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Warning: This Drug May Cause a Very Gentle Relaxing
Last week The New York Times ran a
surprisingly sane story
about Salvia divinorum, the psychedelic herb that's been
banned or restricted in 13 states. The lead departs from
the usual approach of anti-drug propaganda
drug policy journalism by describing a salvia trip that
features "convulsive laughter" provoked by a vision of "little
green men" in a boat, as opposed to psychosis, murder,
self-mutilation, blindness from staring at the sun too long,
or an accidental plunge from a multistory building. Another salvia
user is "transported into a dream state..as if drifting down a
rain forest river" with "a beatific smile spread lightly
across his face." He describes the experience as "just a very
gentle letting go, a very gentle relaxing." The Times is
appropriately skeptical of claims that salvia can lead to
suicide and sums up the drug's risks this way:
Though research is young and little is known about long-term effects, there are no studies suggesting that salvia is addictive or its users prone to overdose or abuse. Indeed, a salvia experience can be so intense, and at times so unsettling, that many try it just once, and even devotees use it sparingly.
Reports of salvia-related emergency room admissions are virtually nonexistent, likely because its effects typically vanish in just a few minutes.
The article, by Kevin Sack and Brent McDonald, notes that scientists are worried about legal restrictions on salvia, which could impede "promising research into its possible medical uses," such as "treatment of addiction, depression, and pain." Except for the obligatory reference to salvia's alleged street names ("Sally D and Magic Mint"), the piece is quite different from what we've come to expect when mainstream news outlets cover drug fads.
In May I noted another refreshingly calm salvia article in Newsweek. Other reason coverage of salvia here, here, and here.
|9.19.08 @ 1:19PM|#
Indeed, a salvia experience can be so intense, and at times so unsettling, that many try it just once, and even devotees use it sparingly.
BINGO! This is why the drug warriors aren't unleashing the 'hooked
the first time you try it and inevitable death' rhetoric on salvia.
It's popularity is very limited. Most people don't find Salvia all
that pleasant.
When it comes to recreational drug use, I follow the Paul McCartney
doctrine: If it's not fun, then why do it?
Naga Sadow|9.19.08 @ 1:21PM|#
Jacob,
Don't you remember? Sometimes an OD or even death is necessary to
snap drug users back into reality and look objectively at their
drug use.
Naga Sadow|9.19.08 @ 1:32PM|#
Sweet Jesus, BDB! You don't have to do any drug thrust in your face from your babysitter! Just say NO!
|9.19.08 @ 1:41PM|#
While on a salvia trip I was able to successfully map
consciousness according to the tree of life and experience the
eminent oneness of Kether, across the Abyss, a being of pure
awarness before the supernal triangle of the Divine Intelligence,
or indeed before the reflection of Wisdom. It was an
incredibly...mathematical trip.
I can see how this drug is a danger to humanity.
|9.19.08 @ 1:41PM|#
It is good to see this in a big name periodical like the
NYT.
Warren,
Sadly that it is not, nor will ever be a popular drug hasn't
stopped "freedom loving" Americans from making it illegal to sell
or possess. Sometimes people are irrational. Sex, Drugs and
Terrorism seem to be the big ones of late.
|9.19.08 @ 1:43PM|#
I'll stick with alcohol, blow, and painkillers. However, lunch trips have long been rumored but never materialized until this.
|9.19.08 @ 1:45PM|#
Blow sucks, Epi. :P
You just haven't done enough in one sitting. I'm thinking Tony
Montana levels should do it for you.
|9.19.08 @ 1:48PM|#
According to what I know about blow, and what friends have told
me, you're likely correct. Sadly, if I could roll like that, I'd
probably be buying computer hardware with my cash instead of rock
star drugs.
Well, fuck, if I were rich enough, sure, I'd buy a pile of blow.
But it'd have to be good blow.
jtuf|9.19.08 @ 1:50PM|#
My fellow Americans I must warn you. I must warn you of a
scourge creeping into our homes and schools. This scourge goes by
the name of "earl grey tea". This mind altering herb is known for
its sedative properties. Citizens from house spouses to business
managers purchase earl grey from local dealers. Doing so is as easy
as buying sugar and cream. Sometimes, they spice up a diner party
by serving it after the meal. Other tea addicts indulge their
addictions in solitude, early in the morning or late at night. Some
will even leave their desks at work to make up a batch in the
company kitchen. This herb has even found its way into our schools.
PTA members will quietly sip earl grey tea in the middle of
a meeting. We must act now before we are all
doomed!!!
LOL
|9.19.08 @ 1:56PM|#
But it'd have to be good blow.
Well, it always does. Otherwise, don't even bother with it.
dhex|9.19.08 @ 2:03PM|#
If it's not fun, then why do it?
utility? novelty? peak experiences?
fun is fun, but it's not always fun.
|9.19.08 @ 2:08PM|#
Yaarrrrrrr
I be wantin me some of yer salvia me laddie!
