LEGISLATURE MOVES QUICKLY TO BAN HALLUCINOGENIC HERB

LINCOLN -- Quicker than the high from Salvia divinorum comes on,
Nebraska lawmakers advanced a bill today that would make the
hallucinogenic herb illegal in the state.

Legislative Bill 123 would add the plan to the state's list of
controlled substances, along with marijuana, cocaine and LSD. Under
the bill, it would be a felony to possess or sell salvia.

State Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber, who introduced the bill, told
colleagues of a young man whose suicide was attributed in part to his
use of salvia. He noted that Web sites selling salvia typically
caution users against doing the drug alone.

"I just think this is a scary drug that's out there," Karpisek said.
Salvia divinorum is native to Mexico and is still grown there. It can
be smoked, chewed or made into a tea. It is not the same as the
salvia flowers commonly planted in Nebraska gardens.