Pubdate: Tue, 17 Feb 2009
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2009 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html
Website: http://www.newsobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Ryan Teague Beckwith
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/salvia

LAWMAKER FINDS A CAUSE IN A HALLUCINOGENIC MINT

RALEIGH - YouTube may prove the downfall of Salvia divinorum. For 
years, college students have used the hallucinogenic herb for a cheap 
- -- and legal -- thrill without attracting much attention. But with 
hundreds of online videos showing people smoking Salvia and 
dissolving into fits of laughter and hallucination, North Carolina is 
considering joining 14 other states that have outlawed it.

A bill proposed in the legislature last week would make Salvia a 
Schedule I drug, equivalent to heroin or LSD.

State Sen. Bill Purcell, a Laurinburg Democrat, said he has no 
evidence that the herb is being widely abused, but he is concerned 
about anecdotal reports of people who became violent or suicidal 
while using it. "Methamphetamine got out of control before we did 
anything about that," said Purcell, a retired pediatrician. "I'm 
hoping we can do something sooner this time." A member of the mint 
family, Salvia was traditionally used in religious rituals by the 
Mazatecs Indians of Mexico. It first became popular in the United 
States in the mid-1990s under names such as Magic Mint or Purple 
Sticky and can be found in head shops in Raleigh and Chapel Hill for 
as cheap as $14.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration currently regards Salvia as 
a "drug of concern" and is studying it. In the past few years, states 
such as California, Florida and Virginia have banned it outright, 
while Louisiana and Tennessee have restricted its consumption.

'It's just too intense' Not everyone thinks it's a serious problem.

Bryan Roth, a professor of pharmacology at UNC-Chapel Hill, has 
studied Salvia and its chemical derivatives to see whether they can 
be of use in developing anti-psychotic medication. He said it is not 
addictive and its effects typically last only about 15 minutes.

He said many regular users of hallucinogens say they do not enjoy it 
because it is too potent.

"Most people don't like it," he said. "It's just too intense." That 
was the experience of James Bonhotel, a 30-year-old bartender living 
in Wilmington, who decided to try Salvia after hearing about it from 
friends and reading about it on the Internet. He found the experience 
"strange and uncomfortable."

"After the initial high wears off in about two minutes, you are left 
with a hangover of sorts where you just don't feel right mentally," 
he said. Few reliable studies have looked at the use of Salvia. A 
scientific study published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence medical 
journal in 2007 showed 4 percent of students at a college in the 
Southwest had tried it at least once in the previous year.

By comparison, 35 percent of students in the same study reported 
trying marijuana. Attracting attention Bert Wood, president of the 
Partnership for a Drug-Free North Carolina, said he's concerned about 
Salvia, but he also doesn't want to attract too much attention to 
something that isn't really a major problem right now. "This could 
end up being like those books that the Catholic church bans and then 
everybody wants to read it," he said.

The partnership does not have a stance on the proposed legislation, 
but Wood said they favor limiting access to Salvia and other 
hallucinogens. Roth, the UNC researcher, said he does not think the 
herb should be sold over the Internet, but he said tougher 
restrictions could hurt his ability to continue research he believes 
could help victims of Alzheimer's disease, depression and schizophrenia.

"Outlawing it basically brings research to a halt," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom