Is Salvia the Next Marijuana?
Tue, Mar 11, 2008 2:31 pm
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.
It is not the same as the ornamental garden plant known as Salvia.
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 planned 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.










» add a comment
mikeeinstein
May 9 2009, 3:31 pm
kyrell said nothing to indicate that he believes the world owes him anything.
it is a uniquely republican attitude to suggest that someone should leave this country if they are not satisfied with the way things are and dare to exercise their right to speak their opinions. it is also an anti american attitude which is a big part of the reason more republicans are run out of office with each election.
salvia and pot in themselves pose no risk to anyone except possibly the user. there is no reason for them to be illegal in a free country. if republicans practiced what they preach, they would agree, but they are far more interested in making sure nobody is having any fun. we would be better off without them. certainly more free.
big guy
Apr 5 2009, 12:16 am
kyrell kosanke
Mar 25 2009, 4:43 pm
Marijuana definitely still is the sacred herb and is one of the best to find truth, besides hallucinogens, and it should be legal. The people who are controlling and manipulating us are just taking more steps in it.
Well FUCK THAT.
I know my rights and everyone elses
we have every right to use WHATEVER substance we choose
especially when they are natural.
This systems fucked up, but is going down
I have faith
keep the faith
and fight for what you believe in
peace
anonymous
Mar 9 2009, 1:00 pm
salvia is NOT fun your first trip. i baught a 10x vile for 25 bucks and shared it with about 15 friends, you dont need a 40x or 50x your first time thats a good 70-90 bucks. go pick yourself up an oz. All it takes is one full bowl all to yourself, hold your hit for about 20 seconds and your trippin before half that hits out. every single one of those friends simply said,i just wanted reality to come back, or what happend wtf just happend.
my trip was sitting on a bench staring down the strings of a guitar like guitar hero vision. uncontroably laughing and unable to talk, i forced my mind to jump off the bench and crawl away. from there i got up and ran to my car. i litterally left my high on the bench call me what you want.... but i will never smoke salvia again. somebody said it lasts 50 mins or so? no its 5-15 max
i will add..
YOU CANNOT DRIVE WHEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF SALVIA,i know not your first trip and probably not till youve smoked it 100 times
IT DOES IMPAIR YOUR JUDGEMENT. it makes you retarded it takes your judgement abilitys AWAY
LEGALIZE WEED
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK SALVIA!
Raskonikov
Jan 21 2009, 10:34 pm
-I never tryed Salvia but probebly will in the future.
-I herd theres an other world on the other side.
- Why cant we see whats on the other side? We should have the right. no?
-Its clear that it (the trip) doesnt last long, so theres no worries about driving on the influence or any other danger.
-They still havnt found anything wrong with weed that is alarming.
So whats the big deal?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?1
mikeeinstein
Jan 11 2009, 5:25 pm
i am tired of having my right to catch a buzz infringed because teenagers might use it. teenagers are going to get drunk and high regardless of the law so this only turns otherwise law abiding adults into criminals.
it is time for the government to stop worrying about protecting us from ourselves, they have their hands full with other things.
by the way, i am an army soldier stationed in new york. neither the army nor new york regulate this plant. yet.
pot head
Jan 4 2009, 1:14 am
Kyle
Oct 28 2008, 5:15 pm
That is because you don't know anything about communism. Communism, before degenerating into a totalitarian dictatorship is decent. We are heading straight for dictatorship, no communism, but maybe a form of socialism where everything is nationalized. Also, we don't tax even 39%, that's very very low taxes(see Denmark, and its 60+% taxes). I hate that Americans don't even understand the good points(though, more taxes may be good considering the rate of the debt climb)of living here, they just rant and whine like a bling person firing a machine gun; sometimes they hit a target, sometimes they miss completely. There was both in the above quoted paragraph.
I urge you all to vote for a third party, rather then one of the two that have controlled and fucked us over, over and over again.