Reinmoose: Tomorrow is National Talk Like a
Child-Molester-Who-Just-Pulled-Up-In-A-Van-Next-To-A-Daycare-Center
Day.
Elemenope|9.19.08 @ 2:11PM|#
I'm buying a fucking garbage-bag full of this
shit.
They will have to come up with a new crime for you.
"Possession with intent to corner the market and establish a
monopoly"?
Have we just discovered where drug law and corporate law
intersects? No, that would be blow, wouldn't it.
jasno|9.19.08 @ 2:15PM|#
You forgot to mention the proprioceptive hallucinations... I had
to get off the couch to keep up with my body parts which felt like
they were flying, detached, in space, upwards and to the right. A
very weird feeling, to be sure.
I liken it to a rollercoaster(which is funny, because the
aforementioned effects make it feel like one) - you're up, you go
flying around, and you're back down on the ground thinking 'what
the hell just happened to me'. Afterwards there was a bit of
calmness, and absolutely no desire to repeat the experience.
|9.19.08 @ 2:23PM|#
As soon as I clicked on the link to the NY Times article, what
comes up? An "Anti-Drug" advertisement! When am I finally going to
start seeing the "Anti-Dumb" ads? 15 years in prison for Salvia
Divinorum in Florida, home of the electric chair. Screw it, give
'em the death sentence, that'll stop 'em real good!
I am getting SO very sick of living in the southeast! Here in
Georgia, we're "the home of the bible and punishment." We'll
certainly have to best Florida as far as punishment for Salvia
"crimes" goes.
Unsurprisingly, these legislators have never used Salvia, since the
bible says you can't use drugs (other than alcohol.) Oh, and it
came from MEXICO? Sounds a lot like Cannabis, to me... Thanks for
letting me rant...
|9.19.08 @ 2:25PM|#
If it's not fun, then why do it?
I ask myself this of mountain climbers as well. The answer is
always, "because it's there".
Well, no shit but it doesn't mean you have to summit.
Naga Sadow|9.19.08 @ 2:29PM|#
Kwix,
Alfred: A long time ago, I was in Burma, my friends and I were
working for the local government. They were trying to buy the
loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But
their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a
bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we
never found anyone who traded with him. One day I saw a child
playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been
throwing them away.
Bruce: Then why steal them?
Alfred: Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men
aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be
bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to
watch the world burn.
Bruce: The bandit in Burma, did you catch him?
Alfred: Yes.
Bruce: How?
Alfred: We burned the forest down.
|9.19.08 @ 2:30PM|#
PSYOP,
since the bible says you can't use drugs (other than alcohol)
I am not a man of the book but I am pretty damned sure this is not
accurate. In fact, the only restrictions I have found are on "too
much strong drink".
Indeed, Genesis 1:29
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
nane changed to protect the gu|9.19.08 @ 2:34PM|#
Well, fuck, if I were rich enough, sure, I'd buy a pile of
blow. But it'd have to be good blow.
Just like airfare and long-distance telephony, the price has come
way down from 70's or 80's when it was glamorized (or
demonized) as a drug of the rich and famous. Of course I wasn't
exactly doing any in the 70's or 80's so this is from what I've
read and heard -- perhaps someone with direct experience can
confirm. At any rate, today anyone with a job (and maybe even a few
without one) can afford a little blow now and then.
However, as an alternative, you can always try crushing and
snorting some methylphenidate (Ritalin). It produces a high
strikingly similar to coke with a couple advantages: You know it
will be consistently high quality and never laced or excessively
cut with anything. If you have a prescription and insurance it is
dirt-cheap. And, it isn't illegal (assuming you have the script) to
carry the pills making it safe and convenient to take with you. Oh,
and as it's not a topical anesthetic like cocaine, it won't give
you that numbness in the back of your throat that some people find
unpleasant.
I don't know if the brand name stuff is easy to crush, but for sure
the generic tablets crush down to a nice white powder that looks
like, as well as works like, coke.
Or so I've heard.
|9.19.08 @ 2:36PM|#
Kwix, you're right. I was being facetious in a poor attempt at levity. I know many people who believe that the bible states that very thing. Thanks for reading and responding to my comment, though!
|9.19.08 @ 2:42PM|#
NCTPTG,
I've heard same, but never really thought about it. Sounds
interesting, though.
|9.19.08 @ 3:07PM|#
However, as an alternative, you can always try crushing and
snorting some methylphenidate (Ritalin). It produces a high
strikingly similar to coke with a couple advantages: You know it
will be consistently high quality and never laced or excessively
cut with anything
My cousin got some for us to try. Not that I would actually, you
know, do that. I'm just theoretically looking forward to
it.
|9.19.08 @ 3:48PM|#
This article neglected to point out, probably didn't even research it, but the first salvia study, involving actual people, not rats, was completed this spring. Initial results prove it causes depression and studies are ongoing. What part of that do the idiot savant salvia users not understand???? This so called "relaxing herb" is screwing up your brain. Wake up losers!
duster|9.19.08 @ 4:20PM|#
Funny how they have to still sensationalize it:
describing a salvia trip that features "convulsive laughter"
provoked by a vision of "little green men"
hmmmmm, that's one lucky user.
a salvia experience can be so intense...
yeah, as in intense headache!
