This is an unofficial archive of PsychonautWiki as of 2025-08-08T03:33:20Z. Content on this page may be outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate. Please refer to the original page for the most up-to-date information.
WARNING: Always start with lower doses due to differences between individual body weight, tolerance, metabolism, and personal sensitivity. See responsible use section.
DISCLAIMER: PW's dosage information is gathered from users and resources for educational purposes only. It is not a recommendation and should be verified with other sources for accuracy.
Salvinorin A is the main active psychoactive molecule within Salvia Divinorum, a Mexican plant which has a long history of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans. It is structurally distinct from other naturally occurring hallucinogens (such as DMT, psilocin and mescaline) because it contains no nitrogen atoms, making it a terpenoid and not an alkaloid as is the norm. This means it cannot be rendered as a salt.
It also differs in subjective experience compared to other hallucinogens, and has been described as an atypical psychedelic although this formal classification is debatable.[citation needed]
Salvinorin A is a neoclerodane molecule, an oxygenated cyclic diterpenoid. It contains four isoprene groups bound to its oxygenated polycyclic rings. Salvinorin A is unique as it is not an alkaloid; it contains no nitrogen atoms unlike almost all known classical, natural, or synthetic hallucinogens.
Pharmacology
Salvinorin A is a potent κ-opioid receptor agonist. It does not have any effect on the 5-HT2A receptor, the receptor targeted by most psychedelic substances, nor does it act as an NMDA receptor antagonist as dissociatives do. The unique structure of salvinorin A lacks features commonly associated with opioid ligand binding such as a guaternary carbon atom linked to a tertiary amine group by two other carbon atoms. Unlike traditional opioid agonists, salvinorin A targets the κ-opioid receptor rather than the μ-opioid receptor.
Salvinorin A also acts as a potent agonist at D2 receptors,[1] which may be partially responsible for its hallucinogenic effects.
Subjective effects
Disclaimer: The effects listed below cite the Subjective Effect Index (SEI), an open research literature based on anecdotal user reports and the personal analyses of PsychonautWikicontributors. As a result, they should be viewed with a healthy degree of skepticism.
It is also worth noting that these effects will not necessarily occur in a predictable or reliable manner, although higher doses are more liable to induce the full spectrum of effects. Likewise, adverse effects become increasingly likely with higher doses and may include addiction, severe injury, or death ☠.
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Physical effects
Sedation - Salvia tends to produce a strong sedative effect in a dose-dependent manner.
Changes in felt gravity - The most prominent physical sensation of a salvinorin A trip is known by many people as “salvia gravity.” This is at least partially present during the mildest of trips and increases proportionally with dose until it is all-encompassing. It begins with a heavy sensation that pulls and tugs at the body. As this increases, it inevitably becomes so powerful that it swiftly lifts the user up and out of their body at extremely high speeds and over vast distances in a direction that often doesn't quite make sense. This feels as if the user is being pushed or pulled into a space vastly different from anything found on the classic hallucinogens.
Changes in felt bodily form - This effect often accompanies the onset of powerful salvinorin A gravity and can be described as non-painful sensations of being stretched horizontally or vertically into infinity, splitting into two halves, and a variety of other sudden changes. This can even include the user feeling as if they have actually become an inanimate object within their current setting.
Spontaneous bodily sensations - For some unlucky people, this is sometimes accompanied by the sensation of intense, sharp and cold pins and needles all over a person's skin which can quickly become very uncomfortable. Most people, however, will never experience this feeling.
When a user of this substance keeps their eyes open throughout the duration of a moderate to strong trip, a number of open eye distortions and alterations are usually present. These are significantly more simplistic from that of open eye distortions found with other classes of hallucinogens. They seem to play heavily on different sections of the user's vision and generally include:
Depth perception distortions - This effect is usually characterized by a total loss of depth perception and a complete flattening of the visual field into a 2-dimensional image. It can also make objects seem further away or closer in distance than they actually are.
