Is salvinorin *technically* an opioid?

[methoxetaman]

I know a) salvinorin is technically not anakaloid as it does not contain nitrogen;

B) traditional opioids bind to the mu-opioid receptors and salvinorin the kappa-opioid receptors...

C) Salvia has psychedelic effects, not painkiller effects you?d see in traditional opioids.

But it still is a kappa-opioid agonist.

Does this make it *technically* an opioid??

 

[Xorkoth]

It's a terpene, rather than an alkaloid. I believe it is technically an opioid too, yes, but I don't think anyone would think of it that way. The kappa opioid receptor is a whole different beast.

 

[Pfafffed]

Functionally, no, I don't think anyone would classify it that way. Technically, well...you'd better operationalize some definitions to work with. Academics will build careers on arguments over taxonomy or semantics. Technically, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, etc. aren't "berries." Technically, it's pumpkins, grapes, and avocados that are "berries," which is why no one cares about the opinions of botanists. ;-)

 

[methoxetaman]

Good comparison. I know there’s no way it could be considered an opioid functionally...

But I do love the technically stuff. Calling oumpkins berries and stuff

Thanks

 

[Solipsis]

They call it an atypical dissociative and it is an opioid technically but no not a traditional one.

Whether it is practical to call it an opioid depends on whether a situation calls for it to begin with but also whether the context is of discussing recreational / analgesic typical opioids in which it does seem weird to consider such an atypical drug as salvinorin an opioid... or a pharmacological context in which sure it acts on opioid receptors so is an opioid and only considering mu agonists opioids suddenly seems weird and prejudiced.

In general one context is not better than the other it is just situation dependent and it is never recommended to forget this or mix them up, even if it can be hard for people to switch between the two.

If you don't... it can easily lead to miscommunication / misunderstandings and wasting time on semantics. Unnecessarily focusing on labels can cause these problems anyway. Defining things well to understand the matter better is good, but again: don't forget context.