The topic chosen to search for on the internet was Salvia Divinorum and salvinorin A.

This substance is a perennial herb in the mint family native to certain areas of the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Once harvested and packaged for consumption, the substance is sold on the street with names such as Maria Pastora, Sage of the Seers, Diviners Sage, Salvia, Sally-D and Magic Mint. The search engine used for this exercise was Google. Upon typing in the substance in the search address field, numerous sites emerged promoting the substance as a benign herb and offering seeds by mail order purchase. Chronologically, the first 12 websites listed were determined to be non-conducive and ineffective as legitimate research sources for this project. Scanning and reading the listed websites preview, along with the corresponding website address, exemplified their bias and skew for the promotion of the substance. This was determined by recognizing the aforementioned sites motive of exalting Salvia Divinorum for its mood altering effects and/or profit gain from its marketability. Utilizing this vetting methodology, the first website found to illustrate merit and creditability by outlining the drugs history, chemistry and pharmacology, and the user population was the U.S. Department of Justice-Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Diversion Control. The official website address linked from Google is: http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/salvia_d/salvia_d.htm The website provides immediate and concise information concerning the origin and history of Salvia Divinorum. Following numerous internal links of the website, the reader/researcher finds the plant is indigenous to the southern half of Mexico. Interestingly, during the 1930s anthropologists were spearheading exploration parties in and throughout Mexico. One substantial objective of these exploration missions was to seek out and uncover medicinal and magical cures of traditional Mexican culture. It is with this goal that one of these

groups stumbled upon the Salvia divinorum plant in the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Through conversations and interviews with village leaders, the explorers heard of an herb local shaman used in ceremonies of divination. Rooted in their culture, the spiritual leaders of these villages held immense esteem and respect. As problems arose in daily events, the populace drew upon the shaman for advice, direction and course of action. These mediations within a particular community or village put enormous responsibility into the hands of the shaman. Strife, controversy and conflict resolution rested with the esteemed word of the spiritual leader. As such, the wisdom bestowed unto the shaman required communication with realms outside conceptual norms of everyday village life. One such vehicle utilized by the village shaman was Salvia divinorum. The mood altering substance of the plant, salvinorin A, enabled the altered consciousness to communicate with their religious entity. This form of communication came in perceptions of bright lights, vivid colors and shapes, odd body movements or object distortions. It is in this realm where the religious leader could receive signs or direction from their higher, spiritual deity. Psychic visions and the associated effects of salvinorin A, the active ingredient of Salvia divinorum, delivered perceived messages to the shaman, who in turn passed his interpretations on to the villagers. Moving on toward the chemistry and pharmacology of the drug, the website deems the ingredient salvinorin A responsible for the drugs hallucinogenic effects. Defining salvinorin A, the website identifies neoclerodane diterpene as the active ingredient which is found primarily in the leaves and in lesser amounts throughout the stems. This chemical compound is not an alkaloid. It is a selective kappa opioid receptor agonist and mimics other drugs which produce hallucinogenic effects. Pure salvinorin A is extremely potent. Doses of only several hundred micrograms (millionths of a gram) will have an effect, and doses above 1 milligram (1/1000 of a

gram) are too much and may potentially cause the user to have adverse effects such as dysphoria, uncontrolled laughter, a sense of loss of body, overlapping realities, and hallucinations. Severe adverse physical effects may include dizziness, slurred speech and loss of body control. The delivery methods for the substance are smoking the leaf material, chewing the leaves, or extracting the salvinorin A from the plant material via herbal extract and then held in the mouth. In smoking, the effects come on very quickly and in less than a minute. The effects are strong and last for only 5-6 minutes. Thereafter, the effects taper off over another 20-30 minutes. When the leaves are chewed, the first effects come on at about 15 minutes and gradually develop to peak about 30 minutes after ingestion. The peak level of effects lasts 30 minutes to an hour, and then gradually diminishes over an additional 30 minutes. And the last delivery system, consisting of soaking the leaf material in pure salvinorin A oil, is held in the mouth with the effects beginning in 10-15 minutes which quickly develop to a peak level lasting 20-40 minutes. The effects then gradually diminish over an additional 30 minutes to an hour. The key point to this method of delivery system is the users absorption of the drug via oral absorption across the lining of the oral mucosa. The user population of this drug is predominantly young adults. According to the website:
It is estimated that 1.8 million persons age 12 or older used Salvia divinorum in their lifetime, approximately 750,000 did so in the past year. Use was more common among young adults (18-25 years old) as opposed to older adults (>26 years of age). Young adults were 3 times more likely than youths aged 12 to 17 to have used Salvia divinorum in the past year. Use is more common in males than females. (U.S. Department of Justice-Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Diversion Control. (June 2008).

Drugs and chemicals of concern: Salvia divinorum and Salvinorin A. Retrieved July 3, 2010, from http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/salvia_d/salvia_d.htm

The age group of predominant users can be attributed to a few factors. Experimentation usually occurs amongst the age groups outlined above. Curiosity and the introduction of mood altering chemicals appear to begin within the age groups of the high school populace. Post-high school individuals have even more propensity to experiment and explore the effects of mood altering substances. Moreover, with Salvia divinorum, it is not a controlled substance. It can very easily be ordered over the internet, purchased at herbal remedy stores or be grown locally in a legal manner. The website utilized for this exercise was extremely useful and the writer would assign the site with a five star rating with five being the best. The explanation and rationale for this assessment must be explained. First and foremost, the website is from a reputable source. The Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency serves the American people as a leading source of objective, scientifically-based legal information concerning drug compounds and their medical, scientific, industrial and recreational uses. It is within this realm that all demographics of the populace can find it helpful as a resource. For example, parents investigating their childs or teenagers behaviors, moods, or suspected drug use can easily sift through the various pages of the website to determine what, if any, chemical substance is possible being abused. Professionals can reference the website to gain access to user populations, demographics of use, illicit and licit uses of particular substances or to investigate purported effects of certain mood-altering chemicals. The general public can also benefit from the website by investigating new and emerging drugs or potentially hazardous and illegal substances being offered at herbal remedy stores, internet pharmacies, or other venues. Clients,

too, can benefit from using this resource to investigate legal consequences of particular drug use, current attempts of the DEA at enforcing clandestine drug manufacturing, new and emerging dangers of compounds, and potential side effects/consequences of a particular drugs use. Lastly, the website is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. The website is constructed in standard Cascade Style Sheet website design and allows the viewer/reader to quickly and decisively ascertain which links to pursue for their individual needs. The site is snappy and doesnt employ browser-consuming memory programs in Flash or Pop-Up programs. This enables even the most simple and outdated PC to navigate through the site in a fluid and timely fashion. The construction and layout of the website isnt cluttered and provides the individual with clear and unambiguous choices for digging further into the site. Moreover, should the reader/researcher need guidance with website navigation or informational content support, strategically placed links offer thorough FAQ outlines and internal search address bars. And lastly, every page and article is substantiated with extensive resource lists and references that provide a plethora of information for further study and investigation.

References

U.S. Department of Justice-Drug Enforcement Administration-Office of Diversion Control. (June 2008). Drugs and chemicals of concern: Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A. Retrieved July 3, 2010, from http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/salvia_d/salvia_d.htm

U.S. Department of Justice-Drug Enforcement Administration. (June 2003). Information Bulletin: Salvia Divinorum. Microgram Bulletin (Office of Forensic Sciences Washington, D.C.: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration XXXVI (6). retrieved July 3, 2010, from http://www.usdog.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0603.html

Pharmacology
HSCD 200

Website Report Salvia divinorum

Travis Brackey