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The only thing in common it has with marijuana is that it's a green plant and you should smoke it out of a water chamber. Apart from that they are nothing alike.
If you ever decide to do it, it can be either one of the most rewarding experiences of your life or one of the scariest trips ever. I've done LSD, and this stuff felt more vivid and real than the acid trips.
The good news is, it is not addictive at all, doesn't show up in drug tests, you are back to normal within 10 minutes, and there are no withdrawal symptoms or aftereffects. So even if you don't like it, you won't have wasted more than 10 minutes of your life.
Also, salvia itself isn't dangerous at all - you can't fry your brain on it like LSD. The only harm you can do is if you try to get up and move around and hurt yourself.
The salvia divinorum leaf itself won't send you on a very intense trip; most people use salvia extract if they want to trip balls. Extracts can be bought at most head shops (although some chicken out periodically, depending on whether or not there's a movement in Congress to ban it) and typically range from 5x to 35-40x. 40x is the strongest I've smoked, and let me tell you, do NOT do this stuff in public, EVER.
The first time I smoked the 40x stuff, I was with a filmmaker friend of mine and we received it free from the lead singer of a reggae band we see (also a friend). He gave us some tips for smoking:
-Don't share bowls; pack each rip separately. -Use a bubbler or bong of some kind; anything with a water chamber will do. -Torch everything in the bowl. -Hold in the smoke and count to 20 (in your head), then breathe out.
What he didn't tell me, but what is at least equally important, are these tips:
-DON'T EVER DO IT IN PUBLIC OR WHILE OPERATING MACHINERY (including cars). NEVER, EVER. -This is not a party drug. Don't do it at parties, or with people who might just want to "get fucked up". -Make sure wherever you do it is a comfortable and familiar place. -Put on soft, somewhat repetitive music that you are familiar with. For example, Philip Glass. -Sit or lie down when you smoke - moving around is a bad idea. -Keep the lighting dim. -Have a good, sober friend there for your first time, just to make sure you don't hurt yourself or break stuff.
Here's my first experience:
We smoked in another buddy's apartment - he and his girlfriend were watching us the whole time.
After I counted to 19, I thought "I don't feel it, this must not be working".
After 20, and the exhalation, I laughed uncontrollably for about 10 seconds.
I blacked out for the next 2 minutes.
The first thing I can remember is that I didn't remember anything - not even my name, or the fact that I was human. Instead I was totally concentrated on what I was seeing, which although it was three people in an apartment, might as well have been another dimension for all I knew. I didn't recognize ANYTHING. It felt like my universe was spinning slowly, like a rotisserie. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was playing but I didn't even recognize it was music, or know what music was, even.
After about 4 minutes (it felt like eternity), the trip got a little freaky. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the ceiling fold in on itself, kind of like a staircase imploding. I was convinced - 100% certain - that the folding ceiling was going to crush me. I whimpered, crawled into the kitchen, tucked myself into the fetal position and repeated "Please don't let me die; I don't want to die."
Needless to say, this was a bad first time for me - I was in an unfamiliar apartment, people were staring at me, the music, although familiar, had many changes throughout, and I wasn't mentally, emotionally or spiritually prepared for it. As a result, I didn't do it for several months afterward.
The second time I did it, it was far better, although I made some stupid mistakes then as well - I put on Yes's "Close To The Edge" from the Yessongs album, which is a trip in and of itself. During my second trip I visualized a giant zipper moving along with the letters of the alphabet (all colored differently, and in proper sequence - it felt like kindergarten), again rotating on an axis (a repeating theme in salvia trips for many people)
Again, there was a slight blackout, and I remember hearing Jon Anderson's voice coming from the record player saying "don't fall down" even though I know he didn't say any such thing on the album. Suddenly I realized I was standing, glass bong in hand, and sat down before I did any damage. This trip was far more pleasant.
I've done it maybe 5 times in my life, although not for a couple of years now. It was fun but I don't see myself using it more than maybe a couple more times in my life. It's a profound experience, and you will learn something about yourself, no matter how much you enjoy/dislike the trip.
Salvia was originally used by Oaxacan shamans, used for divination. As a result, it's very popular in the southwestern US - I hadn't ever heard of it before I came to Arizona. Not even these shamans used it more than a few times in their lives.
Recently, however, stupid teenage kids looking for a fix have been using this stuff in public and tripping out, causing lawmakers to work themselves into a tizzy over the damage it's doing to "our children". If those kids could've been bothered to inform themselves about this stuff, and been responsible users, then there wouldn't be this problem.
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