Salvia shares its dissociative character with ketamine and DXM and some of its visions with psilocybin, but it differs from all three in receptor and in time. Salvinorin A acts on the kappa-opioid receptor and is over in about 20 minutes; ketamine and DXM block the NMDA receptor, psilocybin activates 5-HT2A, and all three last longer, from about an hour to several hours. The table and figure below put the published figures side by side.
The four at a glance
| Salvia (salvinorin A) | Ketamine | DXM (dextromethorphan) | Psilocybin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main target | Kappa-opioid receptor, agonist | NMDA receptor, blocker | NMDA receptor, blocker (also via its metabolite dextrorphan) | Serotonin 5-HT2A receptor, agonist |
| Usually classed as | Atypical dissociative hallucinogen | Dissociative anaesthetic | Dissociative | Classic psychedelic |
| Blocked in people by | Naltrexone (opioid blocker), not by ketanserin | Not covered here | Not covered here | Ketanserin (5-HT2A blocker) |
| Route and onset | Inhaled; peak at about 2 minutes | Snorted: about 15 minutes to take effect | Swallowed capsules in the lab study | Swallowed |
| How long | About 20 minutes when smoked | 30 to 60 minutes when snorted | Hours; resolved by about 7 hours in the lab study | 3 to 6 hours |
| Typical findings | Loss of contact with surroundings, inverted U for body awareness, unresponsive periods, dose-related memory gaps | Dissociative symptoms, perceptual changes, impaired delayed recall; "k-hole" at high doses | "Distance from reality", visual effects, impaired balance, vomiting; often mistaken for a classic hallucinogen | Dose-related changes on all core dimensions of altered consciousness, including "dreaminess" |
Sources, per column. Salvia: Johnson et al., 2011; MacLean et al., 2013; Maqueda et al., 2015; Doss et al., 2020; FRANK. Ketamine: Krystal et al., 1994; FRANK. DXM: Reissig et al., 2012. Psilocybin: Vollenweider et al., 1998; Passie et al., 2002; Hasler et al., 2004.
The time axis
Time is where salvia is most unlike the others. In baboons, labelled salvinorin A reached its peak in the brain after 40 seconds and cleared with a half-life of about 8 minutes (Hooker et al., 2008). In people, plasma levels peaked one to two minutes after inhaling (Maqueda et al., 2016) and definite effects were gone after about 20 minutes (Johnson et al., 2011). Users in an online survey estimated about 14 minutes on average (Baggott et al., 2010).
Psilocin, the active form of psilocybin, has an elimination half-life of about 3 hours (Brown et al., 2017). In the Johns Hopkins DXM study, effects were followed for six hours and end-of-session questionnaires were filled in at about seven, once the effects had resolved (Reissig et al., 2012). Ketamine sits in between.
Salvia
Inhaled salvinorin A peaked at the first rating, 2 minutes after inhaling, and definite effects were gone after about 20 minutes (Johnson et al., 2011). Plasma levels peaked at 1 to 2 minutes (Maqueda et al., 2016).
Ketamine
Snorted, ketamine takes about 15 minutes to work and the effects last 30 minutes to an hour (FRANK).
DXM
In a placebo-controlled study, effects of swallowed DXM were followed for 6 hours and had resolved by the end-of-session measures at about 7 hours (Reissig et al., 2012).
Psilocybin
Effects of psilocybin last 3 to 6 hours (Passie et al., 2002); its active form psilocin has a half-life of about 3 hours (Brown et al., 2017).
Salvia and ketamine
Ketamine is the substance most often named next to salvia, because both can produce the sense of mind and body coming apart. The UK service FRANK describes the ketamine "k-hole" as a state in which the user may lose the ability to move and feels "like your mind and body have separated" (FRANK). In a classic Yale study, low intravenous doses produced perceptual changes, symptoms similar to dissociative states and impaired delayed word recall (Krystal et al., 1994).
The differences are in mechanism and texture. Ketamine numbs: it is an anaesthetic and blunts pain and touch. The salvinorin A studies report the opposite at lower doses, with more bodily sensation, pressure and pulling, before contact with the body drops away at the highest dose (Maqueda et al., 2015). In the UK ketamine is a Class B drug (FRANK).
Salvia and DXM
DXM is a cough suppressant. Its main action is thought to be blockade of the NMDA receptor, and at doses far above those in cough medicine it produces hallucinogenic effects. In a placebo-controlled study, high doses raised blood pressure and heart rate, caused vomiting in some volunteers, impaired balance, and increased observer-rated "distance from reality" and visual effects. A striking detail: after one of the higher doses, 11 of 12 volunteers thought they had been given a classic hallucinogen such as psilocybin, and DXM was rarely identified as a dissociative (Reissig et al., 2012).
That makes DXM a useful counterexample. Drug classes are defined by receptor, while the experience can cross class lines. Salvia does the same in the other direction: volunteers at Johns Hopkins recognised some classic hallucinogen features in it, yet called it qualitatively different from anything else (MacLean et al., 2013).
Salvia and psilocybin
Psilocybin is the reference classic psychedelic. Its effects are blocked by ketanserin, a 5-HT2A blocker (Vollenweider et al., 1998); the effects of salvinorin A are not (Maqueda et al., 2016). At Johns Hopkins, salvinorin A also produced unresponsive periods and dose-related memory gaps, which the authors list among the effects that only partly overlap with classic hallucinogens (MacLean et al., 2013).
The fMRI picture blurs the line a little. The first scan study of salvinorin A found a weakened default mode network at the peak, a pattern the authors call strikingly similar to other hallucinogens (Doss et al., 2020). Different doors can lead into partly similar brain states.
Mixing
Combining any of these raises the unpredictability. Salvia already removes contact with the room within seconds; adding a second substance makes it harder for a sitter to judge what is happening and when it will end. This site does not give combination advice.
Read on: why the body moves while awareness is elsewhere or the law in the UK, US and the Netherlands.
