Salvia Divinorum - "Spit" - A Potentially Dangerous Drug

There is a new drug causing a sensation among young people called "Salvia Divinorum" that is currently legal in some U.S. States. Salvia Divinorum is a hallucinogenic drug growing in popularity among America's experimental youth drug culture. The drug is getting more and more coverage on the internet and in Youtube videos as well as recently being discussed in the media including on Howard Stern's radio show.

The drug, like many before it (mushrooms, peyote, LSD) will probably be championed by many for being a "natural" high and having mind expanding properties but here at our drug and alcohol rehab centers we have seen enough damage by this class of drugs in our twenty three years to urge people to steer clear of Salvia Divinorum.

One of our many concerns is that Salvia Divinorum is a dissociative hallucinogenic drug that has psychoactive effects that could endanger the mental well being of the user. We fear that users may develop psychosis or exacerbate another behavioral or mood disorder by smoking or ingesting Salvia Divinorum. We've treated so many clients in our dual diagnosis track that we know well that drugs like this can contribute to depression, anxiety, or even antisocial behaviors. Users who are experimenting with Salvia risk causing harm to themselves or others if they use the substance in excess or operate a vehicle under the influence of salvia.

And for the user who tries to claim Salvia is a "natural, organic, harmless" product of the earth we would be quick to point out that:

a) many people are using a concentrated extract of Salvia Divinorum and have no idea what the dosage they are taking is,

and of course

b) there are thousands of poisonous substances that grow "organically and naturally" on this earth. Ingesting these substances can kill you, so taking a dose of Salvia Divinorum can also have damaging effects to you physically or psychologically.

Salvia Divinorum is typically smoked, or taken by chewing the leaves. It can also be taken by drinking the extracted juices. Salvia contains a chemical substance called salvinorin A which is a potent activator of kappa opioid receptors in the brain. These receptors differ from those activated by the more commonly known opioids, such as heroin and morphine.

What to do if someone is on Salvia Divinorum

The psychoactive and hallucinogenic effects of Salvia typically don't last longer than a half an hour, but if someone is experiencing panic or has a negative physical reaction to Salvia Divinorum, then call 911 or visit an emergency room immediately. Keep the person calm and prevent them from leaving, operating an automobile, or any other potentially dangerous activity. If someone you know or care about has been abusing Salvia along with other drugs, feel free to contact our team of rehab admissions experts who can give advice about how to approach your loved one, or read about what to say to a loved one who is abusing drugs.

Salvia Divinorum's Legal Status

Delaware, Louisiana, Missouri have acted against Salvia, and other states including Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas are in the process of making the drug illegal.

The U.S. Controlled Substances Act will likely eventually classify Salvia Divinorum as a class 1 drug, making it illegal to possess, and it will thus carry a heavy penalty for distribution or intent to sell the drug.

Virtual Tour of Sober Living by the Sea's Neighborhood

Sober Living by the Sea is located in the vibrant recovery community of Newport Beach California, and we offer the entire continuum of care from from detox to outpatient care based out of one central campus.

Thanks to technology being offered by google maps you can see the neighborhood in which our treatment center operates, all of our facilities (except the Sunrise Recovery Ranch which is a primary care drug rehab for men in Riverside) are located on the Newport Beach peninsula. Click around on the image below and you can explore the Newport Beach area.


Please keep in mind that the Newport Beach setting is a great place for our extended care clients to experience long term rehab and integrate back into society in our transitional work program or T.E.A.C.H. college rehab program, we also offer extremely structured and highly supervised primary care treatments (including drug and alcohol detox) in Newport Beach and this phase of treatment is always gender specific which is why we offer men's rehab programs, women's rehab programs, and an eating disorder and addiction treatment program here in Newport Beach, California. The men and women who are in our Landing, Rose Rehab, or Victorian Eating Disorder Treatment House will find the structure and support they need for sobriety and abstinence, while still getting to live in the beautiful and inspiring surroundings right on the ocean.

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Accidental Prescription Drug Deaths on the Rise

In the last 20 years, prescription medication abuse has become the silent epidemic in the addiction world.

When Sober Living by the Sea started treating drug addiction and alcoholism in 1986, the main substances that we found our clients needed treatment for were alcohol and cocaine. Throughout the nineties, we witnessed the sinister rise of amphetamine abuse and became experts in meth addiction treatment by adjusting our treatment facilities and programs to cope with the special needs that meth addicts bring to our treatment facility. Now, in recent years we have seen an overwhelming spike in the abuse of prescription drugs including narcotic painkillers, sedatives, tranquilizers, and stimulants.

The death of actor Heath Ledger has brought to the forefront of the public's consciousness the dangers of prescription drugs being abused and leading to accidental deaths. This is most common with downer type medications including vicodin, oxycontin, oxycodone, percodan, percocet, ambien, zolpidem, xanax, alprazolam, ativan, lorazepam, valium, and morphine/hydromorphine derivatives. The danger is escalated when the person who is addicted to or abusing prescription medications combines their medication intake with alcoholic beverages.

A recent study of death certificates published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine have shown that home deaths from drug errors are up dramatically in the last 20 years.
Deaths from medication mistakes at home increased from 1,132 deaths in 1983 to 12,426 in 2004. Adjusted for population growth, that amounts to an increase of more than 700 percent during that time.

The lead author of the study David P. Phillips of the University of California, San Diego stated that "The amount of medical supervision is going down and the amount of responsibility put on the patient's shoulders is going up."

The treatment programs at Sober Living by the Sea are equipped to handle the treatment of addiction to prescription painkillers like vicodin and oxycontin. Also, Sober Living by the Sea has created a program specifically for the treatment of addiction in mature adults called the Reflections Program.

There are a lot of new issues and roadblocks that occur with this new class of patients (often elderly) including denial and the difficulty of getting them to accept treatment. If you contact the Sober Living by the Sea administrative staff in your area, they will be able to help you assess the situation and put you in touch with an interventionist if necessary. They can also answer your questions about the process of entering treatment for you or a loved one.