MEXICAN MIND BENDER LIKE A LEGAL LSD, SAY USERS

New Zealanders are getting "legal highs" on a mind-bending herb from
Mexico that gives LSD-like hallucinations. Experts warn that salvia
divinorum users can suffer frequent flashbacks, with effects similar
to post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Britain is considering banning the drug.

NZ police are still unfamiliar with the drug and Health Ministry
officials say it is not classified because it is not available here.

But local suppliers, who know salvia as Mexican Tripping Weed - its
overseas names include Lady Salvia or the "magic Mexican mint" - say
it has been in NZ for nearly three years and is as potent as any
illegal hallucinogenic.

One supplier at an Auckland outdoor market said that he recently
pulled salvia off his shelves because it was "too out there" and too
many young people were buying it.

Another said the shop had sold out and she was not sure when more
would arrive. A third promised to post the drug to the Herald
overnight.

Salvia is a type of sage used for thousands of years in Mexican
Indian rituals and is imported by James McNee, the Timaru distributor
of Fantasy-type drug One4B.

Mr McNee said salvia gave a psychedelic experience - memory flashes
or dream-like sensations.

He claimed the drug was cheap in NZ, selling at $10 a gram compared
with =A380 ($275) for an enhanced version in Britain.

Salvia was short-acting - about five minutes - but "an experience,"
like taking LSD or Magic Mushrooms, said Mr McNee.

He knew of longer-lasting formulas of the herb that were available
over the internet for $60 a gram.

In nearly three years of selling salvia, demand had been steady -
200g a month - mainly to herb shops, although sales had picked up
since publicity over One4B. Buyers were usually aged over 18 and
experimenters.

Mr McNee said salvia would never become a party drug. "It's one you
would smoke by yourself under some trees."

Experts say users are risking their minds and perhaps their lives.
The plant leaves are often impregnated with the hallucinatory
ingredient salvinorin A to make it up to 20 times stronger.

"When you take salvia you are playing with fire," said Dr Tim
Kendall, of Sheffield University in England.

"People can be very damaged in terms of their personal functioning.
They frequently have flashbacks that intrude into their life, which
can be almost like a post-traumatic stress problem after very bad
experiences."

Detective Sergeant Tony Quayle, of the National Drug Intelligence
Unit, said police were not bothered by the herb. "We understand it is
very mild and less [potent] than cannabis."