Use of Nonprohibited Hallucinogenic Plants: Increasing Relevance for Public health?

R. Bücheler; C. H. Gleiter; P. Schwoerer; I. Gaertner

doi:10.1055/s-2005-837763

Pharmacopsychiatry 2005; 38(1): 1-5
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-837763

Original Paper

Use of Nonprohibited Hallucinogenic Plants: Increasing Relevance for Public health?

A Case Report and Literature Review on the Consumption of Salvia divinorum (Diviner’s Sage)R. Bücheler¹ ^, ² , C. H. Gleiter¹ , P. Schwoerer² , I. Gaertner³

¹Abteilung Klinische Pharmakologie, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Otfried-Müller Strasse 45, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
²Medizinischer Dienst der Krankenversicherung (MDK) Baden-Württemberg, 77933 Lahr, Germany
³Abteilung Allgemeine Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie mit Poliklinik, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Osianderstraße 24, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

Abstract

Introduction: We want to call attention to a mint plant, called diviner’s sage (Salvia divinorum), originally used in shamanic ceremonies of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico. On numerous websites of the internet, this ancient herbal drug and its extracts are offered as a legal means of widening individual awareness. Regarding its dose-response relationship, the active ingredient, salvinorin A, is one of the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogens. Laws on controlled substances, except for Finland, Denmark and Australia, do not prohibit cultivating, consuming or dealing with Salvia divinorum. Ingestion by smoking, vaporising or chewing, induces a short-lived inebriant state with intense, bizarre feelings of depersonalization. This article wants to be a signal for physicians or psychotherapists to take Salvia into consideration, when exploring young people for drug use. Methods: We report the individual perceptions of a young man consuming Salvia divinorum. We review the scarce scientific literature and consider relevant internet websites. Discussion: We define open issues for further investigations and try to discuss why Salvia divinorum may be of interest for teenagers and young adults in Europe.

