SURPRISE SURPRISE
Taken from the International Herald Tribune:
09/09/08
Until a decade ago, the use of salvia was largely limited to those seeking revelation under the tutelage of Mazatec shamans in its native Oaxaca, Mexico. Today, this mind-altering member of the mint family is broadly available for lawful sale online and in head shops across the United States.
Though older Americans typically have never heard of salvia, the psychoactive sage has become something of a phenomenon among the country’s thrill-seeking youth. More than 5,000 YouTube videos – equal parts “Jackass” and “Up in Smoke” – document their journeys into rubber-legged incoherence. Some of the videos have been viewed half a million times. Yet these very images that have helped popularize salvia may also hasten its demise and undermine the promising research into its possible medical uses.
In state after state, the YouTube videos have become Exhibit A in legislative efforts to regulate salvia. This year, Florida made possession or sale a felony punishable by 15 years in prison. California took a gentler approach by making it a misdemeanor to sell or distribute to minors.
Though research is young and little is known about long-term effects, there are no studies suggesting salvia is addictive or susceptible to overdose or abuse. Indeed, a salvia experience can be so intense, and at times so unsettling, that many try it just once, and even devotees use it sparingly. Reports of salvia-related emergency room admissions are virtually nonexistent, probably because its effects typically vanish in just a few minutes.
With little data at its disposal, the Drug Enforcement Administration has spent more than a decade studying whether to add salvia to its list of controlled substances, as is the case in several European and Asian countries. In the meantime, 13 states and several local governments have banned or otherwise regulated the plant and its chemically enhanced extracts.
One night in August, Nathan K., a 29-year-old father of three from Waco, stretched back in his blue recliner and took a long, purposeful drag from his pipe. As he closed his eyes, he found himself transported into a dream state, he said, as if drifting down a rain forest river. A beatific smile spread lightly across his face.
The effects dissipated after five minutes, leaving him with a sense of well-being. It was, he said, as if a masseuse had rubbed out the knots in his psyche. “Just a very gentle letting go, a very gentle relaxing,” Nathan said on the condition that he not be fully identified.
For the full article HERE
How stupid of dumb kids to post videos on you tube of them getting wasted with salvia. They obviously have no idea what damage they are causing, (wonder if any of them are being paid to give salvia a bad name??) or respect for the true value of salvia and the gift it brings to those who respect it and themselves.