Salvia Divinorum: harm, ban on cultivation

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

From Latin Sálvia Divinórum is translated as "sage of the soothsayers", in other words - narcotic sage. The leaves of this plant contain a psychoactive hallucinogen called salvinorin A, which has dissociative properties. As a cultivated plant, it bears its Latin name - Salvia Divinorum. This type of sage does not differ in structure from the rest of the representatives of the sage genus: a perennial, from the rhizome, first a herbaceous plant, then a semi-shrub. It grows mainly in the subtropics, but if protected from frost, it survives in colder climates Salvia Divinorum. The ban on the cultivation of this plant is due to its properties, which we will discuss later.

Botany

Salvia Divinorum has a densely branched woody root. The stem is simple, ascending, sometimes branched, the section is square. If it grows in natural conditions, then a fairly tall bush - up to two meters. Propagated again in natural conditions vegetatively - cuttings, any fragments of the stemroot well when in contact with moist soil and give life to new plants.

The leaves of Salvia Divinorum are large, they reach twenty centimeters, simple, oval, whole, beautiful emerald color, with thin hairs. On the edge of the leaf is round-toothed, the leaves are opposite. The flowers are complex, whorled, typical in shape for all labiales, the petals are white, the stamens are purple, collected at the end of the stem in spike-shaped inflorescences. The fruit is an ordinary achene.

More about the plant

The range of Salvia Divinorum is not too large in the wild - its homeland is Central America, most of all in Mexico (Oaxaca). This is a fairly water-loving plant, growing well in the shade on regularly moistened and drained soil. Discovered for the first time in the Sierra Madre region, where to this day it is used by the Indians of the Mazatec tribe in shamanic rites.

In small doses, the leaves of this plant are treated for anemia, diarrhea, rheumatism and bloating, and are also taken as a diuretic. That is, not only a beautiful, but also a useful plant Salvia Divinorum, but the harm from it is much greater, because addiction occurs, and death can occur from an overdose.

Danger

Even the leaves of common salvia can cause quite negative effects when taken in large quantities (more often through smoking): not only is it a bad experience, but also a threat to lung he alth. Some lovers of travel to other realities do not consider a plant called Salvia Divinorum a drug, a ban on growing itconsider the measure inadequate.

However, even they admit that traveling to other realities with the help of sage predictors can end very badly - a person loses control over himself, can injure himself, fall, get injured of any severity. Usually, the addict gets the main buzz precisely from the end of the action of Salvia Divinorum extract, because during the action his behavior shows the highest degree of discomfort.

History

For the first time Salvia Divinorum, the cultivation of which has not yet spread around the world, was discovered and described in 1939. And this was done by the scientist Jean Basset Johnson, who studied Indian shamanism. The scientific discovery happened even later - in 1962, as a result of the expedition of chemist Albert Hofmann and ethnobiologist Gordon Watson, who went to Mexico specifically to study this plant.

The mechanism of the impact on the human body was not established until the end of the 90s, when a group of ethnobotanists led by Daniel Siebert took up scientific experiments. How Salvia Divinorum was historically cultivated, the law on the prohibition of which appeared only in some countries, including the Russian Federation, is practically unknown, and it is not possible to study this subject.

Use

Due to the small range of this particular type of sage, only one group of Indians used it, and they cannot tell how domestication took place.

There is a lot of information about how the leaves of Salvia Divinorum were used by the Indiansshamans: they chewed them, gradually entering a trance, after which they acquired the gift of clairvoyance and predicted the future. The most experienced made a drink out of salvia, after drinking which they could guess with absolute accuracy the events that are already happening and coming, determine the cause of the illness of the people who turned to them and even predict their fate.

Chemistry

The main psychoactive substances contained in the leaves of the plant are salvinoril A and salvinoril B. They are complex organic compounds of diterpenes. Salvia Divinorum also has other fractions of these compounds - C, D, E, and so on - only six, only their concentration is quite low, and the effect on the human body is practically not studied. Fresh leaves contain 0.022 percent salvinoril, while dry leaves contain 0.18 percent. The surprise for scientists was that the effect is due to the activation of kappa-opioid receptors, which is why the psychedelic effect is so great.

Salvinoril A has proven to be the most potent plant hallucinogen known to date. Its potency is ten times greater than psilocycin, and its psychedelic activity is close to that of the semi-synthetic hallucinogen known to all as LSD. Perhaps this information is slightly exaggerated by the advertising campaign that is being waged by distributors who are doing everything to seduce the youth of our country from the path of a he althy lifestyle.

