Fascinating article about legal psychedelic Salvia Divinorum from Dangerous Minds pal David Jay Brown at Reality Sandwich:
While under the influence of salvia, people often report radical shifts in perception, seeing visions with their eyes closed and visual changes with eyes open. Sometimes people find themselves laughing uncontrollably, even though they don’t find anything to be particularly funny. Time and space can become distorted in strange ways. The sensation of being pushed, pulled, twisted, or taken into alternative dimensions and other realities is common, as is the feeling of other presences, other people, and nonhuman entity contact. The plant itself is often perceived by the user as a female spirit.
Higher doses can cause people to completely dissociate from their body, and people who ingest strong doses need to be watched carefully so that they don’t accidentally harm themselves. With higher doses, sometimes people get up and walk around, completely oblivious to their physical surroundings, and start bumping into furniture and walls. Experienced salvia users insist that a sober sitter always be present when one is experimenting with the plant. With strong doses of salvinorin A, all thinking in the brain shuts down, although a very lucid awareness remains, and people become completely immersed in another world. Often people completely forget that they are under the influence of a psychoactive substance. After the experience ends, many people describe feeling an “afterglow,” an upbeat, life-affirming antidepressant effect that lasts for around a day or more.