Salvinorin A Facts
Hallucinogen;
Description
Salvinorin A (divinorin A) is a dissociative of the neoclerodane diterpene class. It activates kappa-opioid receptors in the brain — not serotonin receptors — producing a profound and unusual dissociative state.[1]
Subjective effects include intense dissociation, loss of body ownership, vivid internal imagery, ego dissolution, and amnesia.[2] The experience is defined by an abrupt, involuntary departure from ordinary reality — more commonly described as bewildering and dysphoric than expansive, setting it sharply apart from serotonergic psychedelics.[2]
Salvinorin A produces no physical dependence — its aversive character and suppression of reward-circuit dopamine make compulsive use self-limiting.[3] The primary risks are psychological: onset is near-instantaneous, and high doses produce complete incapacitation with acute danger from falls and burns.[4]
Dose and durationby route · individual sensitivity varies
No dose recorded for this route. The timings are not a dose guide.
Starts in 10 – 20 minLasts 30 – 90 minAfter-effects 30 – 120 min
Body and dependence
- Acute toxicity
- Low
- Chronic toxicity
- Low
- Physical dependence
- None
- Psychological dependence
- Negligible
- Withdrawal
- None recorded
- Compulsive redosing
- Negligible
Tolerance
- Builds
- Rapid
- Fully resets after
- Not recorded
- Carries over to
- dynorphin;
U50488; pentazocine
Effectslikely at a common dose
- Perception
- Depth perception distortion;
Holotropic state; Perspective distortion; Proprioceptive distortion; Sensory deprivation; Spatial disorientation; +14 possible, including Vestibular distortion, Visual haze / noise - Body
- Body schema distortion;
Dizziness; Motor control impairment; +17 possible, including Nausea, Heart rate perception changes, Trembling - Thinking
- Cognitive impairment;
Confusion; Decision impairment; Focus suppression; Immersion enhancement; Information processing suppression; Language suppression; Memory suppression; Thought disorganization; +13 possible, including Analysis suppression, Cognitive dysphoria, Thought loops - Feeling
- none likely · 6 possible, including Anxiety, Dysphoria, Paranoia
- Self
- Communication suppression;
Depersonalization; Derealization; +4 possible, including Social disconnection - Time
- Temporal disorientation;
Time alteration; +1 possible - Transpersonal
- none likely · 1 possible
- Awareness
- none likely · 2 possible
Who shouldn't take it
Combinations60 recorded
Seek help immediately if
No emergency profile is recorded for this substance. Not recorded never means no risk.
988 Suicide & Crisis LifelineFireside Project: 62-FIRESIDE
References
- [1]^Roth BL, Baner K, Westkaemper R, Siebert D, Rice KC, Steinberg S, Ernsberger P, Rothman RB (2002) Salvinorin A: a potent naturally occurring nonnitrogenous kappa opioid selective agonist. — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PMID:12192085
- [2]^abMaqueda AE, Valle M, Addy PH, Antonijoan RM, Puntes M, Coimbra J, Ballester MR, Garrido M, González M, Claramunt J, Barker S, Johnson MW, Griffiths RR, Riba J (2015) Salvinorin-A Induces Intense Dissociative Effects, Blocking External Sensory Perception and Modulating Interoception and Sense of Body Ownership in Humans. — The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyv065
- [3]^Ganado M, Rubio C, Pérez-Villavicencio J, Serrano N, Romo-Parra H, Lee Á, Rubio-Osornio M (2026) Opioid Receptors in Psychedelia: Indirect Serotonergic Modulation of Direct KOR Activation by Salvinorin A. — Biomedicines doi:10.3390/biomedicines14020476
- [4]^El-Khoury J, Sahakian N (2015) The Association of Salvia divinorum and Psychotic Disorders: A Review of the Literature and Case Series. — Journal of psychoactive drugs doi:10.1080/02791072.2015.1073815