“Quite a Profoundly Strange Experience”: An Analysis of the Experiences of Salvia divinorum Users

ABSTRACT

Salvia divnorum (an intense hallucinogen) is currently illegal in New Zealand under the 2014 Psychoactive Substances Amendment Act. Despite this, there is a scarcity of research surrounding Salvia divinorum and its effects in a New Zealand context. To explore the experiences of Salvia divinorum users, an anonymous questionnaire was advertised through flyers placed in locations where young adults congregate. A total of 393 people took part in the online questionnaire in 2010–2011, while salvia was legally available in New Zealand; 167 respondents had used salvia. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the resulting open-ended questionnaire data and three key themes were identified: the effects of salvia; the importance of set and setting; salvia use and pleasure/not-pleasure. Recreational use of salvia was situated within a broader drug landscape, with participants being drug experienced and “drug wise” (Measham, Aldridge, and Parker 2001). Use of salvia also appeared to be intermittent, with its use referred to as a novel experience. Thus, the recent criminalization of salvia under the 2014 Act may see a significant decline in use as experienced drug users look elsewhere for novel drug experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Drug effects
• drug use
• pleasure
• salvia
• set and setting

Funding

The research this article was based on was supported by a grant awarded to Dr. Bronwyn Kivell from the Victoria University Research Fund. Otis Boyle’s work was also supported by the Victoria University Summer Scholar Scheme in 2014.

Notes

^1. Salvia divinorum is a member of the mint family, indigenous to the Oaxaca region of Mexico, and had traditional uses related to healing (Weitlaner 1952). It has been called by several names, including Mexican Tripping Weed, Sally D, Magic Mint, and Diviner’s Sage, although it is most commonly reduced to its genus, Salvia.

^2. Salvia was legal in the U.S. at the time of this study.

^3. Although LSD and synthetic hallucinogens were the fourth most popular illicit drug use category in New Zealand among young people (Ministry of Health 2010), indicating that hallucinogens as a group of drugs do have a place in the drug repertoires of New Zealand youth.

^4. In New Zealand, the debates surrounding legal highs have been ongoing since 2005, with the banning of BZP-based party pills in 2008, “Kronic” (a legal cannabis substitute) in 2011, followed by the 2013 Psychoactive Substances Act (hereafter the 2013 Act), which created a framework for regulating legal highs. The 2014 Psychoactive Substances Amendment Act (hereafter the 2014 Act) then effectively banned all legal highs, revoking all licenses to sell them previously granted under the 2013 Act.

^5. The most common method for contemporary recreational use is through smoking the dried leaf in cannabis paraphernalia such as a “joint” (cigarette), a pipe, or a “bong” (water pipe).

^6. The occasional user may experiment or use drugs sometimes if offered and the recreational user will use a drug more often at certain times and places. They both enjoy the desired effect of the drug and do not tend to present a risk to themselves or others (Buchanan 2008, 250).

^7. The toxicological effects: risk to public health; potential to cause death; potential to create dependence; likelihood of misuse; and appeal to vulnerable populations.

^8. Some participants reported only mild effects. This difference in experiences was linked to different or incorrect ways of smoking salvia. For example, one participant noted that, to get the desired intense effects, a blow-torch-like lighter is needed, rather than a normal Zippo lighter.

^9. CornEvil Haunted Horror Maze is an interactive theatre performance in New Zealand, in which visitors negotiate a corn maze at night while actors hidden throughout the maze frighten them.

Additional information

Funding

The research this article was based on was supported by a grant awarded to Dr. Bronwyn Kivell from the Victoria University Research Fund. Otis Boyle’s work was also supported by the Victoria University Summer Scholar Scheme in 2014.