DOSE:

repeated

smoked

Salvia divinorum

(plant material)

BODY WEIGHT:

225 lb

I'll be doing this report slightly differently than most of those I've seen. Instead of describing one specific experience, I'll provide a sort of summary of all my knowledge of Salvia. I'll touch on basics, methods of ingestion, effects, and my own experiences with this plant.

CONTENTS:

I.) Introduction

II.) Basics

III.) Methods of Use

IV.) Effects

~*PART I: INTRODUCTION*~

My name is Ben. I'm 17, 5'10' and 225 pounds.

I'm fairly inexperienced with narcotics, I've tried Weed and that's about it (and Salvia, of course). I don't drink (Alcohol tastes like floor polish to me), and I only smoke occasionally (Tobacco). Of the few drugs I have done, I'm by far most experienced with Salvia.

I generally find that I have minimal reactions to ANY drug, including perscription medications, and I've never had an allergic reaction to anything. This may or may not have any effect with Salvia.

~*PART II: BASICS*~

Appearance wise, it's a fairly unremarkable looking plant (in contrast to the iconic appearance of Marijuana leaves). The leaves are oval shaped, with a pointed outer end and thin stems that connect the leaves to the main part of the plant. It closely resembles any number of other sages commonly grown for cooking or botanical purposes. When dried and burned, it smells very much like any other garden-variety leaves, and the smell doesn't tend to linger like Marijuana or Tobacco. If the leaves are soaked in water (or are still part of a live plant), it gives off a strong, bitter scent similar to green tea. When smoked, I find the taste to be pretty mild, although there are some people who find it disgusting. The taste also doesn't linger in my mouth like Marijuana or Tobacco will, but that may be because I don't smoke it for extended periods of time.

Salvia is sold as dried leaves (usually by the ounce) or in extract form (usually by the gram). Salvia leaf is dried and packaged whole. If bought as leaf (as opposed to extract), I recommend crumbling the leafy parts and throwing away the stemy material. Extract looks, feels, and smells like crushed Salvia leaves, but may have a slightly darker color due to the extraction process.

~*PART III: METHODS OF USE*~

I have tried two methods of Salvia use: inhaled as smoke or sublingualy via Quid. The Quid method, which basically involves shoving as many leaves in your mouth as you can and chewing for 10 minutes, didn't even give me a buzz. Salvia leaves are also extremley bitter, and I found the whole experience awful. It took me another half hour and six cans of Pepsi just to get that taste out of my mouth. For these reasons, I'll only be covering the smoking of Salvia.

Getting a 'good hit' is very important. A strong hit of 10x extract will fuck me harder than 40x that hasn't been inhaled properly. I use a water cooled bong and hold the smoke for at least 15 seconds. This will make the hit a lot easier to keep down, and I end up wasting a lot less expensive extract. Salvia will work for me when rolled into a joint, but effects are diminished quit a bit.

~*PART IV: EFFECTS*~

Salvia is unlike any other drug on the market, and it's effects are difficult to describe to someone who has never experienced it. One thing I find particularly interesting about Salvia is that it has a variety of effects, different kinds of 'trips' that vary depending on potency and amount ingested, the user and their surroundings, and other factors not fully understood.

Most drugs have a generally agreed upon set of effects, Crack winds you up, Weed mellows you out, Acid induces visual patterns, e.t.c., but Salvia has many different effects and it's always a different experience. I'll lay out the effects I've experienced with different doses and surroundings.

The very base or 'threshold' effects are the only effects that I've experienced every single time I've done Salvia. It's the first thing I'll notice when I come up, and it's the last part of the Salvia high to go when I’m coming down. As I became a more experienced Salvia user, this became a very easily identifiable feeling. Threshold effects are subtle, but definatley there. I'll notice this even before I exhale the hit (about 10 seconds in). I'll experience a slight change in vision that lasts throught the trip (assuming I can still see my surroundings). This is the longest lasting effect, and after it's gone I've completley come down. The best way I can describe this slight visual distortion is that it's similar to reading a book with glasses on as opposed to glasses off (I'm nearsighted). I often take my glasses off to read because things within about a foot of my face look slightly different with them on, the threshold effects are very similar to this. I know that's a shitty discription, but it's best way I can describe it.

At this point, I usually feel flushed, like my body temperature has gone up about 6 degrees. Profuse sweating quickly follows, and I feel like I've just gotten out of a scalding hot shower. A less common sensation that can accompany this flushing is a prickling feeling on the skin, especially were I sweat most (like under my arms). Skin can also be more sensative to touch, with a slight brush bringing much more sensation than it normally would. When coming up, I also usually experience a throbbing sensation in my head similar to holding my breath underwater.

About 20 seconds after inhaling (usually about the time I exhale), I'll start tripping. And Salvia hits like a fucking freight train.

At a lower dose, or a bad hit, patterns appear to liquify and flow. I've stared at the paint spackeling on my wall or the patterns of a hardwood floor and watched them shift and move for a good ten minutes. I'll sometimes experience this type of visual distortion while coming down from a more intense trip.

