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Salvia divinorum: an argument
Sep. 9th, 2008 01:39 pmWarning: The following is a mixture of fact, opinion, and experience. Warnings for research, an opinion, and general text-blockishness.
I am not one of those types that says “Find any herb and smoke it and see what happens.” However, I am also not one of those types that says “Let’s ban everything that can be smoked for effects.” Rather, I am one of those types that says “Hmm, let’s see what this does and work from there after we have as much information as is possible to gather.”
I am not one of those types that says “Find any herb and smoke it and see what happens.” However, I am also not one of those types that says “Let’s ban everything that can be smoked for effects.” Rather, I am one of those types that says “Hmm, let’s see what this does and work from there after we have as much information as is possible to gather.”
( More facts and my views follow )
On that note I would like to discuss an herb that has gained both fame and infamy in the last few years. Salvia divinorum, also known as ‘diviner’s sage,’ has been on the fringes of mainstream awareness for a while now; but has recently come to the attention of lawmakers and communities due in fairly large part to posts made on the video-sharing website YouTube. It also appears in the case of a youth who committed suicide after his parents apparently found that he was smoking it somewhere around the area of three to five times a week. It wasn’t until some time after the initial investigation that the medical examiner ruled it a factor in the gun death.
For simplicity and typing speed’s sake from this point I will refer to this herb as either ‘this/the herb’ or ‘s-d;’ it’s just quicker and this is a rather substantial entry.
Here is the article, found today in the New York Times, regarding this herb. You can find more information on websites such as www.erowid.org about this herb.
Almost immediately after this the state of Delaware enacted a law criminalizing the herb. Several other states have followed suit with laws of varied wording that either criminalize the herb, its active components, or both.
YouTube and the “Big Deal;”
As for the ridiculous YouTube vids, they are clearly young first-timers who are not using the herb responsibly, i.e., with a sitter that can properly keep an eye on the person if something considerably trippy goes through their head. This is the advice that most users of the herb, and almost all advocates, give for use before doing anything else with it. It makes the clear case for responsibility. Method of delivery, as well, has an effect on the duration and intensity of the experience. Most of these users smoked the herb, which produces effects that last for about five minutes and have a rapid onset with great intensity. Chewing it or holding it between the teeth (the traditional method of taking s-d) produces a milder effect, closer to what Mexican shamans induced when using it. Tinctures work somewhere in between these levels, but because their strengths tend to swing from standard strength to about ten times the strength—sometimes the difference is even more drastic than that—they are usually not recommended.
Traditional Use
The herb is traditionally used as an entheogen, a substance used in a religious or shamanic context. In that matter it is a little like peyote, though it hasn’t been claimed by any one organization. As the effects are not conducive to long-lasting trips, I am rather bewildered as to the amount of abuse cropping up, enough to elicit articles and legislation like this. The herb remained largely unknown until fairly recently. As a matter of fact, without naming names, I can think of a few people who have actually asked me just what the herb is and what it does (I’m the only person they know who has actually tried it); most of them, once they found out that it didn’t have the same kind of effect intensity and duration as marijuana, they lost interest. Due to the popularity of smoking the herb, most experience only the shorter effects. Oral use is mostly unpopular because—well, the taste is a bit disagreeable to most; extremely bitter and rather unforgiving to the uninitiated; intensely ‘green’. (I actually like the taste, but I am strange anyway.)
My Own Experience
Have I used this herb before? Yes, quite a few times. As I have always been a rather mellow person I didn’t have a sitter the first couple of times, but I did make sure that I was in a good mindset and nowhere near anything that could break, burn, cut, explode, or otherwise cause me bodily harm. (I was also about fifteen pounds lighter and so the effect was a little heavier than it should have been at the amount I used, about what would fit into a standard rolling paper.) The first time was a quick smoke, resulting in a deep lucidity in which—for some weird reason—I was able to understand subjects that didn’t make sense before. After attempting to study like that I simply relaxed and went with it, enjoying the relaxed, peaceful feeling.
The second time I chewed the herb; the rush lasted longer than before, with gentle OEV’s (open eyes visuals) and a sense of ‘expanding awareness,’ this general feeling of purpose that I couldn’t quite place but reminded me mainly of a mystical experience that I’d had about three years prior. It was certainly nothing like the fearful trips that you see posted on YouTube, or hear about in the articles. It should be noted that the effects of s-d are also contingent on your mindset as you take the herb; while abusers of salvia divinorum take it with the mindset of just wanting a quick high (often times keyed up beforehand with stress and nerves in the first place) I approached it with the history of the herb in mind.
My Views
Do I think that this herb should be banned? No, I do not. I think that I might have said this before, but anything can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Consider alcohol as an example. It has so many proven hazards and deaths attributed to its use and the consequences of engaging in risky behavior under its influence that you’d think it would be more strongly regulated.
I do not think that the herb should just be ‘out there.’ If nothing else, the sale and use should be restricted from minors, in the way that alcohol (ideally) is. It hasn’t shown long-term effects, mainly because even a regular user of salvia divinorum might use it twice, perhaps three times a week at most.
An outright ban is not the answer. Banning the herb outright simply moves it further underground, where adulteration and false labeling can occur, resulting in more danger to the people. Bringing the herb into the light, using proper education, regulatory measures, and a tax (much like the one on the common (but dangerous) herb tobacco, are the proper measures to use.
