Over the last decade, Salvia divinorum has emerged from obscurity, with dozens of scientific papers now appearing each year. In the past year controlled human studies of the active compound, salvinorin A, have finally been published. Derivatives have been developed with increased potency and duration of action, while others have milder effects or altered selectivity. There have also been some disturbing recent reports of prolonged psychotic episodes in recreational salvia users. In this talk I'll give an overview of this recent research. I'll also give an insider's view of the amazing amount of red tape involved in this kind of thing.