China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Novel psychoactive substances and inhalants
Published in Ilana B. Crome, Richard Williams, Roger Bloor, Xenofon Sgouros, Substance Misuse and Young People, 2019
Salvia (Salvia divinorum) is a naturally growing mint native to Mexico, also known as Diviner’s Sage, Mystic Sage, and Magic Mint. It is also known as Ska Maria Pastora, referring to a belief that the plant is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary (Valdes et al., 1983; Mahendran et al., 2016). The first documented use of Salvia for hallucinogenic purposes was by Mazatec natives who chewed the mint’s leaves during ceremonies to facilitate communication with spirits (Vohra et al., 2011).
Herbs with Antidepressant Effects
Published in Scott Mendelson, Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
Salvia divinorum is a plant native to the mountainous regions of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is found only in forest ravines and other moist, cloudy areas of the Sierra Mazateca between 2,000 and 5,000 feet of altitude, which likely adds to its mystique. Indeed, it is one of the more unusual plants to be evaluated for antidepressant effects, owing to its potent hallucinogenic effects. It is one of several vision-inducing plants employed by the native Mazatec Indians for curing and divination. Its properties have earned it the name “sage of the diviners,” “seer’s sage,” or simply salvia.1
Marvin the Paranoid Android and Alice in Wonderland
Published in Ornella Corazza, Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, Handbook of Novel Psychoactive Substances, 2018
Pierluigi Simonato, Attilio Negri, Marco Solmi, Rita Santacroce
When Alice arrived in our unit, she was also interviewed about NPSs, and for the very first time, she reported an intense use of synthetic cathinones, mainly mephedrone. Furthermore, she disclosed the use of a variety of NPS of different classes and specifically Mephedrone: she obtained this synthetic cathinone on the street market, consuming it with her friends for an entire year (2012) instead of cocaine. She reported nasal insufflation and smoking mephedrone four days per week, with a progressively higher dosage (from 0.5 grams to 4 grams). She used mephedrone because it was (a) ‘easily available’, (b) ‘very cheap’, and with (c) a ‘powerful stimulant effect, better and different than cocaine’. She reported in particular many ‘bad trips’, especially during the 24-hour comedown, with strong low mood and suicidal thoughts. Described common withdrawal symptoms were sweating, headaches, and insomnia.Other synthetic cathinones: she reported sporadic use of several substances of this family; she only remembered the name of MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone), sold in the form of crystal ‘bath salts’.Ayahuasca: she reported the ingestion of this plant brew only one time, describing a typical delusional parasitosis (Ekbom’s syndrome).Psychedelic mushrooms (‘magic mushrooms’): ingested three or four times; she reported the classic psychedelic effect due to contained tryptamines (psilocybin and psilocin).Synthetic cannabis (‘Spice drugs’): she smoked compounds belonging to this wide group four times, describing effects as ‘similar’ to cannabis but more ‘dissociative’ and also with visual hallucinogenic effects. She was not able to identify the specific chemical compounds.Salvia divinorum: she consumed this drug two times, experiencing brief visual hallucinogenic effects and uncontrolled laughter.
Natural psychoactive substance-related exposures reported to United States poison control centers, 2000–2017
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2020
Connor O’Neill-Dee, Henry A. Spiller, Marcel J. Casavant, Sandhya Kistamgari, Thitphalak Chounthirath, Gary A. Smith
From 2000 through 2017, there were 67,369 first-ranked exposures to natural psychoactive substances reported to US PCCs. The increasing rate of exposure to these substances over the study period was driven by an increase in exposures to marijuana, which accounted for almost half of all natural psychoactive substance exposures. This increase in marijuana cases can be attributed, in part, to the increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use [10,11]. In contrast, the rate of exposure to other natural psychoactive substances (excluding marijuana) decreased by 20.8% over the study period. For example, more than half of kava kava cases occurred from 2000 to 2003, with a 69.2% decrease in the exposure rate over the study period. This observed decrease in kava kava cases was likely influenced by a warning statement from the US Food and Drug Administration in early 2002 regarding the potential hepatotoxicity of kava kava [26]. Salvia species cases decreased starting in 2011, which may have been related to legislation at the state level to categorize Salvia divinorum as a Schedule I drug due to its lack of an accepted medical use and the potential for abuse [27]. In contrast, kratom cases have increased rapidly since 2011.
Current strategies toward safer mu opioid receptor drugs for pain management
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 2019
Aliza T. Ehrlich, Brigitte L. Kieffer, Emmanuel Darcq
Here, we discuss three drugs derived from natural sources that activate MORs in a Gi-biased manner. Salvia divinorum, is from the Sage family and has been used for mystical purposes due to its hallucinogenic properties [32]. Herkinorin, was synthesized from salvinorin A, the active component of Salvia divinorum, through addition of an aromatic group, and is the first MOR biased agonist derived from a natural product [13,33,34]. Although herkinorin is selective for MOR, lower binding also occurs at KOR and even lower at DOR [35]. Herkinorin has been shown, in rodents to produce potent analgesia [36] and in cells to be G protein biased, possessing poor β-arrestin 2 recruitment [37] however its utility is not yet realized due to poor permeability crossing the blood brain barrier.