Controversial halluclinogen Salvia study shows intense, novel effects in humans

[(sic) I was going to correct it but it's written that way twice here and also on the website]

December 10th, 2010 in Medicine & Health / Research

In what is believed to be the first controlled human study of the effects of salvinorin
A, the active ingredient in Salvia divinorum, a controversial new hallucinogen
featured widely on You Tube and other internet sites, Johns Hopkins researchers
report that the effects are surprisingly strong, brief, and intensely disorienting, but
without apparent short-term adverse effects in healthy people.

Since the NIH-funded research was done with four mentally and physically healthy
hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a safe medical environment, researchers say
they are limited in their conclusions about the compound’s safety, according to
Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral
sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s lead
author.

Johnson and the Hopkins team say they undertook the research to try and put some
rigorous scientific information into current concerns over the growing recreational use
of Salvia divinorum, which is an herb in mint family. The plant, which has been used
for centuries by shamans in Mexico for spiritual healing, is the target of increased
nationwide legal efforts to restrict its availability and use. Though little is known about
the compound’s effects in humans, some legislators have been spurred to action
after watching one of thousands of online videos chronicling the uncontrolled
behavior that sometimes follows its use. However, because animal studies show that
salvinorin A has unique effects in the brain, some scientists believe that the drug or a
modified version of it may lead to medical advances in the treatment of diseases such
as Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain and drug addiction.

Salvia leaves are typically smoked. Often the quantity of salvinorin A in the leaves has
been boosted by the addition of a concentrated extract of the compound. The drug
is available online or in “head shops” and is legal in most states. More than a dozen
states have outright bans on the product and eight others have restrictions such as
prohibitions for minors. About a dozen nations have also outlawed it. The U.S.
Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration has included it in their list
of “drugs and chemicals of concern,” but to date there is no federal prohibition
against it.

The findings of the Hopkins study are published online in the journal Drug and
Alcohol Dependence.

“Everything we knew up to this point about the effects of this drug in humans, other
than a few surveys or anecdotal case reports, comes from accounts on websites or
YouTube videos,” Johnson says. “Those are hardly scientific sources enabling a
rigorous understanding of the effects of the drug. Even though the sample size in
this study is small, we used an extremely well-controlled methodology, which
provided a clear picture of the drug’s basic effects.”

Johnson and his team say this is not just a first step toward greater understanding of
the unique compound and its effects, but of the kappa opioid receptors in the brain,
which animal studies have suggested salvinorin A targets. Researchers see potential
in kappa opioid receptors — which are different from the receptors targeted by other
hallucinogens or opiates like morphine and heroin — for the development of
therapeutic medications.

“We’re opening the door for systematic study of this class of compounds, about
which we know precious little,” says Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins
professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the study’s senior investigator.

The study found that salvia’s effects begin almost immediately after inhaled, are very
short acting — with a peak of strength after two minutes and very little effect
remaining after 20 — and get more powerful as more of the drug is administered.
Salvinorin A produced no significant changes in heart rate or blood pressure, no
tremors and no adverse events were reported. But, Johnson cautions, the sample
size was small and only healthy and hallucinogen-experienced volunteers
participated, so conclusions of safety are limited.

The study was conducted on four healthy, paid subjects — two men and two women
— who had taken hallucinogens in the past. Each participant completed 20 sessions
over the course of two-to-three months. They inhaled a wide range of doses of the
drug in its pure form. At some sessions, they were given a placebo. Participants were
asked to rate the strength of peak drug effect on a scale of 1 to 10. Participants were
allowed to drop out of the study at any time if they felt they could not tolerate a
stronger dose on the following visit. No one withdrew.

Researchers say they were struck by the reaction of two participants who rated the
strength of a high dose a 10, or “as strong as imaginable for this drug.” It is unusual,
the investigators said, for volunteers with prior hallucinogen experience to report
such intensity. Despite these strong experiences, heart rate and blood pressure were
unaffected.

While no adverse effects were noted in the controlled laboratory environment,
Johnson says, the drug’s effects could be disastrous if a person were, for example,
driving a car while on salvia. Few emergency room visits have been linked to its use,
which researchers believe is because it wears off so quickly.

He says subjects in the study reported very different experiences from those caused
by hallucinogens like LSD and so-called “magic mushrooms.” Those drugs, Johnson
says, tend to have powerful effects, but the person is typically still aware of the
external world and can interact with it . “With salvia, the subjects described leaving
this reality completely and going to other worlds or dimensions and interacting with
entities,” Johnson says. “These are very powerful, very intense experiences.”

Animal data suggests the drug is not addictive, Griffiths says, and its intensity could
keep people from returning to the drug again and again. “Many people take it once
and it produces such profound dysphoria that they don’t want to do it again,” he
says.

Provided by Johns Hopkins University

"Controversial halluclinogen Salvia study shows intense, novel effects in humans."
December 10th, 2010.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-controversial-halluclinogen-salvia-intense-
effects.html

_______________________________________________
THS mailing list