Buy Salvia
Oct 19 2008, 6:21 pm
cbisqiut
Sep 13 2008, 12:05 pm
NICK
Aug 6 2008, 10:38 pm
annonymous
Aug 5 2008, 8:49 pm
jon789
Jul 17 2008, 3:20 am
cmr410
Jul 17 2008, 3:14 am
shaman
May 21 2008, 7:29 pm
shaman
May 21 2008, 7:21 pm
PEACE - By the way, I don't mean goodbye, I mean PEACE. This is something we all need to start being a part of starting with ourselves, than our local community than our nation and then the rest of the world but don't get me wrong everyone needs it and if you feel like waging peace in some other country first go right ahead. It's better than nothing.
james
May 10 2008, 10:40 pm
you cant compare salvia to weed its much more intense
pot&rock&roll
May 10 2008, 10:38 am
"Those willing to give-up freedom for security deserve neither."
Benjamin Franklin
Sean
Apr 25 2008, 8:02 pm
Bigdaddyphatsacks
Apr 18 2008, 9:26 pm
Sad4society
Apr 4 2008, 1:24 am
ArmySoldier666
Apr 2 2008, 12:59 pm
here
Mar 29 2008, 8:15 pm
The potentcy of a drug is defined by the ammount of a substance used to achieve a therapeutic effect.
okla420
Mar 29 2008, 5:11 pm
Now I have read that Salvia is the strongest naturaly occuring hallucinagin but even that is relative...psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline cacti and yopo snuff are all quite powerful as well.
okla420
Mar 29 2008, 5:09 pm
wtf
Mar 28 2008, 11:15 am
Bear
Mar 25 2008, 8:05 pm
You save one child and you send the other four to jail. I've had my fare share of the criminal justice system and all i have to say is "Sorry for smoking pot. NOT."
Concerned Citizen
Mar 25 2008, 5:41 pm
Salvia is indeed stronger than any other hallucinogen. Salvinorin A is the strongest hallucinogen in the world. That's not up for debate. They're very different. It's not like a 5-minute acid trip, it is like a 5-minute salvia trip.
Crib.....MassHaze
Mar 16 2008, 1:18 am
82 percent of the population believes marijuana use to be stupid. Of that same population 74 percent believes that, the drug war has and is a failure. That doesn't make sense. How they are doing this, I'm exactly sure, but they are winning to a certain degree. Public research is our best friend. The government will not for one second tell you anything good they find out on cannabis use, we should have a right to know what our government is doing but we don't.
I usually try to keep these short so people will read my responses, but I want to clarify "sort of" what I meant. I didn't see that the article came from a university or I would have laughed, but I'm sure his/her information came from somewhere more reputable. I just happened to glance over it one day and decided to post it, I rarely take notice to those ignorant articles. Take it easy, Peace.
well,
Mar 14 2008, 8:59 pm
MassHaze...Crib
Mar 14 2008, 5:56 pm
Go on to erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis.shtml if you want to see the straight statistics of toxin levels present. Hell, they even have a comparison per weight of how much either tobacco or marijuana has. At least they did last I checked, so dont get pissed if they removed it this week for whatever reason.
Believe me, 1 jacksonville university student is not going to bring down the marijuana legalization crowd. Science is backing the legalization movement, not hindering it.
Okla420
Mar 14 2008, 5:29 pm
There is no way in hell you can tell me Salvia is stronger then LSD or Psilocybin mushrooms. Comparing Salvia to the other two is like comparing Smirnoff ice to a bottle of mescal tequilla.
And to the guy who posted just below...I agree whole-heartedly..Mescaline is just awesome.
Why You So Stupid?
Mar 14 2008, 3:14 pm
macdaddy
Mar 14 2008, 11:01 am
Crib.....MassHaze
Mar 14 2008, 8:03 am
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n229/a05.html
i_blow_clouds =D
Mar 14 2008, 2:35 am
u could never replace weed
Legalize Thc High
Mar 14 2008, 2:18 am
Does the Army allow troops to toke weed?
Awesome...
shitpoop
Mar 13 2008, 11:09 pm
try some dmt if you want to trip for ten minutes
personally give me some lucy or some mush and i'll be happy
san pedro amigo
san pedro
runkpock
Mar 13 2008, 5:32 pm
kinder
Mar 13 2008, 5:21 pm
Bowler
Mar 13 2008, 4:37 pm
bud smoker
Mar 13 2008, 4:23 pm
tell your friends
MassHaze
Mar 13 2008, 3:46 pm
It could be wishful thinking, but this is a smear campaign on marijuana. Facts no longer help their cause because there are no facts that support their ideas. Hell, even the Drug Free America website has votes showing that drugs are more or less "victimless".
