Does Salvia Show Up in Drug Tests?

Question by Mike: Does salvia show up in drug tests?
I get tested by a rehab center for my probation who sends it to a lab. i live in ma. it’s a urine test my frend gave me some salvia will it show up? and is it still legal?

Best answer:

Answer by Xaphan
Neither salvinorin A (the active compound in Salvia) nor its metabolites (the substances it is broken down into by the body) are tested for in the standard drug test. The basic drug test, currently used for nearly all testing programs (corporate, school, sports & judicial), checks for the “SAMHSA-5”, and cannot currently detect salvinorin A.

Even the extended drug tests used by most companies do not test for the presence of salvinorin A or its metabolites.

Salvinorin A can be detected by more complicated lab tests:
1. by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in blood and urine [see http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?ID=7392 2008]
2. by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in blood, urine, and saliva [see http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?ID=7393 2005]
3. by high performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in blood and urine [see http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?ID=7394 2005]

These tests are more expensive than field detection tests and are uncommon.

In September 2008, the New York Times reported that the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology conducts approximately 50 tests a month, a tiny fraction of the population of enlisted men and women (see http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/us/09salvia.html?_r=4&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&).

Detection Period

The elimination half-life of salvinorin A is believed short (less than an hour in Rhesus monkeys according to http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?ID=6812 2005), meaning the detection window for salvinorin A is probably brief, i.e. less than twelve hours.

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