Salvia divinorum

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2021) This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. Please review the contents of the article and add the appropriate references if you can. Unsourced or poorly sourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Salvia divinorum" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Salvia divinorum
Vegetative habit of Salvia divinorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Salvia
Species:	S. divinorum
Binomial name
Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva[1][2]
Native distribution of Salvia divinorum in Southwest Mexico[2]

Salvia divinorum (Latin: sage of the diviners; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a species of plant in the sage genus Salvia, known for its transient psychoactive properties when its leaves, or extracts made from the leaves, are administered by smoking, chewing, or drinking (as a tea).^[3] The leaves contain the potent compound salvinorin A and can induce a dissociative state and hallucinations.^[4]

Mazatec shamans have a long and continuous tradition of religious use of S. divinorum to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions.^[1] Western media panic c. 2007 centered on reports of legal teenage use of the drug, a suicide, and video sharing of drug use on the internet. S. divinorum is legal in some countries, including the U.S. at the federal level;^[5] but over half the states have passed laws criminalizing it.^[6]

Its native habitat is cloud forest in the isolated Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, Mexico, where it grows in shady, moist locations.^[7][8] The plant grows to over a meter high,^[1] has hollow square stems like others in the mint family Lamiaceae, large leaves, and occasional white flowers with violet calyxes. Botanists have not determined whether S. divinorum is a cultigen or a hybrid because native plants reproduce vegetatively and rarely produce viable seed.^[9][10]

Because the plant has not been well-studied in high-quality clinical research, little is known about its toxicology, adverse effects, or safety over long-term consumption.^[3][4] Its chief active psychoactive constituent is a structurally unique diterpenoid called salvinorin A,^[4][11][12] a potent κ-opioid agonist.^[13] Although not thoroughly assessed, preliminary research indicates S. divinorum may have low toxicity (high LD₅₀).^[14][15] Its effects are rapid but short-lived.^[3]