Salvia Divinorum is a psychoactive plant native to a small region in Mexico. It was first discovered by two ethnopharmacologists during their expedition to Oaxaca. Ever since its classification as a species it has become globally recognized for its main active constituent, the diterpene salvinorin A.
Salvinorin A is a kappa-opioid agonist and the first reported psychoactive diterpene. It is used mainly by young adults as a fast-acting hallucinogenic herb, but shamans of the Mazatec people in Oaxaca have been using it for medicinal and spiritual purposes.
Research has found that ingesting the compound causes ‘disconnection from external reality, induced elaborate visions and auditory phenomena, and modified interoception’. Lower doses have been documented to increase somatic sensations but higher dosages lead to a complete loss of contact with the body.
More of these results can be found here.
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