Salvia vs DMT: two short, intense hallucinogens that work in different ways

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People often compare salvia and DMT because both are reported to be brief and overwhelming. On a stopwatch they look alike. Beyond that, they belong to unrelated chemical families, act on different receptor systems, come from different traditions, and sit in different schedules of Canadian drug law. For DMT on its own, start with what is DMT.

This guide sets the two side by side using controlled human studies, receptor research and the text of Canadian law.

Salvia vs DMT: how do they compare at a glance?

The table sums up the main differences. Each row is explained, with sources, in the sections below.

Where do salvia and DMT come from?

Salvia divinorum is a sage in the mint family. Researchers describe it as a plant that Mazatec shamans of Oaxaca, Mexico, have used for at least centuries in divination and spiritual healing (Johnson et al., 2011). Evidence: established as history; we describe it as culture, not as a practice to copy.

A 1983 ethnopharmacology paper, based partly on fieldwork with a Mazatec shaman, describes the plant under its Mazatec-associated name ska María Pastora and compares its effects with other hallucinogens the Mazatecs used, including psilocybin-containing mushrooms (Valdés et al., 1983). The same region is where the mushroom velada of María Sabina became known outside Mexico. Evidence: established.

Health Canada, when it scheduled salvia, wrote that the plant has traditionally been used for spiritual and medicinal purposes by the Mazatec people, and that no therapeutic or natural health products containing it have been authorized in Canada (Canada Gazette, SOR/2015-209). Evidence: established.

DMT is a different kind of substance: a 2018 review describes it as an endogenous hallucinogen, meaning one made in the bodies of mammals, and sets out decades of unresolved research on its role in the brain (Barker, 2018). Evidence: established that it is endogenous in mammals; its role is unresolved.

How do salvia and DMT work in the brain?

Salvinorin A: a kappa-opioid agonist with no nitrogen

The key finding came in 2002. In receptor tests, salvinorin A bound potently and selectively to kappa-opioid receptors, had no significant activity at a battery of 50 other receptors, transporters and ion channels, and had no action at the 5-HT2A receptor, the main target of classic hallucinogens. The authors called it the first known naturally occurring opioid agonist without a nitrogen atom that is selective for one opioid receptor subtype (Roth et al., 2002). The kappa-opioid receptor is the binding site of the body’s own dynorphins (Maqueda et al., 2015). Evidence: established.

A 2016 human study then tested the mechanism directly. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design with two groups of 12 healthy volunteers who had used psychedelics before, the effects of salvinorin A on perception, blood pressure and hormones were blocked by naltrexone, an opioid receptor blocker, but not by ketanserin, a 5-HT2A blocker. The authors concluded this supports kappa-opioid agonism and rules out a 5-HT2A-mediated mechanism (Maqueda et al., 2016). Evidence: established, from one well-designed but small trial.

DMT: a classic serotonergic tryptamine

DMT belongs to the classic psychedelics. A review says its subjective effects “appear to be primarily acting via 5-HT2A receptors”, while other serotonin and glutamate receptors may also play a part (Barker, 2018). Evidence: established. More in DMT and the 5-HT2A receptor.

An EEG study of intravenous DMT cites ketanserin studies with psilocybin and ayahuasca to support the idea that the drop in alpha brain rhythms seen with these drugs depends on 5-HT2A, and found that alpha power fell as DMT’s effects rose (Timmermann et al., 2019). We did not find a human blocking study for pure DMT in the sources we read. Evidence: preliminary for this direct test in DMT.

So salvia and DMT reach altered states through different doors. That is why researchers call salvinorin A an “atypical” hallucinogen (Doss et al., 2020): its effects overlap with the classic psychedelics in some ways, but its chemistry and receptor target do not.

What do controlled studies report about the experience?

