DEADLY DRUGS EXPOSED

If parents didn't have enough to worry about with the ongoing pain
pill epidemic, two new drugs have hit the streets and are causing
serious hallucinations and even deaths.

Teens don't have to sneak into a medicine cabinet or find the nearest
drug dealer, when two potentially deadly highs from plants are easy
to acquire- and one could be growing right out the back door.

The Carter County Drug Task Force had its regular meeting recently
while handing out literature concerning the use of Salvia Divinorum
and Jimson Weed.

"We certainly don't need anything else out on the streets for our
teens and anyone for that matter to get hold of," said Pastor Jim
Varney, faith-based voice for ENOUGH and active member of the drug
task force. "Parents need to be aware of these drugs and children
need to know the side effects and what damage can be done to their
bodies by using them."

In fact, both the Jimson Weed and Salvia plants are the emerging new
trends among teenagers and adults from the age of 18 to 25.

What people may not know is that Jimson Weed is everywhere. In
reality, it's a legal, mid October plant that can be found in pasture
fields or alongside any roadway.

Jimson Weed, also known as locoweed, stinkweed or ditch weed, has a
green stem with spreading branches and coarse leaves that are
serrated along the edges, When bloomed, the plant has white or purple
flowers, and after seeding takes place, the seeds are contained in a
hard, spiny capsule about two inches in diameter.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, when
eaten or brewed in tea, the Jimson seeds can cause severe
hallucinations and other reactions including dry mouth, overheating,
agitation and urinary retention. It can take up to an hour for
someone to feel the effects, causing people to think it's not working
and therefore overdosing after consuming a potentially deadly dose.

Poison centers recently reported that after a person is hospitalized
from an overdose they often have hallucinations so erratic they are a
danger to themselves. Most cannot urinate and require a catheter, as well.

Street names for Jimson Weed include Thorn Apple, Angel's Trumpet,
Devil's Trumpet, Beelzebug twinkle, zombie cucumber, and mad hatter.

According to Richard MacKenzie, an emergency room physician in
Pennsylvania who has treated victims of Jimson Weed poisoning, users
are often called, hot as a hare, blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red
as a beet and mad as a hatter. "Such patients are hallucinating up a
storm, talking to people in the room who aren't there and removing
imaginary bugs from their body," MacKenzie reported.

Although because of its anticholinergic properties and antispasmodic
effects (substances that oppose the effects of acetylcholine,
interfering with the passage of parasympathetic nerve impulses),
extract from Jimson Weed is sometimes used in traditional medicine to
treat a variety of illnesses such as asthma, intestinal cramps and
both diarrhea and bed-wetting.

However, all parts of the plant (excluding extract) are toxic, which
is a huge reason why only amateurs use it to obtain a high.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers also reported that
in extreme cases of an overdose, the user could experience seizers,
intense visual or auditory hallucinations or even cardiac arrest.

The weed contains chemicals such as atropine (poisonous crystalline
alkaloid) and scopolamine (water-soluble alkaloid), which also can
cause sensory deprivation, comas and respiratory arrest. The effects
can linger for days and deaths have been reported by poison control
centers across the nation.

Most Jimson Weed use is normally a one-time-only, thrill-seeking
experience involving mostly young teens. Few statistics have been
reported, but in 2005, 975 cases of poisoning were accounted for
nationally. Jimson Weed is not a controlled substance.

Livestock owners also should be aware of the deadly plant. Although
animals will avoid eating Jimson Weed whenever possible and even when
forages are scarce, animals are reluctant to consume the plant. But
if eaten, the danger is primarily in the consumption of the seeds
that contaminate prepared feeds such as hay, silage, grains and
processed feeds. The plants may become palatable after the
application of herbicides, causing a risk of toxicosis in animals.