Now, if the times could run similar stories about drugs that people
actually like to do, I'd give them some credit.
Jasno|9.19.08 @ 4:32PM|#
Steven R. -
Can you provide a link to the study? I tried a quick google but
didn't find anything.
In my experience, all effects are gone in an hour and a half,
provided you've smoked it. I'm generally sensitive to aftereffects,
having had negative experiences with several other drugs at
times.
St. V|9.19.08 @ 4:39PM|#
So people want to find ways of transitioning into limited periods of retardation... big deal! I don't understand the reasoning behind banning it, especially if it isn't addicting.
|9.19.08 @ 4:40PM|#
I watched a dear friend smoke, from the same batch of salvia
from which I was graced my "tree of life" trip, roughly a quarter
ounce of salvia divinorum. It gave him a headache and make him
nauseous. It made him so sick, in fact, that he had to kill the
nausea with marijuana, which also managed to get him high, unlike
the salvia.
Then I forced him to watch Meet the Feebles. I'm surprised
we're still friends. :D
|9.19.08 @ 4:41PM|#
Dear fucking God, I need to learn to use the fucking preview button again. I manage to make myself sound like a barely literate dolt when I neglect the preview function. >_
|9.19.08 @ 4:44PM|#
Then I forced him to watch Meet the Feebles. I'm surprised
we're still friends. :D
I prefer to convince people to watch Dead Alive. The
lawnmower bit really finishes them off.
|9.19.08 @ 5:52PM|#
jtuf, you can have my Earl Grey when you pry it from my cold,
dead fingers!
heh.
No Comment|9.19.08 @ 6:27PM|#
I stand by my earlier posts about Salvia being the worst
substance I've ever tried. It's no LSD (which kicks ass, folks!).
It sure ain't no quality hash, either.
NCTPTG, what is the point of snorting the Ritalin? Is snorting it
that much more intense than ingesting it by swallowing? I've never
taken Ritalin, only Adderall XR (which makes no sense to snort
since it is extended release). Does snorting make that much of a
difference?
I know it can with say Xaanax or Valium.
LSD and cannabis, folks. That is the ticket.
|9.19.08 @ 6:57PM|#
Episiarch | September 19, 2008, 1:43pm | #
I'll stick with alcohol, blow, and painkillers
Epi? Blow? Really? ;-}
"Why would you want to do cocaine?"
"It's great! It intensifies your personality."
"Yeah, but what if you're an asshole?"
If you like blow AND painkillers, I recommend you just move on up
to snowballs. It worked out well for Belushi.*
*Sez the hypocrite who used to buy it buy the 8-ball in the 80's*
;-}
|9.19.08 @ 7:01PM|#
LSD and cannabis, folks. That is the
ticket
Don't waste your time on LSD if 'shrooms or decent quality peyote
are available.
Also, Don't waste your time mixing LSD and cannabis
(anecdotal)...you just find yourself smoking J after J cuz it
tastes good.
No Comment|9.19.08 @ 11:16PM|#
Hey Kant,
Shrooms have nuttin' on the L, my man. I've taken shrooms plenty,
including a bunch in Amsterdam over two trips (pun intendend, HA!)
Although the I found the "philosopher stones" pretty excellent (as
a philosophy major back in college, I found the name quite
accurate), I simply prefer LSD.
Music on L is just so damn good.
You, sir, are 100% correct that a L trip can use up all your weed,
though. Not really a problem since finding L has become damn near
impossible for me, given the loss of a connection who decided to
become a fucking crackead asshole.
Episiarch, I enjoy your comments very much. Please don't stop
posting.
name changed to protect the gu|9.19.08 @ 11:49PM|#
NCTPTG, what is the point of snorting the Ritalin? Is
snorting it that much more intense than ingesting it by swallowing?
... Does snorting make that much of a difference?
No comment,
Absolutely. It's a huge difference. I was completely
underwhelmed by taking Ritalin orally, so much so that I had a
bunch of it sitting around that I never used until a girl I know
suggested I try snorting it -- and that I let her snort some too.
Best advice ever... well ok, not exactly but you know what I
mean.
As for Adderall/amphetamines, the XR stuff is a little too XR for
me. I prefer just generic dextroamphetamine tablets taken orally.
No need to snort those -- good high and while much less intense
than coke/snorted ritalin, it lasts a lot longer. That and it'll
make you want to clean your house. :)
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