Perspective distortions - This effect can be described as specific objects with the external environment or the surroundings as a whole changing in physical size and becoming impossibly huge or small in size.
At moderate to high doses in darkness or with closed eyes, a full array of level 1 - 4 hallucinatory structures becomes present once the user has become disconnected from their body. This is an effect which is most commonly found within dissociatives such as ketamine and DXM. The hallucinatory structures of salvia are distinctively different in style and are significantly more likely to be based on mathematical constructs such as vast and elaborate fractals.
In terms of stylistic appearance, they also tend to contain significantly more detail in their style with a greater variety of materials and abstract detail comprising the structures.
Another key difference between the manifestation of this effect within salvia and those found within dissociatives is the extremely prominent sense that the user actually is the structures that they are visually perceiving. This can be described as the sensation that they have become the structure itself and can physically feel every detail and moving part across itself. In comparison, this effect is only present at level 4 within the classical dissociative drugs, but is often present across all levels within salvia.
These constructs and structures are often so huge that they appear to expand across hundreds to thousands of miles and gradually change by means of panning, zooming and rotating slowly into view as more and more detail is gradually revealed. As dose increases so does the level of detail and intricacy of these structures. This continues until level 4 when the sensation of seeing the entire universe condensed into an infinitely vast and intricate self-transforming machine form becomes present.
Hallucinatory states
Salvia produces a full range of high level hallucinatory states in a fashion that is just as consistent as that of any of the classical psychedelics. These effects include:
Transformations - In comparison to psychedelics, the transformations found within salvinorin A are significantly more solid, believable and realistic in appearance. They are commonly manifested as objects within the external environment coming alive or changing in some way.
Internal hallucination - The imagery on salvia is described as more solid than psychedelics and does not seem to be composed of condensed visual geometry as with the imagery found within psychedelics. It is often embedded within and across structures which often become solid fractal representations of the original image. At higher doses, this particular effect commonly contains a full array of hallucinations with plots, scenarios, settings and autonomous entity contact. They can be described as both lucid and delirious in their believability, fixed in style and often ominous or sinister in nature. A unique aspect to the hallucinatory scenarios found within salvia are how commonly they are manifested with a 2nd person perspective in comparison to other classes of hallucinogens. This is commonly described as suddenly becoming a random object with common examples often including a conveyor belt, a wall, a book or a specific part of a building.
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Cognitive effects
The cognitive effects of salvinorin A can be broken down into several components which progressively intensify proportional to dosage. The general head space of salvia is described by many as one of extreme cognitive suppression and strong feelings of confusion. It’s these effects which create an experience devoid of personal introspection. This substance is best described as a drug that does not create profound personal insights, but simply creates powerful and interesting experiences.
The most prominent of these cognitive effects generally include:
Anxiety - General paranoia, anxiety and panic are very common for the unprepared and this can be accounted for by the fact that k-opioid agonists have been shown to cause such feelings in people.
Ego replacement - This effect differs qualitatively from psychedelics in that it usually comes about in the form of another human being, animal or even plant.
Laughter fits - The average first time salvia user generally experiences a mixture of extreme giggles and confusion.
Memory suppression - This substance is particularly intense in its cognitive effects due to the near instant transition from sobriety into ego death (complete memory failure) which can occur very suddenly at moderate to high doses. Throughout the experience, this feels as if the user is receiving the sensory input of their trip but are not fully conscious enough to process the implications of it until the offset.
Salvinorin A is currently being researched in relation to its properties as an anti-addiction drug, and several analogs with improved pharmacokinetic profiles have been shown to have anti-addictive effects as well.[2]
Near-death experience
A 2019 large-scale study found that ketamine, Salvia divinorum, and DMT (and other classical psychedelic substances) are linked to near-death experiences.[3]
Toxicity and harm potential
This toxicity and harm potential section is a stub.
