EFFORT ON TO RESTRICT 'MAGIC MINT' SALVIA FROM MINORS

Salvia divinorum is getting a lot of attention.

One researcher found 5 percent of college students use the legal
hallucinogenic herb and began studying hundreds of videos on YouTube
showing users taking it.

Scientists tout it as a possible remedy for depression and bipolar
disorder and one is planning the first study of its effects on humans.

Lawmakers, including Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, are
introducing bills to make its use illegal for some.

The Adams bill would bar sales of salvia divinorum, commonly known as
salvia, to minors. He introduced the bill in January at the urging of
the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. It cleared the
Assembly by a 76-0 vote in January. The state Senate is expected to
consider it in late April.

If the bill is approved and signed by the governor, who hasn't taken
a position on it, California would join at least eight states and
eight countries that have restricted salvia divinorum or its active
component, salvinorin A. They include Louisiana, Illinois, Australia
and Spain. About a dozen more states, including New York and Texas,
are considering similar laws.

Scientists say salvia divinorum is nearly as potent as LSD.
Politicians, law enforcement groups and others who support
restrictions say they want to act before the drug becomes more
popular and leads to a tragedy.

"If you have the opportunity to get in front of an emerging drug, I
think, geez, you should do that," said Adams, whose district includes
San Bernardino and Redlands.

Some scientists who study pharmaceutical drugs don't oppose Adams'
bill but fear it could lead to laws further restricting sales of
salvia divinorum, making drug research more difficult. They believe
compounds derived from the plant's active ingredient could fight
ailments such as depression and bipolar disorder.

California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, an organization of more
than 2,000 criminal defense lawyers, opposes the bill because the
group says it criminalizes behavior without sufficient scientific
evidence, such as whether the drug is addictive or harmful to the
body. The group advocates public education about the drug.

How It Works

Salvia divinorum is an herb with white and purple flowers in the mint
family native to the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico.

That's the only place it's known to grow in the wild, said Daniel
Siebert, a medical botanist who lives in Malibu and has studied and
used salvia divinorum since 1991. He maintains a Web site with more
than 100 scientific articles about salvia divinorum, including about
a dozen he wrote.

The Mazatec Indians chewed the plant's leaves to heal medical
conditions or cure bad luck, Siebert said. Salvia divinorum is the
only one of about 1,000 salvia species, including some sold at
nurseries, known to have hallucinogenic effects, he said.

Salvia divinorum wasn't available online or at drug paraphernalia
shops until the mid-to late 1990s, when researchers discovered its
leaves could be dried and still produce a hallucinogenic effect, Siebert said.

The drug, also known by street names such as "Maria Pastora" and
"Sally-D," is either chewed or smoked, said Siebert, who has taken it
about 100 times.

When chewed, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to take effect and the
experience lasts 90 minutes before tapering off for another 90
minutes, he said. When smoked, the effects begin after 20 to 30
seconds and last about five to six minutes before tapering off for 20
to 30 minutes, he said.

The effect changes depending on the dosage, Siebert said. People
often use a low dose as a meditation aid, he said. With a higher
dose, users report seeing vivid colors and entering a dream-like
state, he said.

Selling and Controlling

Siebert sells salvia divinorum on his Web site. He doesn't sell to
minors because they are more likely to use the drug carelessly or
recklessly, he said. However, he said realizes it's impossible to
completely stop minors from buying online.

He supports Adams' bill and believes salvia divinorum should be sold
with regulations similar to alcohol and tobacco. He is critical of
online vendors that market salvia divinorum as a youth drug and a
substitute for marijuana. Some vendors warn buyers to stock up before
the drug is outlawed in the United States.

His buyers must click on a list of safety guidelines that state the
drug should be used in a safe, secure and private environment with a
sober sitter. The guidelines also include a line that states the user
takes responsibility for using the product and will not hold Siebert
liable for any mishap that may result from use.

Chuck Long, manager of Vishions Smoke Shop in Temecula, also supports
Adams' bill. He said it wouldn't impact business. He doesn't sell
salvia divinorum to minors because minors are not allowed in the store.

Store employees warn buyers not to drive after using salvia divinorum
and to take it in a secure area with a friend who is not using and
can monitor them, Long said. They do this to protect the customers,
many of whom are first-time users, who might not know much about
salvia divinorum, he said.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has received reports
about salvia divinorum that indicate there could be problems, said
Rogene Waite, an agency spokeswoman. She declined to comment further
because the agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are
studying whether to restrict the drug.

Some states, including Delaware and Missouri, have put salvia
divinorum in the same category as heroin and LSD. Adams' original
bill, introduced in February 2007, would have done the same. It
didn't make it out of committee.

Officials with the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino sheriff's
departments said they are aware of salvia divinorum, but that it
isn't a major problem.

San Bernardino County sheriff's Lt. Jerry Davis first spotted salvia
divinorum at a Yucaipa "head shop" in 2006. He decided to research
the drug and talk to some users.

"A gal said she had gotten into a fight with a set of mini-blinds,"
Davis said. "People were talking about a burrito on a table growing
legs and teeth and trying to attack them like a dog."

He compiled his findings and gave them to the department's
legislative liaison, Lt. Barbara Ferguson. She gave them to Adams.

Research With Salvia

A San Diego State University survey is one of the first to show how
prevalent salvia divinorum is.

It found that 4.4 percent of about 1,500 undergraduate students at an
unidentified large public university in Southern California reported
using salvia divinorum during the 2006-07 school year, said James
Lange, the university's coordinator of alcohol and drug initiatives.

That number is less than those who used ecstasy (5 percent) and
cocaine (7.1 percent) and more than those who used methamphetamine
(1.2 percent) or heroin (0.3 percent).

Lange wants to do a national survey of college students to see if
salvia divinorum use is more common in certain regions and determine
if use is lower in states that have banned the drug.

He is also using YouTube videos of salvia divinorum users for a study
describing the systematic affects the drug has on the body.

Lange and other researchers believe it is sensible to regulate the
sale of salvia divinorum to minors. However, they fear it could lead
to further restrictions that could hurt research efforts because
researchers would need to get permits to study the drug.

John Mendelson, a senior scientist at the California Pacific Medical
Center Research Institute in San Francisco, has studied salvia
divinorum for four years.

He expects to conduct the first study of salvia divinorum on humans
in the next couple of months to find out how much of the drug is
needed to produce an effect.

He said many scientists believe the drug has "real promise,"
particularly with treating mania, a disease often associated with
bipolar disorder that causes people to talk fast and do dangerous things.

"What's disappointing is there's this knee-jerk to make this
illegal," Mendelson said.