Salvia divinorum: between prohibition and the construction of its knowledge

Abstract

There are many reasons to state that Salvia divinorum is one of the most unusual entheogenic plants on the planet. Endemic to the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, diverse indigenous cultures traditionally use the plant in complex magic. In the last three decades, Salvia divinorum emerged in the Mexican and world market in highly concentrated smoking extracts, which provide a rich psychedelic experience. Thus, it began to be sold as a "recreational drug" unacknowledging the traditional uses accompanying the plant. This fact not only discredited Salvia divinorum in different spaces where it may have therapeutic, social, and knowledge possibilities but introduced the plant to a prohibition process in many countries in the world.