Salvia Divinorum: A legal herb, powerful like LSD, and available in UtahMethamphetamine. Cocaine. LSD. We've all heard how dangerous, even deadly, these drugs can be. But have you heard of salvia divinorum? It's an herb, but some call it the world's most potent natural hallucinogen.
Kathy and Dennis Chidester of Delaware say it took their son's life. They know their son Brett used salvia. But when they confronted him about it, he pointed out that it was legal and insisted it was not dangerous. But they say it caused him to commit suicide in their garage earlier this year.
Dennis said, "he was lying in the fetal position on his jacket. And right away, I felt his body was cold. And so I called 911 and said, my son -- you know, my son's committed suicide."
Kathy said, "there was no way that he would ever do anything like that. Not the son that I knew. Not the boy that we raised."
The suicide note Brett left behind talked about how he had learned the secret of life. And although medical officials dispute whether he died directly because of salvia, it has prompted legislation that has now banned the herb in four states.
But salvia is still legal in most states, including Utah. And it's something most parents have never even heard of. So ABC 4 wanted to find out how easy it is to buy it right in our own backyard.
Many wonder what could really be wrong with a natural herb that is actually a cousin of the sage plant. But some who smoke it say it can cause extreme visualization and hallucination, even intense laughter and meditational epiphanies.
That's why it's so important for parents to know what can happen when salvia falls into inexperienced or irresponsible hands.
A clerk in one Salt Lake City store that sells salvia said, "Salvia is based all on your threshold, so if you smoke too much of it, you have a bad trip. You either get a weird feeling or you get giggly and bubbly kinda like you would off of pot."
And here's how easy it is for anybody to get salvia right here in Utah. We sent an undercover buyer into the Wizards and Dreams store in Sugarhouse. The store clerk said, "I got some new salvia."
We found Purple Sticky Salvia, sold for $84.99. It's cleverly marketed as aromatic incense, even though the seller told us all about how to smoke it. He suggests having someone watch you when you do, that it's not safe to do alone. "Just make sure you have one person sober. Some people say the first time, oh, it didn't work so I took a second pull and it f---ed me up. So I've just been told to say it's a spiritual journey."
Around the corner, at Elemental Inspirations, we were also able to buy salvia, although the owner did ask to see an ID. Salvia is not supposed to be sold to anyone under the age of 18. This time, we heard about another person's wild hallucinations. "She took one hit of the 10x salvia and she was gone. She was like, oh it's a bad trip, oh my gosh."
A distant relative to the sage mint plant, salvia's primarily grown in Mexico. But today its sold at stores in the US. And more and more teens are finding they can buy it online.
Although technically an herb, the US Drug Enforcement Agency lists salvia as a "Drug of Concern."
Jason Mazuran, a narcotics expert with DrugTALK said, "I think it could be compared to LSD, some have compared it to peyote."
And while store owners told our undercover buyer numerous stories about salvia's mind altering effects, when ABC 4's Erika Edberg went in she got quite a different story. ABC 4 asks, "do you guys sell salvia here? Wizards and Dreams store owner responds, I don't. I used to and I discontinued it. I've actually discontinued it twice."
But when our reporter noticed it on display, the owner's story changed. "I didn't even know we had any left." He refused to talk about salvia on camera.
And while the woman at Elemental Inspirations told our undercover buyer exactly how to use it. You would take your one hit. You wouldn't pass it. You'd hold it. Exhale. Take your next hit. You'd take all of your three hits at once. It should be roughly three to five minutes by the time you get the pipe back, if you haven't automatically started hitting into the hallucination part you take your next one to two hits one right after the other without passing the pipe. When I asked I didn't get any helpful tips. "We don't want people playing with it or buying it as something to play around with. We want serious people who are looking to use it for its qualities."
And while answers like that and marketing ploys may fool some. Mazuran says, "the aromatic incense thing is, it's ridiculous. Come on. Everybody knows what's going on."
Drug experts say parents need to be more aware of salvia's potentially dangerous effects. Mazuran said, "the greater risk of salvia is not really the health effects but what people may or may not do or the choices they make while they're under the influence of that drug."
Because of Brett Chidester's death, the Delaware Legislature outlawed salvia divinorums use. Louisiana, Missouri, and Tennessee also have laws against salvia in their states. New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Alaska are currently considering proposals to ban it.
So what about Utah? ABC 4 called the state attorney general's office to see if any efforts were underway to make it illegal here. But the people we spoke with say they had never heard of salvia divinorum before. And it was only our inquiries that brought this dangerous herb to their attention.
So far, the Food and Drug Administration has not done any studies to determine the long-term health effects of salvia.
For more information about salvia divinorum:The US Drug Enforcement Administrations site lists the current classification of salvia divinorum:
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/salvia_d/salvia_d.htm.
Wikipedia has a history of salvia divinorum, how its used, its effects and more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_divinorum.
Erowid lists frequently asked questions, laws about salvia, the chemistry that makes up the plant and much more:
http://www.erowid.org/plants/salvia/salvia.shtml.
DrugTALK educates parents about the latest drug trends and dangers to their children. It also offers advice on how to talk with your child about drug use and some steps you can take if you think your child might be in trouble.
http://www.drugtalk.org/.
Link: http://www.abc4.com/local_news/featured_websites/story.aspx?content_id=3815A268-56DE-4356-85D5-C4A9F07A3FA5
