Salvia Madness! (Redux)
November 12th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, a Waco Republican, is re-filing a bill to criminalize the hallucinogen Salvia divinorum — aka Sally D, aka Magic Mint, aka A Popular Way to Cope with Waco.
House Bill 126 would make possession of less than 28 grams of Salvia a Class A misdemeanor, adding the plant to a long list of banned substances including barbiturates, LSD, and peyote.
As Anderson tells it, the idea to ban Salvia came from the members of a Waco-area church, who got it into their heads that Salvia comes straight from the devil. At a painfully long and awkward hearing last year, the church’s pastor urged lawmakers to pass Anderson’s bill “now instead of after we have caskets that are piled up.” One young girl — prompted by the pastor — testified that she knew a boy who had tried the hallucinogen and “saw the gates of hell.” And Anderson saw the light. Since the hearing last year, the lawmaker has been relentlessly crusading against Salvia, holding hearings outside of his district and padding his campaign Web site with stories about the plant.
At present Salvia is sold legally in head shops and over the Internet. The herb’s popularity has grown but users and experts believe it’s virtually impossible to become addicted. As I reported on Anderson’s 2007 anti-Salvia bill:
“There is very low risk of abuse for this drug; there is no risk of addiction,” says Tracey Hayes of the ACLU. “From what we can tell, the toxicology of [Salvia] is not dangerous. This is more about criminalizing altered states.”
The biggest deterrent to Salvia abuse is apparently the plant itself. As a trip, users and experts say, Salvia can be about as much fun as smoking clothesline.
“Salvia divinorum is not a pleasant drug,” Hayes says. “Its effects are short-lived but often extremely uncomfortable. It would surprise me if teenagers were abusing salvia.”
Steve Brudniak, a middle-aged psychedelic enthusiast in Austin, compared the 5-to-10 minute experience to “the ride at AstroWorld that makes you dizzy.” It’s something most people try just once or twice for kicks. Indigenous people in Oaxaca, Mexico, have used Salvia for centuries for medicinal purposes, and some American scientists have flagged the herb’s psychoactive ingredient as promising for treating disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.
November 15th, 2008 at 9:47 am
There’s absolutely NO WAY that salvia should be legal. It is the most potent hallucinogen known to man. Why the DEA and FDA haven’t gotten on with regulating this is beyond comprehension. Just read below if you have any doubts it should banned worldwide.
Psychosis in woman dosed with Salvia divinorum
November 14, 2008 4:36 pm admin human
A recent report by Michael Paulzen and Gerhard Gründer (”Toxic Psychosis After Intake of the Hallucinogen Salvinorin A” J Clin Psychiatry 69(9): 1501-1502, 2008) describes a sad case of an 18-year-old woman who developed psychosis within a week of unwittingly ingesting Salvia divinorum. Unsurprisingly (and rightfully so, I think), this case has received some media attention, such as in this SF Chronicle article.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:29 am
It’s the end of salvia.