The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

The Salvia divinorum FAQ
Attempts to extract salvinorin by amateurs are fraught with danger including solvent
toxicity, fire, explosion and overdosing. This FAQ will not give recipes telling how to
extract salvinorin; but if you are willing to study source material the procedures are
published in the scientific literature.
If you want to learn about salvinorin, its effects and its chemistry a good place to start
is: J Psychoactive Drugs 1994 Jul;26(3):277-283 Salvia divinorum and the unique
diterpene hallucinogen, Salvinorin (divinorin) A. Valdes LJ 3rd.
also see these:
Siebert DJ. 1994. Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A: new pharmacologic findings.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology. June;43(1):53-56.
Ortega, A. et al. 1982. Salvinorin, a new trans-neoclerodane diterpene from Salvia
divinorum (Labiatae). Journal of the Chemical Society Perkins Transactions. I 1982:
2505-2508.
Valdés III, L.J. et al. 1984. Divinorin A, a psychotropic terpenoid, and divinorin B
from the hallucinogenic Mexican mint Salvia divinorum. Journal of Organic Chemistry.
49: 4716-4720.
Q. How does salvinorin work in the brain?
A. Nobody knows.
Q. In what parts of the brain does it act?
A. This is not known for sure but from the subjective and behavioral effects it can be
surmised that salvinorin is almost certainly affecting the limbic system, and may be
affecting somatosensory (parietal lobe), cerebellar and vestibular function as well.
Q. Does it act at any receptors where other drugs act?
A. In 1993, Daniel Siebert sent a sample of salvinorin A to Dr. Dave Nichols at Purdue
University, USA. Dr. Nichols was involved in an NIMH funded research program,
which enabled him to have the material exhaustively screened by the commercial bioreceptor
screening service, NovaScreen. The screening results showed no significant
competitive inhibition of reference target compounds at any of the 40 receptor sites
tested and exhibited no inhibitory effect on MAO-A or MAO-B. The receptor sites
tested included those effected by most other major psychoactive drugs. (Siebert, D.J.
1994. Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A: New pharmacologic findings. Journal of
Ethnopharmacology. 43: 53-56.)
Some people claim that the effects of low doses of salvinorin are similar to Cannabis
and have suggested the possibility that like THC, salvinorin A might bind to the
anandamide receptor site (CB1). This site had not been looked at in the NovaScreen
study, so in 1998, Siebert submitted a sample of salvinorin A to Dr. Raphael
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