Pubdate: Tue, 16 Jun 2009
Source: Morehead News, The (KY)
Copyright: 2009 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.themoreheadnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4800
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Salvia
Boomark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Jimson
Author: Tonia Rose

DEADLY DRUGS EXPOSED

If parents didn't have enough to worry about with the ongoing pain 
pill epidemic, two new drugs have hit the streets and are causing 
serious hallucinations and even deaths.

Teens don't have to sneak into a medicine cabinet or find the nearest 
drug dealer, when two potentially deadly highs from plants are easy 
to acquire- and one could be growing right out the back door.

The Carter County Drug Task Force had its regular meeting recently 
while handing out literature concerning the use of Salvia Divinorum 
and Jimson Weed.

"We certainly don't need anything else out on the streets for our 
teens and anyone for that matter to get hold of," said Pastor Jim 
Varney, faith-based voice for ENOUGH and active member of the drug 
task force. "Parents need to be aware of these drugs and children 
need to know the side effects and what damage can be done to their 
bodies by using them."

In fact, both the Jimson Weed and Salvia plants are the emerging new 
trends among teenagers and adults from the age of 18 to 25.

What people may not know is that Jimson Weed is everywhere. In 
reality, it's a legal, mid October plant that can be found in pasture 
fields or alongside any roadway.

Jimson Weed, also known as locoweed, stinkweed or ditch weed, has a 
green stem with spreading branches and coarse leaves that are 
serrated along the edges, When bloomed, the plant has white or purple 
flowers, and after seeding takes place, the seeds are contained in a 
hard, spiny capsule about two inches in diameter.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, when 
eaten or brewed in tea, the Jimson seeds can cause severe 
hallucinations and other reactions including dry mouth, overheating, 
agitation and urinary retention. It can take up to an hour for 
someone to feel the effects, causing people to think it's not working 
and therefore overdosing after consuming a potentially deadly dose.

Poison centers recently reported that after a person is hospitalized 
from an overdose they often have hallucinations so erratic they are a 
danger to themselves. Most cannot urinate and require a catheter, as well.

Street names for Jimson Weed include Thorn Apple, Angel's Trumpet, 
Devil's Trumpet, Beelzebug twinkle, zombie cucumber, and mad hatter.

According to Richard MacKenzie, an emergency room physician in 
Pennsylvania who has treated victims of Jimson Weed poisoning, users 
are often called, hot as a hare, blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red 
as a beet and mad as a hatter. "Such patients are hallucinating up a 
storm, talking to people in the room who aren't there and removing 
imaginary bugs from their body," MacKenzie reported.

Although because of its anticholinergic properties and antispasmodic 
effects (substances that oppose the effects of acetylcholine, 
interfering with the passage of parasympathetic nerve impulses), 
extract from Jimson Weed is sometimes used in traditional medicine to 
treat a variety of illnesses such as asthma, intestinal cramps and 
both diarrhea and bed-wetting.

However, all parts of the plant (excluding extract) are toxic, which 
is a huge reason why only amateurs use it to obtain a high.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers also reported that 
in extreme cases of an overdose, the user could experience seizers, 
intense visual or auditory hallucinations or even cardiac arrest.

The weed contains chemicals such as atropine (poisonous crystalline 
alkaloid) and scopolamine (water-soluble alkaloid), which also can 
cause sensory deprivation, comas and respiratory arrest. The effects 
can linger for days and deaths have been reported by poison control 
centers across the nation.

Most Jimson Weed use is normally a one-time-only, thrill-seeking 
experience involving mostly young teens. Few statistics have been 
reported, but in 2005, 975 cases of poisoning were accounted for 
nationally. Jimson Weed is not a controlled substance.

Livestock owners also should be aware of the deadly plant. Although 
animals will avoid eating Jimson Weed whenever possible and even when 
forages are scarce, animals are reluctant to consume the plant. But 
if eaten, the danger is primarily in the consumption of the seeds 
that contaminate prepared feeds such as hay, silage, grains and 
processed feeds. The plants may become palatable after the 
application of herbicides, causing a risk of toxicosis in animals.

