LAWMAKER LOOKING TO OUTLAW SALVIA

Some Say Making Hallucingenic Illegal Will Boost Popularity

MESQUITE - A Republican lawmaker from Waco is driving a campaign to
criminalize salvia, an herb that can be bought legally but used as a
powerful hallucinogenic drug.

"Parents are totally oblivious to what is going on," Rep. Charles
"Doc" Anderson said Thursday at a public hearing about the drug.

Mr. Anderson introduced a bill during the 2007 legislative session to
criminalize the drug, but it failed to get out of committee. When the
Legislature meets again in January, he plans to introduce a new bill
that would at least make it a misdemeanor to possess the drug.

At the meeting he passed around a colorful 20 milligram package of
"Purple Sticky salvia" that sells for $20.99.

"It looks pretty innocuous," Mr. Anderson said. "You think it's a
benign product."

Salvia is legal in most other states, salvia is available for purchase
in at least a half dozen locations in the Dallas area, according to
local retailers. Smoked like marijuana or chewed like tobacco,
salvia's hallucinogenic effects begin within seconds and typically
last up to a few hours, said Kurt Kleinschmidt, chief of toxicology at
UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Kleinschmidt said the drug is gram for gram less potent than LSD,
but it is one of the most powerful natural hallucinogens.

Youtube and MySpace are peppered with videos of teens and young adults
on salvia trips, but Dallas area health officials say they haven't
seen many people seeking treatment for salvia usage.

Matt Simpson, a policy strategist with the American Civil Liberties
Union, told the committee that he objected to criminalizing the drug,
suggesting that it would popularize it as "a forbidden fruit."