Prohibition

Since 2009 it has been listed on List 1 of the Drug List and Salvia Divinorum. The law of the Russian Federation ranked it among the psychotropic substances and their precursors, which are subject to control, and their circulation is completely prohibited. In April 2009, a decree of the sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation banned smoking mixtures and flavorings, in which the predictor's sage is a component, due to the content of toxic substances in its composition.

Also, this plant and its component salvinoril A are on the lists of controlled substances in many other states - Belgium, Australia, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Japan and some US states. These states banned both salvinoril and the plant itself called Salvia Divinorum.

Growing

This flowering plant is almost impossible to propagate by seeds, most often the grower will fail. But the cuttings take root perfectly. Even if a branch of five to ten centimeters, spontaneously breaking off, falls on wet and soft ground, it takes root. Under cultural conditions, cuttings are rooted either in water or in favorable substrates, river sand, for example. To do this, take a small pot or even a plastic cup, half fill the soil, into which the freshly cut Salvia Divinorum sits two to three centimeters, the stalk of which is covered with a glass container or a plastic bag.

It is better to keep the plant in the shade until it takes root, then after a couple of weeks you can start a little top dressing. The roots grow very quickly, occupying the entire space of the container, so it is undesirable to pull with a transplant. It is better to transplant into a container of a much larger size. Adult Salvia Divinorum, whose seeds some amateur growers still manage to germinate, requires a very large pot, as well as regular feeding. However, it is important not to overdo it. Salvia Divinorum is very sensitive to an overdose.

Exclusive

The one-of-a-kind flower is grown in the country quite often, although it is Divinorum that is almost not present, just sage is welcome, which also has many romantic names, for example, prolonging life. The south of Europe is considered the birthplace of the inhabitant of Russian dachas, where it is also a sacred herb and has considerable medicinal properties.

Healing characteristics of sage Hippocrates called saving, and the ancient Egyptians used it to rejuvenate the body and use its effect on childbearing. When bloody wars ended, sage was brewed in every kitchen and added to all dishes - the ability to conceive increased, the population recovered and increased. In addition, some magical properties were attributed to sage, especially in ancient Egypt. And now both children and adults are treated with sage for any cold, cough, toothache, inflammation of the oral mucosa.

Species diversity

Salvia Divinorum - a type of sage, a perennial, in a harsh climate loses this quality and lives at most two years, because it does not tolerate frost. As a banned plant due to its strong hallucinogenic effect, cultivatedin the country cannot, because it is prohibited by law.

Salvia sparkling (brilliant) - absolutely not so simple in beauty, can be compared with the inflorescences of a plant such as Salvia Divinorum, photo of flowers. Its seedlings are grown from seeds to decorate any flower bed: not very tall, up to fifty centimeters, bushes with white, pink, purple panicles. And this is not a perennial plant in our latitudes, more often an annual, sometimes a biennial.

Seeds of sparkling salvia germinate in the same way as cosmea or chamomile. Sowing is covered with glass in order to create a microclimate and keep the soil moist. It is better to water from a spray bottle so as not to accidentally wash the seeds. Shoots appear after two or four weeks. The shoots are extremely small and delicate. Too dense seedlings must be thinned out, but carefully, preferably with tweezers, because neighboring plants are easily damaged. At first, salvia grows very, very slowly. If the sprouts are strongly stretched and thinned, moist soil is poured under them, as if gently spudding. After the appearance of true leaves, salvia will require much less care. But only when the spring frosts are completely over, you can plant seedlings in open ground.

Among other types of sage - desert salvia, Dagestan, Syrian, Transylvanian, glandular, prickly, meadow, etc.

Care

The plant is from capricious, so growing it in the country is not an easy task. Attention and care is needed constantly. And also the absence of through winds. Salvialoves the sun, but also grows well in the shade. The soil should be rich and moisture-intensive. Acidic soil is preferred. Mandatory weeding and loosening the soil. This ornamental shrub blooms from June until frost - the joy of any gardener. Watering this plant is therefore better under the root and as needed.

Loves moisture, but there should be no stagnant water. In addition to peat, sand is also added to the soil so that the water does not stagnate. Top dressing is carried out repeatedly with both complex and mineral fertilizers. First, seedlings are fertilized, then in the budding period. Growth stimulants (for seedlings) have shown themselves well. It also needs protection from pests - ticks, aphids and thrips. Salvia rarely gets sick.