DOSE: T+ 0:00		oral	Alcohol	(liquid)
T+ 3:00	4 hits	smoked	Salvia divinorum	(plant material)

BODY WEIGHT:

155 lb

I'm an eighteen year old Ecuadorian American guy. I am a very liberal philosopher/photographer/mediator/student. I consider myself intelligent, creative, ambitious, and curious, and only recently have I tried to expand my consciousness with mind-altering substances.

After extensive visits to Erowid's Psychoactive Vaults, I discovered salvia divinorum. The substance greatly intrigued me and I soon read almost all of the reports regarding salvia on Erowid's site and others. I finally made up my mind to try it first hand, although I was apprehensive because my only previous drug experiences consisted almost exclusively of cannabis, alcohol, and kava (although I have tried threshold doses of LSA and Mescaline). It's important to note that my interest in psychedelics isn't simply an adolescent desire to get fucked up, but a serious search for meaning in life. After looking for the cheapest price on the net, I finally opted for an ounce of plain (but guaranteed to be potent) leaves: $33. After a painstaking month, the ounce finally arrived, crushed to hell, as expected - goddamn US postal service. That was two days ago.

Today was the day of my last AP test and I had been stockpiling illicit substances in anticipation of a huge party afterwards. After the test was over (around 3 pm), a bunch of friends gathered together and smoked three or so fat bowls. I also had a few shots of Bacardi O (tasty). We all chilled at R's house until 7:30 when I had to head home to finish some college apps. By then, all the affects of the weed and alcohol had dissipated. I returned to R's an hour and a half later dead sober. This fact was soon remedied by four or so shots of blackberry brandy and bacardi.

Around 9:30, my long-awaited salvia shipment was brought up. I told them I had it on me, although I also pointed out to them it may not be a great idea to smoke it. By this time, I was too drunk to coherently explain all the risks that potentially come with salvia (e.g. incredible fear, apprehensiveness, complete loss of safe motor skill). I was finally swayed to break it out and try some by the interest of a few others.

I loaded the bowl of a medium sized pipe and used a pencil torch to fry the leaves. It should also be noted that three weeks before this, I broke down after waiting only a week for my shipment, and went to a local smoke shop and purchased an exorbitantly priced two-gram sack. I smoked it all quickly from a pocket pipe, but didn't really feel much more than a light high. Back to tonight, I took a monster hit from the piece and held for about 20 seconds - the smoke is smooth when smoked with a bong, but very harsh when taken through a pipe. It was a large bowl and I had fried most of it for my hit. I exhaled, and started to try to load the bowl again for another individual. I began to have some difficulty actually putting my hand in the bag of salvia to pinch another bowl. I shook my head and tried again. I grabbed some plant matter, but couldn't actually make my hand move to refill the bowl. I verbalized this fact and said that I had to go sit down (which I already was). I handed the bag to them and told them to load the bowl themselves. I then got up (really, really bad idea especially when you've had anything to drink) and sat alone in a secluded corner away from everyone else. My head buzzed noisily similar to a loud fluorescent light. I could feel the pressure build in my head as my mind began to free associate. I saw the ten other noisy, drunk people there, but I felt removed from the actual situation. Nothing was as it seemed. I felt surreal and cinematic, almost as if I wasn't really here, but actually observing the current events through someone else's eyes. During this time, I began to feel my fingers and tows tingle with something akin to pins and needles. The whole feeling subsided in about ten minutes, but my extremities still felt tingly. By this time, Three or four people seemed interested in trying it. I believe I can pinpoint this exact moment as the biggest lapse in good judgment I have had in years. Although I knew they probably weren't ready to experience salvia, I effectively shirked my responsibility as the supplier of this drug, and the most knowledgeable, and I complied.

We broke out a large, 5 person hookah with a massive bowl - perfect for salvia. Against my better judgment, I lit the bowl, and we filled the massive hookah with salvia smoke. Almost immediately, the buzz was back, greater than before. My hands and toes began to tingle softly. During my salvia high, I tried to somehow visualize the affects the salvia had on my brain. It was incredible. With closed eyes, I pictured a three dimensional model of my brain. I visualized the pressure I felt in my head from the salvia as flashing yellow pressure points all around the top and sides of my brain. They seemed to permeate into my brain which I thought was very interesting. I then found I could isolate the affects of the weed on my brain: I found it to be more of a green vine-like hand emanating from the back of my brain, extending its tendrils along the surface while still following the curvy contours. I found I could also isolate the affects of the alcohol, which appeared to be like a soft bluish glowing pillow surrounding my brain. I then merged them all into one colorful model and opened my eyes with what seemed like a greater understanding of what was happening.

