Sassafras is a street name for MDA, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, a synthetic stimulant and hallucinogen made from safrole. Sassafras is carcinogenic, and the FDA banned safrole for that reason.
Sassafras is close in effect to MDMA, or molly, because both act as a stimulant and a hallucinogen. Sassafras carries a range of side effects and long-term complications, and the carcinogenic risk is what drove the FDA warnings.
The sections below cover what sassafras does in the body, what an overdose looks like, and what makes this controlled substance dangerous.
What Is the Sassafras Plant?
Sassafras the drug is MDA, synthesized from safrole, which comes from the oil of the Sassafras albidum tree. The FDA banned safrole in the 1960s after researchers linked it to liver damage and cancer.
Sassafras reaches the street as a capsule, a pill or a powder. The drug is synthesized from safrole, and safrole comes from sassafras oil, which comes from Sassafras albidum, the sassafras plant.
People used the sassafras plant for centuries to treat gastrointestinal problems, coughs and infections.
Safrole went into sassafras tea until the 1960s, and into root beer as a flavoring agent. Researchers then found that safrole produces liver damage and cancer, which is why the FDA banned it. People have continued to make and use MDA and MDMA since.
What Does Sassafras Do to the Body?
Sassafras floods the brain with norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, producing euphoria, lowered inhibition and an energy surge within 30 to 60 minutes, alongside anxiety and hallucinations.
Sassafras acts on the neurotransmitters that govern behavior and mood. The effects begin between half an hour and an hour after ingestion.
The effects run physical and emotional. The common report is euphoria and excitement, lowered inhibition and a significant energy boost.
The mental and emotional effects also run the other way. Sassafras worsens anxiety in one person and produces hallucinations in another, meaning they see and hear things that are not there.
There are 6 physical side effects of sassafras:
- Raised heart rate, felt as pounding in the chest
- Elevated body temperature, reaching fever level
- Dangerously high blood pressure
- Heavy sweating
- Clenched jaw and ground teeth
- Nausea and vomiting
The effects of sassafras last 12 hours. Duration and severity depend on the amount taken and the person’s tolerance.
What Happens When Sassafras Wears Off?
Sassafras produces a crash of depression, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea as it leaves the system, lasting hours in one person and days in another.
Depression is the common experience as sassafras clears, alongside tiredness. The crash wears off within a few hours for one person and persists for a few days in another, and it produces vomiting and diarrhea alongside the low mood.
Can You Overdose on Sassafras?
Yes. A sassafras overdose produces dilated pupils, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat, confusion and vomiting, and progresses to seizures and loss of consciousness. A sassafras overdose is fatal. Call 911.
Sassafras is an illegal drug and carries overdose risk like other illicit drugs. Mixing sassafras with other substances raises that risk sharply, because the mixture makes the dose impossible to judge.
There are 5 signs of a sassafras overdose:
- Extremely dilated pupils
- Strained, difficult breathing
- Irregular heartbeat, felt as the heart turning over in the chest
- Confusion and drowsiness
- Persistent vomiting
Call 911 immediately where you suspect a sassafras overdose. Worsening symptoms produce seizures, and then loss of consciousness. A sassafras overdose kills.
Sassafras is also dangerous because it mixes easily with other substances. Sassafras laced with fentanyl produces respiratory arrest, meaning the person stops breathing. What sassafras has been mixed with is hard to establish, which makes the symptoms hard to predict.
What Are the Long-Term Effects of Sassafras?
Long-term sassafras use damages internal organs through raised body temperature, produces kidney failure and liver damage, and raises cancer risk with the amount taken.
Cancer is the reason the FDA banned safrole, and cancer risk rises with the amount of sassafras a person takes.
Rising body temperature damages internal organs directly. Sassafras produces kidney failure, and continuous use produces liver damage alongside it.
Research continues on whether sassafras is addictive. Tolerance builds with use, which means a person takes more to reach the same effect.
Sassafras is dangerous for anyone and sharpest in a person with other health conditions. Reach out for help where you or someone you know has been taking sassafras.
Where Can You Get Sassafras Addiction Treatment in Tampa?
Riverside Recovery of Tampa treats sassafras and stimulant use disorder in Tampa, Florida, through individualized therapy, support groups and wellness programming.
Treatment for sassafras use starts with a plan built around the individual rather than a fixed program.
Riverside Recovery of Tampa runs programs for people with substance use disorder, covering individualized therapy, support groups and wellness activities that rebuild overall health.
Call us today to speak to a member of our admissions team and learn how treatment for sassafras use starts.