Study examines effects of Salvia

June 5, 2013

June 5, 2013 – Study examines effects of Salvia

In what is believed to be the first controlled human study of the effects of salvinorin A, researchers gathered a greater understanding of the effects of this unique compound, aswell as toward understanding of the kappa receptors in the brain. While the study indicates that Salvia does not have any short-term adverse effects in healthy people, researchers say that due to the small amount of volunteers (4) they are limited in their conclusions about the compound’s safety. The NIH-funded research was done with four mentally and physically healthy hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a safe medical environment.

“Everything we knew up to this point about the effects of this drug in humans, other than a few surveys or anecdotal case reports, comes from accounts on websites or YouTube videos,” Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., the study’s lead author, says. “Those are hardly scientific sources enabling a rigorous understanding of the effects of the drug. Even though the sample size in this study is small, we used an extremely well-controlled methodology, which provided a clear picture of the drug’s basic effects.”

It is to be hoped that studies such as this one will also prevent legislators from simply banning Salvia without valid reasons – other than seeing it a ‘substance of abuse’. What’s more, other recent studies have shown that salvinorin A – or a modified version of it – may eventually lead to medical advances in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain and drug addiction.

Read more: Joplin Independent: Study examines effects of new hallucinogen