DOSE:

smoked

Salvia divinorum

(leaves)

BODY WEIGHT:

240 lb

This is a retrospective summary of roughly ten Salvia Divinorum experiences over the course of the past three months.

My Salvia was un-enhanced (but high-quality) Peruvian leaf, ordered from an internet supplier. I used a sitter the first three times that I tried this new substance, and I do recommend it, although in my case it did not seem necessary because, unlike many reports, I did not feel the urge to move or go outside. In fact, I found movement to be very difficult, and I usually planted (no pun intended) myself wherever it was that I had smoked for the duration of the experience.

I tried doses ranging from half of a small leaf to five whole large leaves - I found that the most effective dose for me seemed to be about three large hits, held for 20-30 seconds each, which seems to agree with many other reports. In every case except one, I smoked from an average-sized wooden pipe - in the one case, I rigged up a makeshift hookah with a Gatorade bottle, which surprisingly seemed less effective because by the time I took one large hit with that I was too disoriented to take another. I really found that to be the limiting factor in my dosing - I would quickly reach a point where I was unable to operate the lighter and draw in smoke. One word of caution: during one of the experiences I completely lost awareness of holding a pipe in my hand, apparently dropped it on the carpet (with still smoldering materials in it) and nearly caught my house on fire.

As to the effects of this substance, I found it to be very unique but not particularly pleasant. Although the first few experiences were interesting enough that I wanted to repeat them, this is not a substance that I would like to use on a regular basis. In fact, my conclusion at the end of my experiments was that I felt a distinctly malevolent quality to this drug - I often identify a personality with natural drugs, and the overall feeling that I got from Salvia was that if Salvia were a person, it would not be one that I would invite to my home, if that makes sense.

Mostly my experiences were characterized by near-total confusion and disoriention. I did not experience any hallucinations, per se, although I did experience some CEV's on a few occasions. On all occasions except for one (which I will discuss briefly below) I lost all practical sense of where I was, what I was doing, and even to some extent WHO I was. I noticed that when this happened indoors, it was extremely unpleasant and frightening, but when it happened outdoors it was sort of enjoyable; I got the sense of melting into my surroundings and losing myself completely in nature, with thoughts along the lines of 'I am that tree' - in particular, I noted the very alien feeling of empathy and brotherhood with plants. In retrospect, I can see how use of this plant in a jungle or wild forest setting, teeming with other organisms, could be a very powerful experience.

The one experience that differed from this was when I smoked the smallest dosage (half of a small leaf), which I combined with Cannabis. I strongly agree with the findings of others that Salvia prolongs the effects of Cannabis - instead of the Cannabis high lasting for one or two hours and then tapering off, it continued full-strength for over five and a half hours. What was even more interesting to me was that at the five and a half hour mark I smoked a little more Salvia and the Cannabis effect, which had not tapered off at all, stopped very abruptly, and once the Salvia had worn off in about ten minutes I felt completely clear-headed. I'm not a chemist, so I can't speculate what would cause this, but I think it warrants looking into - it could be a very useful effect for someone who needed to sober up quickly.

I think it's likely that I will use Salvia again, in the name of experimentation and exploration, but I do not *enjoy* the Salvia experience. It reminded me oddly of crack cocaine in the way that it comes on so suddenly, kicks your ass, then is gone just as quickly, but without any of the euphoria of crack. I don't think it's very useful as a recreational drug, and I think that using it that way is not very wise.

If you're really dedicated to mental exploration, it's worth trying out, but otherwise I would advise to stay away from it.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 16326
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 12, 2003	Views: 15,377
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Salvia divinorum (44) : Alone (16), Retrospective / Summary (11), Combinations (3)