallucinations with plots, scenarios, settings and autonomous entity contact. They can be described as both lucid and delirious in their believability, fixed in style and often ominous or sinister in nature. A unique aspect to the hallucinatory scenarios found within salvia are how commonly they are manifested with a 2nd person perspective in comparison to other classes of hallucinogens. This is commonly described as suddenly becoming a random object with common examples often including a conveyor belt, a wall, a book or a specific part of a building.

Auditory effects

Multi-sensory effects

Classification

At the present moment, the scientific literature is currently classing salvinorin A as a hallucinogen and it has been referred in varying contexts as either solely a dissociative or an atypical dissociative with some psychedelic qualities.[citation needed]

Although salvia shares states of hallucinatory structures and out-of-body experiences commonly reported with typical dissociatives (NMDA receptor antagonists), this is arguably not sufficient so that it falls under the same classification. For example, the hallucinatory structures (although similar) are vastly different in their style and complexity. Alongside of this, the out-of-body experiences commonly reported with dissociatives are presumed to be triggered by the way in which NMDA receptor antagonists block signals to the conscious mind from other parts of the brain. This is accompanied by a distinctive feeling of dissociation, disconnection and detachment which is not present on salvia as it works on an entirely different set of receptors, the function of which in the human brain is almost entirely unknown.[citation needed]

The effects of salvia have a subjectively unique style and pharmacology that is not found within any other category of hallucinogen, this has led many within the psychonaut community assert that it deserves recognition for falling into an entirely new class of its own.

Experience reports

Anecdotal reports which describe the effects of this compound within our experience index include:

Additional experience reports can be found here:

Salvia divinorum

 
The leaves of a Salvia divinorum plant

Salvia divinorum (also known as Diviner's Sage, Ska María Pastora, Seer's Sage, and by its genus name Salvia) is a psychoactive plant which is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences. Its native habitat is within Cloud Forest in the isolated Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, Mexico where it grows in shady and moist locations. The plant grows to over a meter high and has hollow square stems, large leaves, and occasional white flowers with violet calyxes. [citation needed]

Forms of salvia divinorum

Fresh leaf

The fresh leaf is typically used for making a quid of leaves and is held under the tongue for sublingual absorption. Fresh leaf is preferred for sublingual absorption because it doesn't break up in one's mouth and is easier to chew.

  • Light - 10 g fresh / 2 g dried
  • Common - 30 g fresh / 6 g dried
  • Strong - 50 g fresh / 10 g dried
Dried leaf

Dried leaf is usually prepared by simply taking the leaf and leaving it out in the sun. The leaf can also be dried in the oven at about 150 degrees Fahrenheit for however long it takes until it becomes crispy. Dried salvia leaf is used for smoking. If one plans to use dried leaf for a quid, they should soak them in water for at least ten minutes otherwise sublingual administration can become highly unpleasant. Soaking the dried leaf in water can also cause it to lose potency.

  • Light - 0.25 g
  • Common - 0.5 g
  • Strong - 0.75–1.00 g
Extracts

Commercial salvia extracts are easily accessible both online and within local head shops in certain countries. They are sold in varying forms depending on how concentrated they are and are usually marketed as being 5X, 10X, 15X, 80X, etc. This symbolizes that the extract is X times stronger in psychoactive effects than those that can be had from the regular leaves (5X is 5 times as strong as regular leaf). The stronger the extract, the stronger the experience; use at your own risk.

Tincture

This is made by dissolving pure salvinorin A or a semi-pure form of it into ethyl alcohol. It is meant to be used sublingually by holding a certain amount under the tongue for a period of time. This type of preparation tends to cause longer but weaker effects. It's worth noting that holding strong tincture under the tongue for long periods of time can eventually cause blistering. It is sometimes best to dilute the pure tincture with water (although potency may be decreased).

Tea

A tea can be made by crushing 3–4 g of dried leaves and boiling them for 5 minutes. Afterwards, let it simmer for around 15 minutes. Salvinorin A is not orally active, so the tea has to be kept in the mouth for around 15–20 seconds for each sip. This tea, if properly brewed and ingested, can produce a trance-like state when closing the eyes and up to an entire night of vivid and intense dreams along with occasional closed eye visuals.

Toxicity and harm potential

The toxicity and long-term health effects of recreational salvinorin A use do not seem to have been studied in any scientific context and the exact toxic dose is unknown. This is because salvinorin A is a research chemical with very little history of human usage. Anecdotal evidence from people within the psychonaut community who have tried salvinorin A suggests that there are no negative health effects attributed to simply trying the drug by itself at low to moderate doses and using it very sparingly (but nothing can be completely guaranteed). Independent research should always be done to ensure that a combination of two or more substances is safe before consumption.

Due to its unusually potent and debilitating psychoactivity, it is strongly recommended that one use harm reduction practices when using this drug.

Tolerance and addiction potential

Salvinorin A is not habit-forming and the desire to use it can actually decrease with use. It is most often self-regulating.

Tolerance to the effects of salvinorin A does not occur. In fact, many users report that this compound has a reverse tolerance and can actually becomes stronger over time and with repeated usage (a phenomenon known as "reverse tolerance". Due to its unique set of target receptors, salvinorin A presents cross-tolerance with [[Cross-tolerance::no other hallucinogens]].

  • Australia: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Belgium: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Croatia: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Czech Republic: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Denmark: Salvinorin A is a Class B drug.
  • Germany: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Ireland: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Italy: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Latvia: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Lithuania: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Poland: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Romania: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Spain: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • Sweden: Possession and sale is illegal.
  • United Kingdom: It is illegal to produce, supply, or import this drug under the Psychoactive Substance Act, which came into effect on May 26th, 2016.[2]
  • United States: Salvinorin A is illegal is some states but not all.

Preparation methods

Preparation methods for this compound within our tutorial index include:

See also

Literature

Historically, there has been very little scientific research conducted on the phenomenology and psychopharmacology of salvinorin A. This is arguably due to the evidence and investigation-suppressing effects that global drug prohibition has on scientific enterprise.[citation needed] However, there are signs that this is beginning to change as psychedelics research is gaining increased recognition and mainstream acceptance.

  • Johnson MW, Maclean KA, Reissig CJ, Prisinzano TE, Griffiths RR. (2010) Human psychopharmacology and dose-effects of salvinorin A, a kappa opioid agonist hallucinogen present in the plant Salvia divinorum. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010 Dec 4.
  • Baggott MJ, Erowid E, Erowid F, Galloway GP, Mendelson J. (2010). Use patterns and self-reported effects of Salvia divinorum: An internet-based survey. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010 Oct 1;111(3):250-6
  • Mendelson JE, Coyle JR, Lopez JC, Baggott MJ, Flower K, Everhart ET, Munro TA, Galloway GP, Cohen BM. (2010). Lack of effect of sublingual salvinorin A, a naturally occurring kappa opioid, in humans: a placebo-controlled trial. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2010 Dec 8. [Epub ahead of print]


References

  1. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24484985
  2. ↑ Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (Legislation.gov.uk) | http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/contents/enacted
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