As a result, it may contain incomplete or even dangerously wrong information! You can help by expanding upon or correcting it. Note: Always conduct independent research and use harm reduction practices if using this substance.
The toxicity and long-term health effects of recreational salvinorin A use do not seem to have been studied in any scientific context and the exact toxic dose is unknown. This is because salvinorin A is a research chemical with very little history of human usage.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are no negative health effects attributed to simply trying it by itself at low to moderate doses and using it very sparingly (but nothing can be completely guaranteed). Independent research should always be done to ensure that a combination of two or more substances is safe before consumption.
Due to its unusually potent and potentially overwhelming effects, it is strongly recommended that one use harm reduction practices when using this substance.
Please see Research Articles below in External Links section for dose related scientific research on Salvinorin A.
Tolerance and addiction potential
Salvinorin A is not habit-forming and the desire to use it can actually decrease with use. It is most often self-regulating.
Tolerance to the effects of salvinorin A does not occur. In fact, many users report that the effects of this substance can actually become stronger over time and with repeated usage (a phenomenon known as "reverse tolerance"). Due to its unique set of target receptors, salvinorin A presents cross-tolerance with [[Cross-tolerance::no other hallucinogens]].
Legal status
Australia: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Australia.[citation needed]
Austria: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess, produce and sell under the NPSG (Neue-Psychoaktive-Substanzen-Gesetz Österreich).[citation needed]
Belgium: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Belgium.[citation needed]
Croatia: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Croatia.[citation needed]
Czech Republic: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Czech Republic.[citation needed]
Canada: Salvia divinorum and its preparations and derivatives (including Salvinorin A) are schedule IV in Canada.[4]
Denmark: Salvinorin A is a Class B drug in Denmark.[citation needed]
Germany: Salvinorin A is not controlled in Germany, however Salvia Divinorum was added to BtMG Anlage I, making it illegal to grow, import, possess, sell, or transfer it as of March 1, 2008 [5]
Ireland: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Ireland.[citation needed]
Italy: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Italy.[citation needed]
Latvia: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Latvia.[citation needed]
Lithuania: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Lithuania.[citation needed]
New Zealand: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in New Zealand.[citation needed]
Poland: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Poland.[citation needed]
Romania: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Romania.[citation needed]
Spain: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Spain.[citation needed]
Sweden: Salvinorin A is illegal to possess and sell in Sweden.[citation needed]
Switzerland: Salvia divinorum as well as Salvinorin A are controlled substances specifically named under Verzeichnis D.[6]
United Kingdom: Salvia is legal to produce, supply, or import if sold not for human consumption under the Psychoactive Substance Act, which came into effect on May 26th, 2016.[7][8]
United States: Salvinorin A is illegal in certain states.[citation needed]
Johnson MW, Maclean KA, Reissig CJ, Prisinzano TE, Griffiths RR. (2010) Human psychopharmacology and dose-effects of salvinorin A, a kappa opioid agonist hallucinogen present in the plant Salvia divinorum. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010 Dec 4.
Baggott MJ, Erowid E, Erowid F, Galloway GP, Mendelson J. (2010). Use patterns and self-reported effects of Salvia divinorum: An internet-based survey. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010 Oct 1;111(3):250-6
Mendelson JE, Coyle JR, Lopez JC, Baggott MJ, Flower K, Everhart ET, Munro TA, Galloway GP, Cohen BM. (2010). Lack of effect of sublingual salvinorin A, a naturally occurring kappa opioid, in humans: a placebo-controlled trial. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2010 Dec 8. [Epub ahead of print]
↑Martial, C; Cassol, H; Charland-Verville, V; Pallavicini, C; Sanz, C; Zamberlan, F; Vivot, RM; Erowid, F; Erowid, E; Laureys, S; Greyson, B; Tagliazucchi, E (March 2019). "Neurochemical models of near-death experiences: A large-scale study based on the semantic similarity of written reports". Consciousness and cognition. 69: 52–69. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2019.01.011. PMID30711788.
