Pubdate: Thu, 10 Nov 2005
Source: Muse, The (CN NF Edu)
Copyright: 2005 The Muse
Contact:  http://www.mun.ca/muse/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2656
Author: Ashley Bursey And Andrew Kelly

POWERFUL HALLUCINOGEN STILL LEGAL IN CANADA

FREDERICTON  -- Scott Christian likes to stand the required five 
metres from the front door of St. Thomas University's Rigby Hall and 
legally smoke one of the most powerful hallucinogens on the market.

Salvia divinorum is a tropical member of the mint family that can be 
bought in leaf or extract form. Smoking it induces a state of 
inebriation and it has the potential to generate a more potent buzz 
than many of its hallucinogenic counterparts. "I'm on the top of a 
building, and then I can see that I'm in a city setting, and then I 
jump from one building to the next, landing on the roofs," said 
Christian about his experience on the drug.

"I go to jump onto the third building and I don't make it. I'm 
falling. I can see all the windows flying past me because I'm falling 
down, and then I just start to fly."

The drug can be bought in local stores and sold to minors. Even in 
the United States, salvia is legal in most places. In Canada, there 
have been no moves to make the drug illegal.

"You could sell it to an eight-year old," Christian said. "Imagine 
seeing an eight-year-old tripping out on the side of the road."

Health Canada said salvia isn't enough of a problem to bother regulating.

"Neither salvia divinorum nor its main active ingredient salvinorin a 
are controlled under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act," 
Carolyn- Annik Sexauer of Health Canada said. "Internationally, 
salvia divinorum is not controlled under the United Nations Drug 
Control Conventions."

She says the drug has never been made illegal because users are 
rarely harmed or harm others.

"The plant's effects are short-acting and lack any known toxicity or 
health risks," Sexauer said. "No cases of dependency to salvia 
divinorum have been reported."

Health Canada's research into the drug included Internet scans, 
international reports of drug abuse by the World Health Organization 
and the International Narcotics Control Board, and contact with 
policing and drug organizations.

"Should evidence arise that suggests a significant risk to public 
health and safety, Health Canada will take action accordingly," Sexauer said.

An employee of Things, a store that sells salvia in a Fredericton 
mall, says it's not a party drug. It's only good for a brief, 
"lunch-hour" high.

The employee recommends users have someone present to make sure they 
don't hurt themselves during their high.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman