Quantitative determination of salvinorin A, a natural hallucinogen with abuse liability, in Internet-available Salvia divinorum and endemic species of Salvia in Taiwan.
Journal of food and drug analysis September 1, 2014 Po-Xiang Lin, Jih-Heng Li, Su-Hwei Chen et al. 14 citations
Salvinorin A, the hallucinogenic compound in the herb Salvia divinorum, was detected in internet-purchased samples of the plant but was absent from eight endemic Salvia species native to Taiwan. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, the study found no salvinorin A in any of the Taiwanese species, indicating they likely lack hallucinogenic potential. The findings suggest that while Taiwan's native Salvia plants pose no drug abuse risk from this compound, the recreational use of S. divinorum products available online warrants regulatory control measures similar to those in other countries.