Salvia Divinorum: The Less-Known Psychedelic and Its Properties

August 20, 2021 13:05:19

The popularity of psychedelics has been growing as the research conducted on these substances for their therapeutic benefits increases. Substances such as DMT, LSD, MDMA and psilocybin are the most studied as well as the most common psychedelics while others, including salvia divinorum, aren’t popularly known.

Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant used in rituals in Mazatec shamanic ceremonies. The plant species is found in the mountainous Sierra Mazateca area near Mexico’s Oaxaca City. Its leaves contain a compound known as salvinorin A, which induces the plant’s psychoactive effects when the leaves are smoked or chewed.

This compound’s presence hinders salvia divinorum from being categorized as a classic psychedelic because the compound acts on the kappa opioid receptor. This isn’t similar to what has been observed in classic psychedelics, whose psychoactive compounds act on the serotonin 2A receptors. Researchers believe that this is the mechanism responsible for the effects on consciousness, thought and mood.

Additionally, the effects induced by salvia are different in comparison to the effects of classic psychedelics, including LSD and psilocybin.

What are salvia divinorum’s effects?

Research has found that salvia possesses strong dissociative and hallucinogenic properties, with users of this substance sometimes experiencing changes in felt gravity and a sense of dis-ownership of the body.

A participant of a salvia study that was conducted at Johns Hopkins University stated that they experienced hallucinations after the substance had been administered. Researchers note that salvia’s effects are short lived and intense.

What are salvia’s potential healing properties?

Mazatec shamans consider the psychedelic to be a sacred plant and believe that it is a Virgin Mary incarnation. They use it during rituals because of its strong hallucinogenic properties.

In the early 1980s, Leander Valdes from the University of Michigan along with several colleagues published their field work, which had looked at understanding the psychedelic more deeply by studying the Mazatec people. In their report, the researchers noted that in addition to the Mazatec people using the psychedelic for sacred purposes, it was used as an analgesic, an anti-inflammatory and a diuretic.

Another study that was conducted in 2008 discovered that salvinorin A was efficacious in decreasing intestinal inflammation in rodents. This has also been observed in separate studies, which suggest that salvinorin A may be helpful in treating gastrointestinal ailments such as inflammatory bowel disease. However, more research needs to be carried out on humans in order to establish these effects.

Indeed plenty of research is ongoing into the therapeutic effects of different psychedelics, including as psilocybin and MDMA. Firms such as Tryp Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: TRYP) (OTCQB: TRYPF) hope to bring to market novel drug formulations from these substances in order to give clinicians and patients additional options to choose from while designing treatment plans.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Tryp Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: TRYP) (OTCQB: TRYPF) available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/TRYPF

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