BILL WOULD SET LEGAL AGE FOR SALVIA

California Senate To Decide Whether To Outlaw

A bill passed by the state Assembly, now in the state Senate, would
make selling the hallucinogenic drug salvia to anyone under the age
of 18 a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and
$1,000 in fines.

Salvia divinorum, not to be confused with the ornamental plants also
called salvia, has gained popularity among high school and college
students in recent years.

The drug, an herb in the mint family native to Mexico, is legally
available to people of all ages in California.

Though the high from the salvia leaf by itself, whether smoked or
chewed, is relatively short-lived and mild, the drug is much more
commonly used in a concentrated form that has far stronger
hallucinogenic effects, such as out-of-body experiences.

Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, introduced the legislation to
restrict the sale of salvia to minors. His bill would allow law
enforcement to stop the spread of salvia before it becomes a greater
source of drug abuse among teenagers, he said.

"The drug Salvia divinorum has very dangerous and potentially
life-threatening consequences," he said.

Adams expects the bill to arrive at Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk in a few months.

It is important to distinguish between salvia leaves chewed by
natives and the chemically concentrated form that can increase the
drug's potency by 10 or 15 times, said Dr. Charles Grob, director of
child and adolescent psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

A small dose of the concentrated form of salvia induces a unique
hallucinogenic state unlike that caused by other hallucinogens, he said.

"When you smoke the potentiated plant, people experience a very, very
bizarre state. They become very dissociated, they have out of body
experiences, they merge with the floor or a piece of furniture.
People become very frightened, agitated or confused," said Grob, who
has studied hallucinogenic drugs.

Grob said that though he in no way recommends salvia use, he is not
convinced making it illegal to minors will protect them, because he
said an underground market with less quality control will emerge.

"What I do support is better efforts at education and research. We
know very little about this," he said.

Compared to other recreational drugs, the medical effects of salvia
are not well-understood, Grob added.

Because of this, according to a statement from Assemblyman Adams'
office, some opponents of restricting access to the drug worry it
would hinder scientific research on medical uses of salvia.

But Adams said the risks posed by salvia, such as losing of control
of one's body, are too great to postpone the legislation.

"The long-term effects are not known, but the short-term effects are
all too evident," he said.

Dr. Howard Samuels of Wonderland Treatment Center in Hollywood Hills
testified before a Senate committee in Sacramento last week, and he
sees firsthand how salvia, often in combination with other drugs,
affects lives. He strongly advocates making salvia illegal.

"It is so unpredictable and dangerous that you actually need someone
to sit with you to make sure you don't harm yourself, and yet this
drug is legal," he said, adding that by allowing salvia to remain
legal, "the federal government and the state government is saying
this is safe, which is a joke."

Matt Nazareth, cofounder of the UCLA chapter of Students for Sensible
Drug Policy, a group that advocates for students who have lost
financial aid because of drug-related crimes, said that though his
organization has no formal policy on salvia, he expects members of
his group would support Adams' bill.

"Being under 18, you really aren't prepared for any drug at all,
especially a psychoactive one that messes with your mind a lot like
salvia does," he said.

Salvia use among college students and teenagers is part of a larger
drug abuse problem our society needs to address, Samuels said, adding
that drug abuse should not interfere with education.

"That's not why people are supposed to go to college, that's not one
of the reasons people are supposed to go to high school, but that's
one of the issues that every kid that goes to college or high school
has to face," he said.