Salvinorin A in the lab

The first modern controlled study, at Johns Hopkins, was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 4 healthy adults who had used hallucinogens before. Effects rose and fell in an orderly way with dose. Scores rose on questionnaires for mystical-type experience and on a scale built for classic hallucinogens. Participants described disruptions in balance and body signals, such as a change in spatial orientation or pressure on the body, and recurring themes including childhood memories, cartoon-like imagery and contact with entities (Johnson et al., 2011). Evidence: preliminary, from 4 people.

The expanded study, with 8 participants, found intense effects, with maximal strength ratings or unresponsiveness often seen at the higher doses. Salvinorin A also produced dose-related dissociative effects and impaired memory for words heard during the effects. Participants said it was qualitatively different from other drugs, and all of them reported encounters with entities or beings. At one-month follow-up there was no evidence of lasting harm (MacLean et al., 2013). Evidence: preliminary, because samples were tiny and everyone had prior hallucinogen experience.

A Spanish study of 8 experienced volunteers reported a disconnection from external reality, elaborate visions and sounds, and changes in body awareness: lower doses increased bodily sensations, while the highest led to a sense of complete loss of contact with the body (Maqueda et al., 2015). Evidence: preliminary.

A Yale study of 10 people who had used salvia before found perceptual and dissociative effects, rises in the stress hormone cortisol and in prolactin, no euphoria, and good tolerability without acute or delayed adverse effects in that setting (Ranganathan et al., 2012). A brain-imaging study found the default mode network was dampened at peak effects, a pattern its authors called “strikingly similar” to other hallucinogens (Doss et al., 2020). Evidence: preliminary.

DMT in the lab

The classic modern DMT studies came from the University of New Mexico in the early 1990s. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 12 experienced volunteers, intravenous DMT brought a brief, overwhelming “rush” and a sense of loss of control, then a dissociated state in which euphoria alternated or coexisted with anxiety. Visual effects were a rapidly moving, brightly coloured display; auditory effects were less common. The effects “completely replaced” ongoing mental experience and were described as more vivid than dreams or waking life (Strassman et al., 1994). Evidence: established.

A London EEG study of 13 people found marked drops in alpha and beta rhythms and rises in brain signal diversity under DMT (Timmermann et al., 2019). Evidence: preliminary, from 13 people. For the full range of DMT reports, see what does DMT feel like.

Both substances are associated in these studies with reports of entities, loss of contact with surroundings and experiences people find hard to describe. The main reported differences are in the body: salvia studies keep finding strong distortions of spatial orientation and body ownership, while DMT studies describe vivid, colourful imagery and a rush. No study has compared the two in the same people. Evidence: unresolved.

How long do salvia and DMT last in studies?

Both are short-acting in the lab, but the measured times come from specific study methods and cannot be applied to anyone outside a study. Our guide to how long DMT lasts covers the DMT timing studies in more depth.

• Salvinorin A, inhaled in a lab: strength ratings peaked at the first measurement, 2 minutes, and definite effects were no longer present at about 20 minutes (Johnson et al., 2011). Blood levels also peaked at 2 minutes and fell quickly, and tracked how strong people rated the effects (Johnson et al., 2016).
• DMT, intravenous in a lab: effects began almost at once, peaked at 90 to 120 seconds and were almost completely resolved by 30 minutes (Strassman et al., 1994). Blood levels peaked within 2 minutes and were negligible at 30 minutes (Strassman and Qualls, 1994). In the EEG study, intensity stayed significantly above placebo for 17 minutes and peaked at 2 to 3 minutes (Timmermann et al., 2019).

What are the known risks?

Salvia

The biggest reported hazard is loss of contact with surroundings. Health Canada’s analysis listed effects including hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, unconsciousness and short-term memory loss, adverse reactions including confusion, aggression and self-injurious ideation, and risks of injuries from dissociation or loss of consciousness and of impaired driving. It added that there is no way for an individual to predict what effect salvia will have on them (Canada Gazette, SOR/2015-209). Evidence: established as official guidance.

