Millions of people have embarked on short-haul head trips after smoking Salvia divinorum, a plant from the mint family. Thousands have posted their hallucinogenic journeys on YouTube. In one video, viewed some two million times, a young woman says her mouth is falling off. Some lawmakers believe Salvia divinorum, a.k.a. “Diviner’s Sage,” is dangerous. About a dozen countries have banned it, including Australia and Belgium. Selling it in parts of the United States will also earn you a fine and jail time. But it’s legal in Canada. “It is the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen,” says Dr. Bryan Roth, project director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drugs Screening Program. “It rivals LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) in potency.” In 2002, Roth discovered that Salvinorin A had a different chemical structure than any other hallucinogen, natural or synthetic (PNAS 2002;99: 11934–9). He also found that it didn’t activate the serotonin receptor responsible for the mind-bending effects of other hallucinogens. Because of its unique properties, Salvinorin A might be a novel compound for use in therapies for diseases that distort perception, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Though many politicians have the plant on their not-in-my-jurisdiction lists, there is no scientific data to suggest the plant’s active ingredient, Salvinorin A, has any long-term effects. Some researchers studying the plant — which may prove useful in treating mental illness — are worried that bans may make their work more difficult.
Language: en
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