This almost seems like a winning problem. They are only going to get it illegalized if their community learns nothing of salvia before the vote.
Anslinger
Mar 13 2008, 3:11 pm
$
Mar 13 2008, 11:16 am
You'll see that shit everywhere and people will make some $$ selling it!! Wait and see!!
What a bunch of dumb fucks we have making laws.
to Ray
Mar 13 2008, 9:53 am
I think you're making shit up just to throw some "wannabe nazi government" bullshit around .
Get a life .
Ray
Mar 12 2008, 8:57 pm
if this wannabe nazi government illegalizes salvia, then they will in turn be illegalizing my religion
this is all another governmental ploy to make more money by charging us fines and court costs to defend our right to use salvia
Ben
Mar 12 2008, 7:12 pm
okla420
Mar 12 2008, 6:47 pm
Personaly, I think Salvia and use of it is dumb outside of it's original use by indiginous peoples but making this "illegal" is just going to make teenagers want to try it more then when it was "legal".
Marlin Angela
Mar 12 2008, 4:34 pm
obodacious1
Mar 12 2008, 3:42 pm
TripsteR LoK
Mar 12 2008, 3:42 pm
ArmySoldier666
Mar 12 2008, 3:07 pm
I love the ganja gods and ganja and my wife and unborn baby
Htown Shmoker
Mar 12 2008, 11:40 am
i love you
Anything....
Mar 12 2008, 9:15 am
thawizud420
Mar 12 2008, 8:59 am
BiG R3D
Mar 12 2008, 8:46 am
hey "stupid" what the fuck u got against people makin a living? grow the fuck up
Seed in mind
Mar 12 2008, 12:24 am
markkkodelikkk
Mar 11 2008, 10:06 pm
america
Mar 11 2008, 7:14 pm
dun blowed clean off.
ADVERTISE
Mar 11 2008, 7:08 pm
stupid stupid STUPID!
Mar 11 2008, 6:43 pm
DJ 420
Mar 11 2008, 6:35 pm
Fatty!!!
Mar 11 2008, 6:17 pm
I smoked some 10x once
Mar 11 2008, 6:02 pm
once again
Mar 11 2008, 5:59 pm
"if you save one kid..."
YOU COULD SAVE MORE KIDS WITH EDUCATION THAN YOU COULD EVER SAVE WITH CRIMINALIZATION.
Concerned Citizen
Mar 11 2008, 5:56 pm
Suggs4Drugs
Mar 11 2008, 5:46 pm
It made me want to have a seizure.
But if they make it illegal, hell, Ill have yet another plant that I can make money off of.
blunt smoker
Mar 11 2008, 5:44 pm
blunt smoker
Mar 11 2008, 5:44 pm
potsa22
Mar 11 2008, 5:10 pm
bongzilla420
Mar 11 2008, 4:59 pm
ArmySoldier666
Mar 11 2008, 4:36 pm
If you didnt read the article why comment. Its pointless to contribute the fact that you didn't read the article but you feel your opinion is right. We need to fight this because now the gestapo wants to make another freedom illegal. Pretty soon we wont even be able cuss without being thrown in jail.
Buzz Ard
Mar 11 2008, 4:05 pm
Thy Ginava Ninjalette
Mar 11 2008, 3:48 pm
I had a similar wall creeping experience when I shroomed for the first time. I climbed up our bathroom wall and crawled between the wall and ceiling into the apartment above us, then went into the living room, where our christmas tree was folding in on itself like waves of color. Not to mention our black cat decided to take on a few new colors of her own. Twas a great experience indeed. But then again, i haven't tried salvia, though my fiance's brother has and said it was almost exactly like shrooming, cept he didn't feel the heavyness you get with the capped wonders.
SmoKinTheIndustry
Mar 11 2008, 3:41 pm
SmoKin The Industry
Mar 11 2008, 3:40 pm
shiesel
Mar 11 2008, 3:21 pm
Htown Shmoker
Mar 11 2008, 3:10 pm
smoke weed everyday.
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