Once the plant is consumed, signs become apparent within a few 
minutes up to several hours. The alkaloids in Jimson Weed act on the 
central nervous system as well as the autonomic nervous system that 
controls bodily functions. Animals may seek water to drink, have 
dilated pupils, become agitated, may exhibit increased heart rate, 
tremble, become delirious, could experience hallucinations, have 
convulsions (which may be violent), become comatose, and possibly 
die. Consumption of Jimson Weed during gestation of animals may 
result in abortions or birth defects.

And if Jimson Weed isn't bad enough, another commonly used 
hallucinogenic plant is the Salvia Divonorum. It's one of the most 
powerful hallucinatory agents known to man and has gained attention 
of teenagers.

It's mostly used for two reasons being Salvia has intense psychedelic 
properties, which is why it's been exploited for centuries by the 
people of the Mazatec region of Mexico, according to Carnevale 
Associates, a Washington, DC based firm that offers guidance and 
practical solutions to governments, organizations, and communities as 
they confront the public policy and program challenges of the 21st 
century. The firm specializes in drug and crime policy, strategic 
planning and communications, policy-oriented data and research and 
government relations.

Salvia is ingested through chewing the leaves, drinking extracted 
juices or smoking dried leaves or inhaling vapors. The active 
ingredient in Salvia is Salvinorin A, which is the strongest known 
naturally occurring hallucinogen and as powerful as LSD. Some reports 
say it's the legal alternative to LSD or marijuana and might be the 
new Ecstasy.

In fact, Salvia is being sold over the Internet to curious adults and 
teens looking to get high, in extracts including 5x, 10x, 20x, 30x, 
40x and even 60x.

Although Salvia is illegal in Louisiana and Missouri, it's currently 
legal in all other states while its leaves and liquid extracts are 
sold openly on Web sites and in head shops (A retail outlet 
specializing in paraphernalia related to consumption of marijuana, 
other recreational drugs) across the nation.

Users of salvia report sensations ranging from spiritual and 
meditative to scary and uncomfortable. The substance targets a 
receptor in brain cells that affects consciousness and perception of reality.

Users report effects such as out-of-body experiences to feeling they 
have been turned into inanimate objects - like paint on the wall. 
Other users have reported experiences such as living another person's 
life, from birth to death.

"Kids just don't sit back and get the munchies with this one," said 
an Arkansas drug official in a recent press release concerning 
Salvia. "This is one of the most powerful hallucinogens known to man."

Effects of using Salvia include:

. Perceptions of bright lights, vivid colors and shapes . Twisting 
body movements . Uncontrollable laughter . Dysphoria . Sense of loss 
of body and lack of awareness of self . Confusion and madness . 
Overlapping realities . Hallucinations . A loss of coordination . 
Dizziness . Slurred speech

On the other end of the spectrum, chemists around the world are 
seeking to find out if Salvia could be helpful in treating diseases, 
before it's made illegal.

According to a web site that supports Salvia, its experiences cause 
relaxation and peaceful meditation. On the contrary, the web site 
also informs users they should never use Salvia alone due to the 
hallucinogenic impact.

Following a Salvia experience, one user wrote the following:

"It was my fifth time using Salvia and this time I was able to feel 
sensations I had never felt before. Suddenly all my questions were 
answered. I felt myself lifted out of my material self and fall 
through a tunnel of darkness that threw me in an empty room where I 
came face to face with myself but of when I was a child. We began 
dancing hand in hand as our arms twisted and turned in all 
directions. My child self spoke to me with a maternal voice that 
echoed as it answered my questions without me asking anything. 
Although it was me, face to face with my childhood self, it still 
didn't feel like me. It was such a reassuring experience as I came 
back to my material world."

The primary users of Salvia are male adults ages 18 to 25 with about 
750,000 children 12 or older using Salvia in the past year, Carnevale 
reported. Salvia has been associated with several deaths in the U.S., 
including a Delaware teen, Brett Chidester, who committed suicide in 
2006, while leaving behind a note that credited Saliva as helping him 
"find the meaning of life."

Salvia is currently under investigation by the DEA (Drug Enforcement 
Agency) for scheduling under the Controlled Substance Act.

However, many efforts to legislate the control of Salvia have been 
put on hold because the drug is classified as "non addictive" and 
surveys cannot prove Salvia to be the direct cause of violent crimes.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom