BIOL 3431 – Plants and PeopleRob Peacock, T00058690

TA: Ron Smith

Project Proposal

Topic: Salvia divinorum: Shamanism, plant medicine & the law

Description: Salvia divinorum is a hallucinatory plant that has been used traditionally by

the Mazatecs, a Mexican indigenous group, as a shamanic drug. The active chemical, Salvi-

norin A, is a psychoactive chemical that produces visions and extrasensory sensations. The

Mazatec regard the plant as an incarnation of the Virgin Mary, and it therefore represents

an interesting blend of traditional and post-colonial religions where Christian and

shamanic beliefs are held simultaneously. In fact, many of the drug’s names have to do with

the Virgin Mary - one of the plant’s names is ‘La Maria.’

This drug has drawn attention in recent years in America and, to a lesser extent, in

Canada because it has become easily available on the internet. Unlike other drugs such as

alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, LSD, etc., “Salvia” as it has become known was not widely avail-

able and was not mentioned in any laws. It was therefore legal despite being a fairly power-

ful hallucinogen. Media reports have resulted in panic about the drug, with some states

making Salvia divinorum illegal to grow, import or consume.

I will argue that S. divinorum has medical and social benefits, and that prohibition of

this and, in fact, any drug is more harmful than beneficial. I will describe the biology of the

plant, the effects of being intoxicated on the drug and some of its therapeutic effects. I will

also describe some of the hypothetical effects of prohibiting S. divinorum by examining the

prohibition of other drugs. My working thesis is as follows: There is no need to panic about

Salvia divinorum, but an effort should be made to study it and try to harness its medical and

social potential.

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BIOL 3431 – Plants and PeopleRob Peacock, T00058690

TA: Ron Smith

Annotated Bibliography:

Babu, K.M., McCurdy, C.R., & Boyer, E.W. (2008). Opioid receptors and legal highs: Salvia di

vinorum and Kratom. Clinical Toxicology, 46, 146–152.

The authors in this study give an overview of the current usage, effects and

risks of Salvia divinorum as well as another plant-based drug called Kratom.

For this paper, only their study of S. divinorum was read in-depth. The au-

thors describe why S. divinorum is becoming popular, how people obtain

and ingest it, what is known about how the drug acts in the brain, the poten-

tial benefits to medicine and the potential risks to users. The article is con-

sidered to be a highly reliable overview since it references the current liter-

ature as well as gives an overview of the more social aspects of the drug. For

this paper, the article will be used for general statistics and information

about the drug and its use.

Griffin, O.H., Miller, B.L., & Khey, D.N. (2008). Legally High? Legal Considerations of Salvia

divinorum. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 40 (2), 183-191.

The authors in this study examine the legal ramifications of Salvia divino-

rum as a new drug within the United States. They describe where the drug

is illegal and how those legislatures went about making the drug illegal, as

well as why the federal American government has not yet opted to schedule

the drug. The authors also give an overview of the drug, especially focusing

on its internet presence and discussing how the law affects drug users who

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BIOL 3431 – Plants and PeopleRob Peacock, T00058690

TA: Ron Smith

have obtained access to it through online sources. The article is considered

to be of high quality and high reliability since it is published in a peer-re-

viewed journal. The article will be used in this paper as part of the descrip-

tion of the legal status of S. divinorum.

Juszczak, G.R. (2012). Hallucinatory telepathic experiences induced by Salvia divinorum.

Journal of Scientific Exploration, 26 (2), 283-295.

The author in this study looked through online ‘trip’ reports of S. divinorum

users, parsing out only the telepathic or paranormal subjective experiences.

This was valuable because it is seldom done in scientific journals. There

were a total of 81 trips reported using only S. divinorum, with 20 of them

describing some extrasensory phenomenon. The author also compared

these telepathic experiences to those with LSD. He argued that telepathic

experiences ought to be researched as natural phenomena resulting from

delusions and heightened or altered perception. This article is considered to

be of high quality for its subject matter, but is not in any way experimental.

The journal is peer-reviewed and the methods were sound, but the data

were understandably limited and the sample size was quite small. The arti-

cle will be used to qualitatively describe some of the mind-expanding effects

of S. divinorum.

Reisfield, A.S. (1993) The botany of Salvia divinorum (Labiatae). SIDA, 15 (3), 349–366.

Reisfield describes the botany of S. divinorum including what is known

about how it grows and reproduces. The author describes a few mysteries

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BIOL 3431 – Plants and PeopleRob Peacock, T00058690

TA: Ron Smith

about the plant, many of which arise because the Mazatec are very secretive

about the plant. Reisfield describes its distribution as anthropogenic, sug-

gesting it requires human care to grow. He writes that the plant grows in

shaded, humid areas and that it is most likely pollinated by birds. This arti-

cle is considered to be of high quality and to be from a peer-reviewed

source. The source will be used to satisfy the requirement of describing the

biology of S. divinorum.

Valdes, L.J., Diaz, J.L., & Paul, A.G. (1983). Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia

divinorum, Epling and Jativa-M.) Journal of Ethopharmacology, 7, 287-312.

The authors of this study enlisted the help of a Mazatec shaman to explore

the effects of S. divinorum. They also describe some of the botanical aspects

of the plant. The researchers describe two sessions wherein they observe S.

divinorum rituals. As an earlier source, many of the other sources referred

to this paper which indicates that it is a highly credible article. Furthermore,

it was published in a peer-reviewed journal. For this paper, the study will be

used to help describe the traditional uses and hallucinatory effects of S. divi-

norum as well as to describe some of its botanical properties.

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