Salvia is a natural herb used to experience hallucinogenic effects. Due to easy accessibility and the misconception that it is harmless, users have been an uprising. Salvia is not harmless. There are serious short-term effects, and the long-term effects require further research. Drug testing is one method to determine if someone is using salvia. That brings up a commonly asked question, how long does salvia stay in your system?
There are several routes of administration when using salvia. The leaves of the plant can be chewed, smoked, vaporized, or inhaled. The fresh leaves of the Salvia plant can be chewed, or the juice from the leaves can be extracted. The dried leaves of the Salvia plant can be smoked, vaporized, or inhaled.
As with any new drug, further research is needed to determine the long-term effects of the drug. It remains unknown whether salvia has the potential to lead to dependence and addiction. However, if often attracts repeat users. Salvia abuse can lead to serious health risks, the most dangerous being the inability to distinguish fantasy from reality. This can lead to dangerous behavior and is especially concerning for users who also suffer from mental illness. Individuals who suffer from mental illness are at higher risk for induced psychosis when abusing salvia. Other than the immediate dangerous short-term effects, the fact that the long-term effects of salvia are unknown is concerning.
Salvia is a relatively new drug and standard drug tests are not able to detect the active ingredient found in the drug, salvinorin A. People are often drawn to the drug, due to the difficulty to salvia in standard drug tests. As further research is being conducted, more drug testing laboratories are beginning to offer specialized salvinorin A testing.
Different drug tests are more effective with particular drugs. When determining which test is best, it is important to understand that additional factors that could influence the drug testing.
– User’s height and weight: the size of the user can determine how long the drug will be detectable in their system
– Amount of drug used: if higher doses of the drug are consumed it will remain in the user’s system longer.
– User’s metabolism speed: someone with a faster metabolism may have a shorter duration of time when the drug is detectable.
The window to detect salvia in a specialized drug test is rather short, on average about 12 hours. In some cases, salvia can be detected using these specialized drug tests up to 36 hours after use. A blood gas test has the ability to detect small traces of the drug weeks after use. Unlike most other drugs, hair follicle testing is not a method used to test for salvia due to how quickly the drug leaves the body. A standard drug test will not be able to detect the drug. Only three specialized drug tests can test for the active ingredient found in salvia, salvinorin A. These tests are uncommon and more expensive than standard drug tests. The three tests that can detect salvinorin A are:
1. liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in blood and urine
2. gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in blood, urine, and saliva
3. high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in blood and urine
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