Sinicuichi is famous for being an Aztec ritual plant and is used by Mexican shamans as a tool for divination.

Sinicuichi has been compared to the effects of cannabis. There are many reports of auditory hallucinations. The natives of Mexico believed that sinicuichi has sacred or supernatural qualities, believing it helps them recall events which took place many years earlier; others say they remember pre-natal events or past lives. Recently conducted analysis has shown that Heimia salicifolia contains 16 different active alkaloids. These compounds include dihydrodecodine, cryogenine/vertine, lythrine, heimine, sinicuichine, lythridine, lyfoline, heimidine, anelisine, abresoline, demethyllasubine I, demethyllasubine II, epidemethoxyabresoline, sinine, vesolidine and nesodine. There are also studies showing that the alkaloidal precursor to cryogenine, the main active compound in Sinicuichi, is phenylalanine; phenylalanine is structurally very similar to dopamine and adrenaline, which may account for some of the reported effects of the plant.