A 10-year review of California poison centre records found 37 Salvia divinorum exposures, 18 of them to salvia alone, with neurologic, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal effects. Using other drugs at the same time was linked to a high rate of complications (Vohra et al., 2011). A review with two case reports raised the hypothesis that salvia use could be associated with psychotic disorders, and said more research is needed (El-Khoury and Sahakian, 2015). Evidence: preliminary. Our guide on whether magic mushrooms can cause psychosis explains why case reports cannot show cause.

DMT

In the New Mexico study, DMT raised blood pressure, heart rate, pupil size and body temperature in a dose-dependent way, as well as several stress-related hormones (Strassman and Qualls, 1994). Volunteers also described anxiety alongside euphoria and a sense of loss of control (Strassman et al., 1994). These studies screened healthy, experienced volunteers and monitored them closely, so they say little about risks outside that setting. Evidence: established.

Ayahuasca contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) alongside DMT, which brings separate drug-interaction risks (Falchi-Carvalho et al., 2025). Our article on whether DMT is addictive covers the dangerous combinations, and our guide on mixing with alcohol, cannabis and other drugs covers others. Evidence: established.

What are salvia and DMT studied for?

Salvinorin A is mainly a research tool for the kappa-opioid system. The 2002 discoverers suggested kappa-blocking drugs might one day be studied for conditions involving perceptual distortions, and that kappa receptors play a prominent role in human perception (Roth et al., 2002). The 2013 Hopkins team wrote that the findings may ultimately have therapeutic applications (MacLean et al., 2013). That is a research direction, not a treatment: we found no completed efficacy trial of salvinorin A in patients in the sources we read. Evidence: unresolved.

DMT has reached small patient trials. A Brazilian open-label phase 2a trial gave inhaled DMT to 14 people with treatment-resistant depression and reported lower depression scores at one week, with no serious adverse events (Falchi-Carvalho et al., 2025). With no control group, that cannot show the drug caused the change. Evidence: preliminary.

A review cautions that there is not yet conclusive evidence of DMT’s efficacy in any disorder (Barker, 2018). DMT is also used in brain research because its short effects let scientists record whole transitions in and out of an altered state (Timmermann et al., 2019). Evidence: established.

Is salvia legal in Canada, and how does that compare with DMT?

Both are controlled, but differently. In the Justice Laws consolidation of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (current to 30 September 2026, last amended 18 July 2026), Schedule IV item 27 lists “Salvia divinorum (S. divinorum), its preparations and derivatives”, including salvinorin A. DMT is Schedule III item 7 (CDSA). Evidence: established.

The schedules matter. Section 4(1) of the Act bans possession only of substances in Schedules I, II and III, so possessing DMT is an offence unless authorized. Section 5 bans trafficking in substances in Schedules I to V, which covers both (CDSA). Evidence: established. See is DMT legal in Canada for DMT in detail.

When salvia was added to Schedule IV in 2015, Health Canada’s analysis said the change would prohibit production (including cultivation), trafficking, possession for trafficking, importing and exporting, and that “Simple possession will not be prohibited under the CDSA.” The order came into force 180 days after publication on 12 August 2015 (Canada Gazette, SOR/2015-209). Evidence: established for the 2015 text.

That gazette text predates later amendments to Schedule IV (the consolidation lists SOR/2018-70 among them) and any later regulatory changes, and we have not checked every regulation made under the Act. The current consolidated Act text above still limits section 4 possession to Schedules I to III. This is general information, not legal advice. For how penalties work for Schedule III substances, see our guide to psilocybin penalties in Canada.

What is still unknown?

• No study has compared salvinorin A and DMT directly in the same people, so claims that one is “stronger” or “stranger” are not tested (unresolved).
• Human salvinorin A studies have small samples, often 4 to 12 people per group, all screened healthy volunteers with prior hallucinogen experience (preliminary).
• How kappa-opioid activity produces visions and dissociation, and why it overlaps with 5-HT2A effects in some measures, is not explained (unresolved).
• Whether salvia use is linked to lasting psychiatric problems rests on case reports (preliminary).
• What DMT does naturally in the human body remains an open question (Barker, 2018).

For the wider picture of the mushrooms this site is about, start with what are magic mushrooms.

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