The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

The Salvia divinorum FAQ
Q. Is Salvia addicting?
A. Although Salvia is not believed to be addicting, it should be borne in mind that some
very habit forming drugs including tobacco, heroin, cocaine and benzodiazepines also
were initially thought not to be addicting. No physical dependence on Salvia or
salvinorin has been reported. The usual usage pattern is not one of daily use. Indeed
such would be quite unusual. Withdrawal symptoms have not been reported.
Compulsive use is not something that SALVIA list e-mail members or others are
reporting. Episodes of excessive dosage have occurred, but such abuse is likely to have
very unpleasant consequences (panic, injuries, fires, falls, severe social humiliation,
etc.) and is unlikely to be repeated. It is quite unlikely that anyone using Salvia in the
traditional fashion (by chewing quids of leaves occasionally) will become 'addicted'.
Whether this freedom from addictive risk also holds for smoking leaves, smoking
extract enriched leaves, vaporizing powdered leaves or vaporizing salvinorin is
something only time will tell. Prudence and general health concerns would advise not
inhaling Salvia smoke (or vapor) into your lungs often.
Q. Can you take a fatal overdose?
A. No case of fatal salvinorin poisoning has been reported. The human oral lethal dose
is not known but is believed to be extremely high. Leander Valdes, III provided the
following information for inclusion in this FAQ regarding acute toxicity studies in
mice: "I tested Salvinorin A intraperitoneally in mice at very high doses and it
appeared to be not very toxic. This was long before the compound was being taken
orally and it was testing about as potent as mescaline in the assay I was using. In light
of the extreme potency of the compound, I think it quite possible and probably very
likely that it was not being well absorbed. I had it in a mix of corn oil, tween 80 (a fancy
emulsifier) and water. Dissolving the compound in solvents such as ethanol, acetone or
DMSO probably delivers quite a bit more drug to the body (I didn't use them because I
wanted an inactive vehicle). "
Swallowed salvinorin is not well absorbed. The chances of inadvertently swallowing a
lethal overdose of an oral preparation of leaves, slurry or elixir are extremely low.
If salvinorin is inhaled as multiple inhalations of leaf smoke or vapor one could
reasonably expect to pass out before he/she could take a lethal overdose. But
significantly, nothing is known about the toxic effects of smoking truly massive 'single
bolus' doses of pure salvinorin, such a practice might be quite dangerous, and should
certainly be avoided.
Although fatal poisoning from Salvia divinorum appears to be very unlikely to occur;
there is another type of lethal overdose --- one that kills not by poisoning but by
impairing judgment and survival instincts and causing fatal injury. If you smoked
salvinorin and then walked out of a ten story window you would be very dead indeed.
That's why sitters are needed when smoking or vaporizing high doses.
http://www.sagewisdom.org/faq.html (26 of 38) [04.09.01 10:18:59]