Volltext

Referenzen

References

1 All about salvia divinorum 2004. http://www.salvia-divinorum.nl/GUIDELINES.HTM (18.01.2005)
2 allsalvia.co.uk 2004. http://www.allsalvia.co.uk (01.03.2004)
3 Bundeskriminalamt Wiesbaden. Rauschgiftjahresbericht 2002. http://www.bka.de/lageberichte/rg/2002/b_aktuelle_tendenzen.pdf (27.02.2004)
4 Butelman E R, Harris T J, Kreek M J. The plant-derived hallucinogen, salvinorin A, produces kappa-opioid agonist-like discriminative effects in rhesus monkeys. Psychopharmacology. 2004; 172 220-224
5 Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics 2003. http://www.cognitivelibertyorg/news/salvia_australiahtm (01.03.2004)
6 Chavkin C, Sud S, Jin W, Stewart J, Zjawiony J K, Siebert D J. et al . Salvinorin A, an active component of the hallucinogenic sage Salvia divinorum is a highly efficacious (kappa)-opioid receptor agonist: Structural and functional considerations. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2004; 308 1197-1203
7 Chung T, Colby S M, O’Leary T A, Barnett N P, Monti P M. Screening for cannabis use disorders in an adolescent emergency department sample. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2003; 70 177-186
8 Coles JA J r, Sigg D C, Iaizzo P A. Role of kappa-opioid receptor activation in pharmacological preconditioning of swine. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2003; 284 H2091-2099
9 Degenhardt L, Hall W, Lynskey M. Testing hypotheses about the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2003; 71 37-48
10 Dinkel M, Bedner M. Biological addictive drugs - A new trend. Notarzt 2001: 105-107, DOI: 10.1055/s-2001 - 14 123
11 Dittrich A. The standardized psychometric assessments of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) in humans. Pharmacopsychiatry. 1998; 31 (Suppl 2) 80-84
12 Eisenach J C, Carpenter R, Curry R. Analgesia from a peripherally active kappa-opioid receptor agonist in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Pain. 2003; 101 89-95
13 Epling C, Játiva-M C D. A new species of Salvia from Mexico. Botanical Museum Leaflets Harvard University,. 1962; 20 75-84
14 Erowid.org 2004. http://www.erowid.org/plants/salvia/salvia_law.shtml (01.03.2004)
15 Freye E. Rezeptorinteraktionen von Agonisten, Antagonisten und partiellen Agonisten. In Freye E, editor Opioide in der Medizin. Berlin; Springer Verlag 2001 4th edition: p. 51-62
16 GetSalvia (2003). http://www.getsalvia.com/pages/feedbacks.phtml (27.02.2004)
17 Giroud C, Felber F, Augsburger M, Horisberger B, Rivier L, Mangin P. Salvia divinorum: an hallucinogenic mint which might become a new recreational drug in Switzerland. Forensic Sci Int. 2000; 112 143-150
18 Gopel C, Laufer C, Marcus A. Three cases of angel’s trumpet tea-induced psychosis in adolescent substance abusers. Nord J Psychiatry. 2002; 56 49-52
19 Gruber J W, Siebert D J, Der Marderosian A H, Hock R S. High performance liquid chromatographic quantification of Salvinorin A from tissues of Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva-M. Phytochem Anal. 1999; 10 22-25
20 Hanes K R. Antidepressant Effects of the Herb Salvia Divinorum: A Case Report. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2001; 21 634-635
21 Hansen G, Jensen S B, Chandresh L, Hilden T. The psychotropic effect of ketamine. J Psychoactive Drug. 1988; 20 419-425
22 Javitt D C, Zukin S R. Recent advances in the phencyclidine model of schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 1991; 148 1301-1308
23 Lesscher H M, Bailey A, Burbach J PH, van Ree J M, Kitchen I, Gerrits M AFM. Receptor-selective changes in mu- delta- and kappa-opioid receptors after chronic naltrexone treatment in mice. Eur J Neurosci. 2003; 17 1006-1012
24 Lewanowitsch T, Irvine R J. Naloxone and its quaternary derivative naloxone methiodide have differing affinities for mu, delta and kappa opioid receptors in mouse brain homogenates. Brain Res. 2003; 964 302-305
25 Lotus paradise 2004. http://www.salvia-divinorum.com (01.03.2004)
26 Mague S D, Pliakas A M, Todtenkopf M S, Tomasiewicz H C, Zhang Y, Stevens W C. et al . Antidepressant-like effects of kappa-opioid receptor antagonists in the forced swim test in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2003; 305 323-330
27 Munro T A, Rizzacasa M A. Salvinorins D-F new neoclerdane diterpenoids from Salvia divinorum and an improved method for the isolation of Salvinorin A. J Nat Prod. 2003; 66 703-705
28 Niess C, Schnabel A, Kauert G. Angel trumpet: a poisonous garden plant as a new addictive drug?. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 1999; 124 1444-1447
29 Ortega A, Blount J F, Machand P S. Salvinorin a new trans-neoclerodane diterpene from Salvia divinorum (Labiatae). J Chem Soc Perkin Trans. 1982; 1 2505-2508
30 Pfeiffer A, Brantl V, Herz A, Emrich H M. Psychotomimesis mediated by kappa opiate receptors. Science. 1986; 233 774-776
31 Pflanzenpfade Online Shop 2004. http://www.pflanzenpfade.de/start2. html (01.03.2004)
32 Roth B L, Baner K, Westkaemper R, Siebert D, Rice K C, Steinberg S. et al . Salvinorin A: A potent naturally occurring nonnitrogenous opioid selective agonist. PNAS. 2002; 99 11 934-11 939
33 Salvia Divinorum Alliance. (2004). http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SalviaD_Alliance/message/11 626 (27.02.2004)
34 Schabner D. A new LSD? Mexican herb for sale online comes with divine claims warnings. ABCNews com 2002 April 1. http://www.maps. org/media/abcsalvia.html (01.03.2004)
35 Schizo 2004. http://www.goatrance.de/goacidia/salvia/de-salvia-faq. html (01.03.2004)
36 Sheffler D J, Roth B L. Salvinorin A: the ”magic mint” hallucinogen finds a molecular target in the kappa opioid receptor. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2003; 24 107-109
37 Siebert D J. Salvia divinorum and Salvinorin A: new pharmacologic findings. J Ethnopharmacol. 1994; 43 53-56
38 Siebert D J. Salvinorin A: Notes of Caution. The Entheogen Review. 1994; 3 19
39 Sinchaisuk S, Ho I K, Rockhold R W. Focal kappa-opioid receptor-mediated dependence and withdrawal in the nucleus paragigantocellularis. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2002; 74 241-252
40 Soutar I. Skapastora - Leaves of the Shepherdness. Conference at Breitenbush Hot Springs Dec 7-10, 2000. MAPS. 2001; 11 32-37
41 Sun X G, Dalman F C. Evidence for multiple mechanisms of kappa opioid tolerance in mesencephalic cultures. Brain Res. 2003; 973 122-130
42 The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center 2004. http://www.sagewisdom.org (27.02.2004)
43 Valdés 3rd L J. Salvia divinorum and the unique diterpene hallucinogen Salvinorin (Divinorin A). J Psychoactive Drugs. 1994; 26 277-283
44 Valdés 3rd L J, Chang H M, Visger D C. Salvinorin C, a new neoclerodecane diterpene from a bioactive fraction of the hallucinogenic mexican mint Salvia divinorum . Org Lett. 2001; 3 3935-3937
45 Valdés 3rd L J, Diaz J L, Paul A G. Ethnopharmacology of Ska Maria Pastora (Salvia divinorum Epling and Játiva-M). Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 1983; 7 287-312
46 Wadenberg M L. A review of the properties of Spiradoline: A potent and selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist. CNS Drug Rev. 2003; 9 187-198
47 Wong T M, Wu S. Role of kappa opioid receptor in cardioprotection of preconditioning: implications in cardiac surgery. J Card Surg. 2002; 17 462-464
48 Wright R C, Ingenito A J. Blockade of dorsal hippocampal kappa-opioid receptors increases blood pressure in normotensive and isolation-induced hypertensive rats. Neuropeptides. 2003; 37 127-132

Prof. Dr. med. Christoph H. Gleiter

Abteilung Klinische Pharmakologie

Universitätsklinikum Tübingen

Otfried-Müller-Strasse 45

72076 Tübingen

Germany

Fax: 07071 29 5035

eMail: christoph.gleiter@med.uni-tuebingen.de