Posted on 03/11/2008 9:39:31 AM PDT by bahblahbah
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — On Web sites touting the mind-blowing powers of salvia divinorum, come-ons to buy the hallucinogenic herb are accompanied by warnings: "Time is running out! ... stock up while you still can."
That's because salvia is being targeted by lawmakers concerned that the inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant could become the next marijuana. Eight states have already placed restrictions on salvia, and 16 others, including Florida, are considering a ban or have previously.
"As soon as we make one drug illegal, kids start looking around for other drugs they can buy legally. This is just the next one," said Florida state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, who has introduced a bill to make possession of salvia a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Some say legislators are overreacting to a minor problem, but no one disputes that the plant impairs judgment and the ability to drive.
Native to Mexico and still grown there, salvia divinorum is generally smoked but can also be chewed or made into a tea and drunk.
Called nicknames like Sally-D, Magic Mint and Diviner's Sage, salvia is a hallucinogen that gives users an out-of-body sense of traveling through time and space or merging with inanimate objects. Unlike hallucinogens like LSD or PCP, however, salvia's effects last for a shorter time, generally up to an hour.
No known deaths have been attributed to salvia's use, but it was listed as a factor in one Delaware teen's suicide two years ago.
"Parents, I would say, are pretty clueless," said Jonathan Appel, an assistant professor of psychology and criminal justice at Tiffin University in Ohio who has studied the emergence of the substance. "It's much more powerful than marijuana."
Salvia's short-lasting effects and fact that it is currently legal may make it seem more appealing to teens, lawmakers say. In the Delaware suicide, the boy's mother told reporters that salvia made his mood darker but he justified its use by citing its legality. According to reports, the autopsy found no traces of the drug in his system, but the medical examiner listed it as a contributing cause.
Mike Strain, Louisiana's Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner and former legislator, helped his state in 2005 become the first to make salvia illegal, along with a number of other plants. He said the response has been largely positive.
"I got some hostile e-mails from people who sold these products," Strain said. "You don't make everybody happy when you outlaw drugs. You save one child and it's worth it."
An ounce of salvia leaves sells for around $30 on the Internet. A liquid extract from the plant, salvinorin A, is also sold in various strengths labeled "5x" through "60x." A gram of the 5x strength, about the weight of a plastic pen cap, is about $12 while 60x strength is around $65. And in some cases the extract comes in flavors including apple, strawberry and spearmint.
Web sites such as Salviadragon.com tout the product with images like a waterfall and rainbow and include testimonials like "It might sound far fetched, but I experience immortality."
Among those who believe the commotion over the drug is overblown is Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit group that does research on psychedelic drugs and whose goal is to develop psychedelics and marijuana into prescription medication.
"I think the move to criminalize is a misguided response to a very minimal problem," Doblin said.
Doblin said salvia isn't "a party drug," "tastes terrible" and is "not going to be extremely popular." He disputes the fact teens are its main users and says older users are more likely.
"It's a minor drug in the world of psychedelics," he said.
Moreover, it's hard to say how widespread the use of salvia is. National and state surveys on drug use don't include salvia, and because it is legal in most states, law enforcement officials don't compile statistics, either.
San Diego State University last year surveyed more than 1,500 students and found that 4 percent of participants reported using salvia in the past year.
Brandenburg's bill would make salvia and its extract controlled substances in the same class as marijuana and LSD.
Florida state Sen. Evelyn Lynn, whose committee plans to study the salvia bill Tuesday, said the drug should be criminalized.
"I'd rather be at the front edge of preventing the dangers of the drug than waiting until we are the 40th or more," she said.
What amazes me is that some bright young genetic engineer hasn’t built into a common plant/microbe the ability to produce these drugs. Say, common blue grass that makes meth, or a rose that can make LSD.
Similar thread posted http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983825/posts
Oh, OK. I guess I'll just stick to huffing keyboard cleaner.
;-)<----better put that there or someone's bound to take that seriously.
I propose an experiment. I say we do not criminalize this new plant and see how it plays out. We can compare the cost and societal impact with the current marijuana system to see what the right way to run things it.
I’ll stick with San Pedro cactus.
There are at least 9 varieties of salvia listed in my Native Plants of Texas book. Wonder if there is any connection.
Saying walcrap has a garden center is similar to saying Zimbabwe has a space program.
Tried it once several years ago. Had an interesting and dynamic experience rehearsing an orchestra, hehehe.
You haven’t lived until you try it and conduct Wagner’s “Prelude to Act III of ‘Lohengrin’”.
How about some peanut skins?
I tried it once yrs ago-just got light headed-later a massive headache.The stuff sold now is a concentrated form.A co-worker recently tried the “new” form he purchsed at a headshop in Ybor City,and said it was the worst trip he’s ever had.Totally lost his sense of reality.It took his gfriend and two neighbors to get him down on the floor after he tried to run through a closed sliding glass door.Said he had to escape???Other than that,doesn’t recall a thing.Doesn’t sound like a fun trip.
So what they are saying is the WAR ON DRUGS is NOT working! It have has worked and it never will work. It's nothing more than a way to keep a revenue stream from drying up that almost every governmnet agency is hooked on!
Other then that you smoke it, salvia’s not anything like marijuana. It creates an intense hallucinogenic experience that last for all of 5-10 minutes, and then the effect goes away almost as quickly as it came.
"Salvia officinalis" is most commonly referred to as "sage" and I don't think the DEA is about to bust into every kitchen to ransack the spice rack.
Don’t be a snob - Wal-Mart has perfectly good hanging baskets at a very decent price, the most common vegetable plants, flats of pansies, etc. If you want anything exotic, such as Russian fingerling potatoes, you’ll have to order them online as I did. If Kennebec is good enough, Wal-Mart has apparently healthy ones. I say “apparently” because I won’t waste space on Kennebec, but they looked okay through the netting.
Did anyone ever actually try "Oregano sprayed with Raid?" That was one of the legends of my misspent youth, but even in those days I knew better than to smoke insecticide.
Yeah it kind of does. On what basis does this medical examiner make this judgment if the substance wasn't even present. For all he knows the kid could have ODd on Twinkies.
It seems like the doctor in question was trying to find a convenient, politically tractable reason for the kid’s suicide.
“He sometimes smoked drugs, egad that explains everything!”
Took my kid to visit the Univ. Of South Florida last year. After the campus tour they give you a bag with some marketing brochures. In one of the USF brochures was an ad for a head shop that listed Salvia as one of their attractive products. I had never heard of this drug until then. I couldn’t believe that a major University would have a ad from a head shop in their brochure. Needless to say, my daughter did not attend there. Didn’t even apply.
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