With a moderate dose, effects become very different. Perceptions of my surroundings are altered. My view may seem to have shifted, or it may look like I've tilted my head on its side despite looking straight ahead. Feelings of being pulled or pushed are very common, and can be anywere from a mild sensation to a very strong one. This can lead to unbalancing, and standing or even sitting can be become a very difficult task. I've often felt an urge to lay down mid-trip, and it's probably a wise decision. At this point my mouth usually gaps open, and I stare at the ceiling. Ideas seem to be put in my head, and I'll know things about the situation without any explanation.

For example, one trip I had I seemed to be on a tour of a museum. I have no idea how I knew I was on a tour, or that it was a museum tour, but I was 100% sure it was. It seemed that my lamp was the guide, and my ceiling fan was a fellow tourist. I had lagged a bit behind the rest of the group (again, I somehow knew this) to look at...something. I hadn't moved an inch and neither had my lamp, I could still see that I was in my room, but somehow my room was also this 'museum', and I had fallen behind. The lamp and the fan kept nagging at me to hurry the hell up, and I remember mumbeling something to the effect of 'alright, I'm coming, hold on'. It's VERY similar to the way I know things in a dream without knowing how I know them. I've often started laughing as I come down and realize just how rediculous talking to inanimate objects is.

At high doses, I can become completley disassociated to my surroundings. My eyes will usually involuntary close, and it's almost impossible to open them. This is when true Closed Eye Visuals start. At the time, they're indistinguishable from reality, but they're recognized as fabricated as I come down.

One of the most intense trips I've ever experienced on Salvia was what could be called a bad trip. I was sitting at my desk, and I did a big hit of 20x. I came up fast, and then my memory becomes pretty murkey. I must have shut my eyes or had them shut periodically, because I experienced a mental vision that didn't seem to include what I would have actually been seeing at the time.

During my trip, I was still sitting in the same chair, but there was someone standing beside me, and another person in the threshold of my door. The one standing beside me was male, the one in the door female. Again I knew withought knowing how I knew that they were here to arrest me for some unkown crime. I was desperatley trying to see if they were real (I had no idea if they were at this point), but I couldn't fight through the cloud of Salvia. They were talking, and waiting for me to come down. I sat there tripping and desperatley trying to talk to them. Then, very suddenly, it ended. I came down and instantly knew that I was back at my desk and that there wasn't anyone next to me.

The comedown is in someways similar to the comeup, if a little less intese. It starts with the break-off of any percieved experience I’m having. I start to think of my own accord, but thought is still a little off. I may experience some visual effects such as flowing patterns, brightened colors, or perspective shifting. Speech can be difficult, and words sometimes come out with a slight slur. I often feel inarticulate and have problems thinking of the right words for even simple conversation. This all fades quickly into threshold effects, however, and then I'll come down completley. After coming down, I often feel relaxed, and it feels good to just chill out a bit.

About the only side-effect is a moderate headache. I experience this much less than I did when I first started using Salvia.

One of the most commonly reported effects of Salvia is uncontrollable laughter. Out of all my experiences with Salvia, I've only gotten this effect twice. It's very much how it sounds, I laugh uncontrollabley as if I've just been told the funniest thing I've ever heard. There aren’t many visuals with this kind of trip, but I feel the more physical effects. These two highs were some of my favorite experiences with Salvia, and I hope I'll be able to experience it again. So far I've been unable to determine what triggers this reaction. Both times it happened to me I was using 20x, and both times I was fairly unexperienced with Salvia. I used a standard dose, however, and I can't find any other control variable to test.

My environment is a big factor in the experience. Outside stimulus can distract me, and instead of focusing on what my mind is doing I'll be focused on whatever is happening around me. This can lead to less of a head trip and only feeling the more physical sensations of Salvia (the sense of being pushed or pulled, e.t.c.). Some of the most bizarre experiences I’ve had with this drug occurred when I had music or television playing. I once had Devin the Dude's What A Job playing in the background, and when Snoop's verse came on, I thought he was talking to me, and I started to talk back. When I realized what I was doing, I burst out laughing. This has happened several times, and it's always amusing.

One experience I had with T.V. was even wierder. I had the T.V. on and muted, and the show that happened to be on was Cops. Probably not the best show for a Salvia high, but I went with it. I came up, then looked at the T.V. I can't really tell what was real and what was fabricated, but one of the people on-screen (cop, fugitive, bystander, I honestly don't remember) had a devilish appearing face. That made me jump a little bit, but it was gone as quick as it came. Then, it was like the edges of my T.V. expanded and I was suddenly in the scene I was watching. The sound was off, but I was hearing what they were saying. Then I became one of the officers and had to give orders. I kept falling in and out of the T.V. scene, one second watching, one second participating.

Everything I've described above is fairly common, but there are a few things that I've experienced that I've never heard of as an effect of Salvia. Frequently, I'll hear a word whispered. It's always the same word, but I can never remember what it is, or what it means. Another odd thing I've experienced is cravings for food immediatley after coming down. It's usually something sweet or salty, and I normaly don't crave either one of those.

Salvia is a wonderful, mysterious drug, and I hope this account has encouraged you to try it if you haven't already.

Exp Year: 2007	ExpID: 66671
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 17
Published: Mar 15, 2011	Views: 6,263
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Salvia divinorum (44) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Not Applicable (38)