Once the plant is consumed, signs become apparent within a few
minutes up to several hours. The alkaloids in Jimson Weed act on the
central nervous system as well as the autonomic nervous system that
controls bodily functions. Animals may seek water to drink, have
dilated pupils, become agitated, may exhibit increased heart rate,
tremble, become delirious, could experience hallucinations, have
convulsions (which may be violent), become comatose, and possibly
die. Consumption of Jimson Weed during gestation of animals may
result in abortions or birth defects.

And if Jimson Weed isn't bad enough, another commonly used
hallucinogenic plant is the Salvia Divonorum. It's one of the most
powerful hallucinatory agents known to man and has gained attention
of teenagers.

It's mostly used for two reasons being Salvia has intense psychedelic
properties, which is why it's been exploited for centuries by the
people of the Mazatec region of Mexico, according to Carnevale
Associates, a Washington, DC based firm that offers guidance and
practical solutions to governments, organizations, and communities as
they confront the public policy and program challenges of the 21st
century. The firm specializes in drug and crime policy, strategic
planning and communications, policy-oriented data and research and
government relations.

Salvia is ingested through chewing the leaves, drinking extracted
juices or smoking dried leaves or inhaling vapors. The active
ingredient in Salvia is Salvinorin A, which is the strongest known
naturally occurring hallucinogen and as powerful as LSD. Some reports
say it's the legal alternative to LSD or marijuana and might be the
new Ecstasy.

In fact, Salvia is being sold over the Internet to curious adults and
teens looking to get high, in extracts including 5x, 10x, 20x, 30x,
40x and even 60x.

Although Salvia is illegal in Louisiana and Missouri, it's currently
legal in all other states while its leaves and liquid extracts are
sold openly on Web sites and in head shops (A retail outlet
specializing in paraphernalia related to consumption of marijuana,
other recreational drugs) across the nation.

Users of salvia report sensations ranging from spiritual and
meditative to scary and uncomfortable. The substance targets a
receptor in brain cells that affects consciousness and perception of reality.

Users report effects such as out-of-body experiences to feeling they
have been turned into inanimate objects - like paint on the wall.
Other users have reported experiences such as living another person's
life, from birth to death.

"Kids just don't sit back and get the munchies with this one," said
an Arkansas drug official in a recent press release concerning
Salvia. "This is one of the most powerful hallucinogens known to man."

Effects of using Salvia include:

. Perceptions of bright lights, vivid colors and shapes . Twisting
body movements . Uncontrollable laughter . Dysphoria . Sense of loss
of body and lack of awareness of self . Confusion and madness .
Overlapping realities . Hallucinations . A loss of coordination .
Dizziness . Slurred speech

On the other end of the spectrum, chemists around the world are
seeking to find out if Salvia could be helpful in treating diseases,
before it's made illegal.

According to a web site that supports Salvia, its experiences cause
relaxation and peaceful meditation. On the contrary, the web site
also informs users they should never use Salvia alone due to the
hallucinogenic impact.

Following a Salvia experience, one user wrote the following:

"It was my fifth time using Salvia and this time I was able to feel
sensations I had never felt before. Suddenly all my questions were
answered. I felt myself lifted out of my material self and fall
through a tunnel of darkness that threw me in an empty room where I
came face to face with myself but of when I was a child. We began
dancing hand in hand as our arms twisted and turned in all
directions. My child self spoke to me with a maternal voice that
echoed as it answered my questions without me asking anything.
Although it was me, face to face with my childhood self, it still
didn't feel like me. It was such a reassuring experience as I came
back to my material world."

The primary users of Salvia are male adults ages 18 to 25 with about
750,000 children 12 or older using Salvia in the past year, Carnevale
reported. Salvia has been associated with several deaths in the U.S.,
including a Delaware teen, Brett Chidester, who committed suicide in
2006, while leaving behind a note that credited Saliva as helping him
"find the meaning of life."

Salvia is currently under investigation by the DEA (Drug Enforcement
Agency) for scheduling under the Controlled Substance Act.

However, many efforts to legislate the control of Salvia have been
put on hold because the drug is classified as "non addictive" and
surveys cannot prove Salvia to be the direct cause of violent crimes.