The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

The Salvia divinorum FAQ
Mechoulam at the Hebraic University, Israel. Dr Mechoulam is one of the world's
foremost authorities on the chemistry of Cannabis. He tested the sample for activity at
this site and found it to be inactive.
Recently, in April of 1998, Siebert sent a sample to Dr. Jace Callaway at Kuopio
University, Finland. Dr. Callaway tested both the pure salvinorin A and a crude
methanol extract of the leaves for binding at the MK-801 site. This also came up
negative.
As of now, the mechanism of action for salvinorin A is still unknown. Discovering
which receptor site(s) it binds to will be an important step toward developing an
understanding of how this substance works in the brain. Once this is know, it will be
possible to look for endogenous ligands for these receptors, so that we can understand
in what way salvinorin A may relate to naturally occurring human biochemistry. It is
possible that salvinorin A does not act directly on any receptor site, but rather acts to
release some endogenous neurotransmitter from synaptic storage vesicles.
XI. DANGERS AND PRECAUTIONS
Q. Does Salvia cause a hangover? Are there any after-effects?
A. Most people do not feel unpleasantly hungover after using Salvia. A few people do
report a mild headache, bronchial irritation, insomnia or irritability. These symptoms
seem to be reported more often by smokers than by quid chewers, and perhaps might
be due to some combustion products, such as carbon monoxide rather than to
salvinorin.
Q. For how long after using Salvia is a person's ability to drive impaired?
A. Most people feel they can drive safely by 3 hours after smoking Salvia, or 4 hours
after chewing it. Many believe they can safely drive even sooner than this. The duration
of impairment after drinking the infusion might be up to 8 hours. But studies of the
duration of impairment, after taking Salvia by any route, have never been done.
Therefore it is a good idea to be extra careful when driving for a couple of days after
using Salvia.
Q. Does Salvia cause any physical damage?
A. There are no known health problems from oral Salvia use. However, it is known that
smoking tobacco is damaging to your lungs and may cause cancer, emphysema,
bronchitis, stroke and cardiovascular disease. These toxic side-effects of tobacco
smoking are not due mainly to nicotine but rather to combustion products (tars and
carbon monoxide), which are present whenever any type of plant material (e.g. Salvia)
is smoked. Common sense will tell you that smoking Salvia, or any material, can be bad
for your health. It is not known if Salvia can cause birth defects, but it is prudent to
assume that it could.
http://www.sagewisdom.org/faq.html (25 of 38) [04.09.01 10:18:59]