Salvia divinorum

Salvia divinorum (also known as Diviner's Sage,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Medana2005p131-1" >[2]</a> Ska María Pastora,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Valdes1983p288-2" >[3]</a> Seer's Sage,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Boire2002-3" >[4]</a> and by its genus name <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia" title="Salvia" >Salvia</a>) is a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_drug" title="Psychoactive drug" >psychoactive</a> plant which can induce <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_drug" title="Dissociative drug" class="mw-redirect" >dissociative</a> effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences. Its native habitat is within <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_forest" title="Cloud forest" >cloud forest</a> in the isolated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Madre_de_Oaxaca" title="Sierra Madre de Oaxaca" >Sierra Mazateca</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oaxaca" title="Oaxaca" >Oaxaca</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico" >Mexico</a>, where it grows in shady and moist locations.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Reisfield1993intro-4" >[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Valdes1987-5" >[6]</a>The plant grows to over a meter high,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Vald.C3.A9s1983p287-0" >[1]</a> has hollow square stems, large leaves, and occasional white flowers with violet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepal" title="Sepal" >calyxes</a>. Botanists have not determined whether Salvia divinorum is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultigen" title="Cultigen" >cultigen</a> or a hybrid; native plants reproduce <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetative_reproduction" title="Vegetative reproduction" >vegetatively</a>, rarely producing viable seed.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Marushia2002p3-6" >[7]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Reisfield1993barrier-7" >[8]</a>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazatec_shamans" title="Mazatec shamans" class="mw-redirect" >Mazatec shamans</a> have a long and continuous tradition of religious use of Salvia divinorum, using it to facilitate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_state_of_consciousness" title="Altered state of consciousness" >visionary states of consciousness</a> during spiritual healing sessions.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Vald.C3.A9s1983p287-0" >[1]</a> Most of the plant's local common names allude to the Mazatec belief that the plant is an incarnation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Mary" title="Virgin Mary" class="mw-redirect" >Virgin Mary</a>, with its ritual use also invoking that relationship. Its active <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_constituent" title="Psychoactive constituent" class="mw-redirect" >psychoactive constituent</a> is a structurally unique <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diterpenoid" title="Diterpenoid" class="mw-redirect" >diterpenoid</a> called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvinorin_A" title="Salvinorin A" >salvinorin A</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Prisinzano2005p527-8" >[9]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Imanshahidi2006p430-9" >[10]</a> a potent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Opioid_receptor" title="Kappa Opioid receptor" >κ-opioid</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D2_receptor" title="D2 receptor" class="mw-redirect" >D2 receptor</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agonist" title="Agonist" >agonist</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Zhang2005pabs-10" >[11]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Seeman2009-11" >[12]</a> Salvia divinorum is generally understood to be of low toxicity (high <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_lethal_dose" title="Median lethal dose" >LD50</a>)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Mowry2003p382-12" >[13]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-13" >[14]</a> and low <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addictive_potential" title="Addictive potential" class="mw-redirect" >addictive potential</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Zhang2005pabs-10" >[11]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-Vald.C3.A9s1983-14" >[15]</a> since it is a κ-opioid agonist.

Salvia divinorum remains legal in most countries and, within the United States, is legal in the majority of states. However, some have called

for its prohibition. While not currently regulated by US federal drug laws, several states have passed laws criminalizing the substance.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-DEA2008-15" >[16]</a> Some proposed

state bills have failed to progress and have not been made into law (with motions having been voted down or otherwise dying in committee stages). There have not been many publicized prosecutions of individuals violating anti-salvia laws in the few countries and states in which it has been made illegal.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum#cite_note-LegalFirst-20" >[nb 1]</a>

Salvia divinorum

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