The other for people muttered sounds of shock. It was clear that they were overwhelmed. Before I could urge everyone else to stay seated, some people got up and walked around with incredulous and dazed faces, uttering shouts of surprise. After about two or three minutes, we all calmed down and sat out the rest of the high in relieved sighs. After about a half hour had passed, and all the affects subsided, we discussed how we felt about it. As it turns out, many people dropped their hookah hoses and laid down, allowing for all but two of them to take part in this. Clearly, everyone was overwhelmed by it's instant and intense effects.

Two hours and two shots of bacardi later, a few people wanted to do it again. It seemed like a good idea (probably because I was fairly drunk) so I packed another very large bowl - I estimate I stuffed close to 4 or 5 grams in it. We all grabbed our hoses and a friend used a pencil torch while we all sucked. This is where things got really out of hand. This hit was much larger than the previous one. I immediately fell down from the low stool I was sitting on. I closed my eyes and entered a different universe: a black void with no tangible dimensions. Yet even though I was in nothingness, I could feel the force of gravity pushing me in different directions (I imagine I was rolling around). I also heard muffled voices. At first they meant nothing, but then they became clear, and i understood that many of my friends were speaking. I opened my eyes and dazedly looked around. I saw two of my friends who had taken a hit lying peacefully on the sofas, but R, who had taken a large hit was frantically walking around. Three other friends who were a little drunk, but had no salvia, were trying to talk to him to calm him down. He was flipping out in the most extreme sense of the word.

R started shouting for everyone to leave and he kicked over the hookah. He then ran outside into the night and a few of us followed him. He walked around in small circles with his head in his hands, muttering incoherent things. I probably would have been scared if I hadn't read that this sometimes happens. In the midst of all of this, I felt a strong sense of love and understanding for R as if he had been a friend of mine for all of my life even though I had only hung out with him a few times. R dropped to his knees and beat the ground with his fists, whimpering and crying. He got up quickly and walked back inside. He then told everyone inside not to go. He came outside and beat the wall with his fists. One of his best friends went over and talked to him. R shouted to never bring salvia over to his house again or he would kill me. While this did unsettle me slightly, I knew that it wasn?t really him talking.

He then marched over to me with a dark face, twisted with anger. It looked as if he was about to hit me. His friends ran up behind him just in case he decided to do something foolish. I felt so much empathy for him, I don't think I would have cared if he actually did punch me, but I stood my ground and looked him in the eyes. I told him I was sorry he was having a bad time and reminded him that I was a friend of his and that I didn?t know salvia would do this to him. He calmed down some and his best friend J put his arms around both of us and reassured R. R began to cry again and we told him that we should go back inside and chill. Fortunately he agreed. We sat down on the sofa and talked for a while. By this time, about 1/3 of the people left, leaving only 5 or 6 of us. J had to leave so I had the duty of taking R down. I asked him what he was thinking when he said he wanted to kill me. This seemed to shock him and he quickly said that he didn?t mean it. He told me he felt that everyone was judging him. When he was flipping out, I guess he thought everyone hated and was scared of him. We talked for another half hour about his experience. I later found out that he had a lot to drink. I surmise that this (and a busy party-like background) was the key factor in his bad trip. We talked some more and he told me, despite his bad first experience, he wanted to try it again.

The next day, I sold some salvia to him after much convincing. He assured me that he would not be under the influence of anything else and have a sober sitter present. I spoke with him the following day and he told me that he had a wonderful trip. He said he had great closed eye visuals and mild auditory hallucinations. He said he definitely wanted to try it again.

As for me, I thought that my experience with it was far too brief. I had a great time while I was on it, although next time, I'll be sure to use salvia without any other drugs to interfere with its effects. I think I would have had a better time if I was alone. I would very much like to communicate with the soul of savia that I have read about in ither reports. I can now see why people use salvia as a sacramental drug, and definitely not as a 'fun' drug. Although I had read dozens of trip reports before using salvia, nothing could have prepared me for what it was really like. I look forward to trying it again under much different circumstances.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 14813
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: May 21, 2002	Views: 19,133
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Salvia divinorum (44), Alcohol (61) : Combinations (3), Difficult Experiences (5), First Times (2), Small Group (2-9) (17)