Salvia Divinorum - Overview
Overview
Salvia divinorum has been used for centuries by the people who live in the highland areas of the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Within the Mazatec Indian culture, the plant is an important part of rituals that promote physical healing and spiritual growth. It is not clear exactly when the Salvia divinorum plant was first used by humans, but it is known that native peoples have used other such plants for several thousand years.
After the Spanish took control of the region in the 1500s, they did not allow the native peoples to perform rituals using hallucinogenic plants. The Spanish were devout Catholics and viewed the use of such substances as being contrary to Christian practices. They severely punished those who used the drug. The indigenous peoples did not change their traditions, however. They merely began conducting them in secret. Knowledge of the plants, and the practices
associated with them, continued to be passed on through the generations, in various regions.
Researchers Examine the Herb
During the 1930s, Richard Schultes was one of a group of researchers who led expeditions to Oaxaca to study the rituals and plant use of the Mazatec Indians living in the northeastern region of the state. Their surveys included investigation into the use of Salvia divinorum. Samples of the plant were brought to the United States some thirty years later by another team of researchers, headed by amateur mycologistA person who studies mushrooms. R. Gordon Wasson (1898–1986) and Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann (1906–). Hofmann was the man who created the well-known synthetic hallucinogen, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), in a laboratory. The plant was subsequently identified by researchers as a type of Salvia, or sage, which is a genus or subgroup within the larger mint family of plants.
For many years the plant was grown in the United States mainly by a few researchers. Interest in its effects has gradually increased, however, in part because, as of 2005, Salvia divinorum is one of the few hallucinogens that is not illegal to use or possess in the United States. Although use of it was still uncommon in the early years of the twenty-first century, it has increased in popularity since the mid-twentieth century, when it was almost completely unknown in the United States.
Despite the drug's availability and legal status, authorities predict that use of Salvia divinorum will not become a problem because it has several characteristics that make it unappealing as a street drug. These include a bitter taste and effects on the user that may be more frightening than enjoyable.
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