Legal hallucinogen allowed

By Kevin Karner

Thousands of videos on YouTube show bong-smoking teenagers tripping on the drug.

Since 2005, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana, Delaware, North Dakota and Illinois have banned it outright by classifying it as a Schedule I Hallucinogen, putting it in the same category as heroin, LSD, marijuana and ecstasy.

In the state of Minnesota, it can be found at any local paraphernalia shop to buy at the legal age of 18.

What is this mysterious substance?

Salvia divinorum, part of the Lamiaceae (mint) family, deriving its name from the Latin word salvare or “to heal.”

Grown primarily in Oaxaca, Mexico, salvia divinorum has been a part of Mazatec culture for centuries, used by Shaman during religious ceremonies.

Until the dawn of the internet, salvia was relatively unknown outside of its region of growth.

However, with the expansion of online media, it has found itself the main product of businesses across North America and Europe, being sold in as many ingestible ways as possible.

Currently, salvia is a primarily legal substance, found illegal in only Australia, Belgium, Italy and a few states. Salvia holds this liberty over other organic drugs since scientific studies and publications from specialty sources, such as the Journal of Substance Abuse and Treatment, show no actual short or long-term harm from usage.

But despite these findings, salvia is widely considered a hallucinogenic substance with effects comparable to LSD. When recently surveyed by the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, users experienced feelings ranging from mere mood improvement to hallucinations about physical transformation. One user even said she became a Ferris wheel.

The active hallucinogenic compound in the plant only comprises about .2 percent of its dried form. Salvinorin A is unique in the sense that there is no interaction with serotonin receptors in the brain, as found in most hallucinogens such as mescaline and lysonic acid, making the effects of salvia the only known and natural substance of its type.

Salvia is nowadays either purchased in seed form for gardening or in dried powder form for smoking.

Salvia can also be chewed in a liquid form or infused into liquid extract, but these methods are less popular and have milder, longer, hallucinogenic effects.

With smoking, the effects come on much more rapidly, within a couple of minutes, and they are gone in about 20 minutes. Several bong hits in rapid succession, each held in for about 20 to 30 seconds, generally is enough for effects. Said to be the most efficient method, the effects produced depend on the amount smoked and the potency of the leaf extract, which varies in price.

But with salvia’s growing popularity has come increasing concern.

In 2006, a Delaware teenager named Brett Chidester commited suicide in his home. With him was found a series of journal entries, one of them said, “Salvia allows us to give up our senses and wander in the interdimensional time and space. Also, that our existence in general is pointless. Final point: Us earthly humans are nothing.”

Chidester’s parents knew him to be a frequent smoker of salvia extract, and have publicly stated that they believe salvia divinorum contributed, though not exclusively, to his depression and eventual suicide. Despite evidence of any trace of salvinorin being found in Chidester’s system, Delaware’s deputy chief medical examiner, Dr. Adrienne Sekula-Perlman, altered his death certificate to include Salvia Divinorum as a contributing cause to his death.

Soon after, Delaware legislation passed a law that included salvia under Delaware Schedule I controlled substance, the federal equivalent to such drugs as marijuana, psilocybin and heroin.

Since the movement in Delaware, many states have pushed for similar legislation.

Representative Joe Atkins has brought up the cause in state congress. When interviewed by Minnesota Public Radio, Atkins said, “I’m merely asking for research to categorize it in the place where it’s most comparable to other drugs.”

Atkins is the author of a bill that would categorize salvia as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance, with legal repercussions for its use ranging anywhere from a year in prison to a $25,000 fine.

Atkins cited the bill as one to merely tie up a loophole, that he describes as the current legal status of salvia.

“The goal is to put it somewhere. Kids will tell you that they literally loose control of their body, when kids come down from the high, they sometimes come down with panic or depression. In my mind it has to go somewhere,” said Atkins.

The bill has made it through the public safety committee, and is currently being examined by state financial consultants to see if any monetary loss would occur if the bill passed.