The Ranger Online

Issue date: 6/30/08 Section: Pulse

Media Credit: Andrea Marquise Head shops hand out free samples of low doses of salvia.

Media Credit: Andrea Marquise Chad Anderson, 20, pauses outside Planet K after purchasing a supply of salvia. He started using the herb after hearing that legislators were considering legislation to ban it.

Taking a puff of his Newport cigarette, 27-year-old Lamar Johnson described his experiences with a hallucinogen that altered his sense of reality.

"That stuff messes with your head," Johnson said. "It didn't last long, but it was a trip. I felt dizzy, and everything I touched and heard and smelled was like magnified."

But this high is different. The drug is legal and at least one Texas legislator is trying to change that.

Salvia divinorum, or simply salvia, is growing in popularity among teens and young adults. Different from but related to the garden plant variety of salvia, it gives users a short-lived high, which may include hallucinations.

Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson of Waco wants Texas to join the growing number of states that have outlawed salvia. The Republican has tried unsuccessfully to ban the drug in Texas and plans to try again during interim committee hearings in August in Dallas.

"The issue was first brought to my attention by a constituent, whose 14-year-old daughter tried salvia and came home hysterical," Anderson said. "After doing some research and talking to people who had tried this drug, I realized what a problem it was."

The state representative said his aim in regulating salvia is to protect the public because there are currently no age restrictions on the drug.

"It's tough for law enforcement to control because drug tests can't pick up any trace of salvia in the bloodstream," Anderson said. "Another concern of ours is the brightly colored packaging it comes in. It's almost like bubble gum, and that's part of what attracts the youth, but they don't realize how dangerous it really is."

Chad Anderson, 20, who is not related to the state representative, said he first tried the drug with his roommate after hearing on the news that Texas legislators were attempting to outlaw it.

"I figured, if it's intense enough that people are trying to ban it, I might as well try it while I can," Anderson said. "It's trippy: It makes you hear lights and see sounds. But after trying it, I don't think it should be made illegal."

Salvia, also referred to as "Sally D," "Diviner's Sage" and "Magic Mint," originates in Oaxaca, Mexico, where it's used for healing purposes as well as for an increased sense of insight, calmness and connection with nature.

Other side effects of the drug include hallucinations, a sense of loss of body, dizziness, slurred speech and dysphoria, or a sense of unhappiness, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Web site.

The intensity and duration of the high depend on the method of ingestion and strength of the dose, as described by Salvia Zone, an online distributor.

"There are five different levels, each with a different color," Anderson said. "I always use level five, the blue one called Infinity, for the strongest effect."

Frequent users describe their experience as a method of spiritual enlightenment, allowing them to observe themselves from an introverted perspective.

"It makes me think about myself in a way I'd never thought of before," Anderson said. "I felt like I was outside of my body looking in."

According to a National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report published in February, an estimated 1.8 million people 12 and older had used Salvia divinorum, with approximately 750,000 using it in the past year.

Twelve states have already placed restrictions on Salvia divinorum, and 13 more are considering restrictions, according to the DEA.

Salvia ranges in price from roughly $10 to $45 per half gram and is available online or over-the-counter from head shops such as Planet K, many of which even give out free samples. The state representative said the availability is part of what makes the drug so dangerous.

Trish Frye, Palmer Drug Abuse Program director, said salvia has not been around long enough for scientists or medical professionals to have any long-term research.

"I think it's safe to say that any substance that causes you to act so irregularly is harmful to the body," Frye said. "All you have to do is look on YouTube for videos of teenagers' shocking behavior while using salvia."

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the main users are teens and young adults, usually acting as a form of personal experimentation rather than as a party drug. Frye, however, disagrees with this explanation.

"Honestly, I don't buy the excuse that teens use this for meditation or anything like that," Frye said. "The majority of them just use it as a way to get high."

Salvia is most commonly smoked, but other uses of the leaves include drinking their extracted juices, using them to make tea or chewing them.

Johnson, who prefers to smoke the plant, was turned on to trying salvia by a prison guard as a legal alternative to marijuana.

"I don't see what the big deal is," the Philadelphia native said. "It's like hookah in that young kids just use it to feel like they're rebelling, while still following the rules. It makes you feel all giggly and goofy, and that's not what I'm looking for. Not anymore."

He said that although he first tried the drug six months ago and has used it multiple times, he didn't really like its psychedelic nature.

"It was a quick, trippy euphoria," Johnson said. "I guess I'd try it again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. And the aftertaste was awful."

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