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Salvia Divanorum/ Mexican Sage

A Legal High

Thursday 19th September 2002


Being a lover of smoking anything and everything, I'll give most things at least a try. Recently I smoked a herb called Mexican Sage (Salvia Divanorum), totally legal here. It didn't make me cough hard - we smoked it through a small pipe nor did it taste of anything. It has apparently been around for years - why did I miss it then?? As a festie goer, you may come across it and as I don't usually try anything without having some idea of what to expect, it seems worth letting you all in on my experience.

What a trip! I have never before taken anything without having some idea of what to expect. This was totally weird in that it made me lose all connection with my senses. Sound slowed down, so that everything sounded like a slow record until I couldn't understand what was being said, let alone speak. Visually everything seemed to defract, ie. split into vertical lines and then I couldn't see. Even with my eyes wide open, I couldn't see. I felt as though I was in a totally different version of reality asking myself -"This isn't what my reality is usually like, is it?" I couldn't remember having asked for a smoke. I couldn't remember that it wasn't just very strong skunk. It all felt really strange.

I just had to close my eyes, sit back and relax. I seemed to leave Planet Earth (like an out-of body-experience, rushing up into the black universe) and become just a speck, an atom of pure awareness. But I forgot everything, everybody, my name, my family. When I started coming 'round I couldn't remember my friends. I felt like dashing out of the warm comfortable safe atmosphere of the trailer in which we were all sitting into the black cold night. I just wanted to escape. I felt very suspicious and intensely paranoid and had to search my memory for the reasons, reminding myself of what I'd done, reminding myself that I did know those people because for a few minutes I didn't recognise anyone. They were mostly, in fact, familiar friends, some of whom I'd known for 5 years or more!

We smoked it one after the other. It was strange watching people's faces change. One girl really freaked and was practically screaming. It was terrifying in many ways because even I found it difficult maintaining self-control. Everyone else stayed pretty calm but it was the shortest and most intense drug-related experience I have ever had and I will probably never want or need to experience that again. Even two tabs of acid and 100 mushrooms never did that for me!

All in all the experience might have taken 20 minutes. I don't think I want to do it again but I had an interesting time. In fact, Salvia Divanorum seemed to answer what I've always searched for from psychedelic drugs and never found before. For me, it was fascinating. Avoid it if you are at all unsure!!! I reckon it could easily send someone mad. Like other psychedelic trippy drugs, it could just push someone into schizophrenia or possibly, epilepsy, if they have a tendency towards that state of mind anyway. Often you don't find out about these things until afterwards - so if there's a family history, I'd advise you to avoid this - in fact, avoid drugs altogether (including alcohol!). Salvia Divanorum has been one of my last smokes, in that it prompted me to give up tobacco and cut down massively on dope. After all I found what I'd always been searching for - a completely different perspective if only for just a few minutes! Check out this website - www.canedintotnes.co.uk - it should fill you in on any bits I've missed and give you more info, if you're really that interested in destroying even more brain cells than you've destroyed already!

Happy smoking