OCEAN CITY DECLARES WAR ON SALVIA

City Council Moves To Ban Legal Hallucinogenic Herb

In most of Maryland, salvia is a spiky, colorful plant that looks
good in flower beds and attracts hummingbirds. In Ocean City, salvia
is better known as a legal hallucinogenic herb you can buy over the
counter and share with friends.

But resort officials, alarmed by an increase in the herb's
popularity, are preparing to weed it out.

The Ocean City Council will vote Monday night on an emergency
proposal to ban products made from salvia divinorum, a relative of
herbal sage and common garden plants that is now sold openly at many
shops along the Boardwalk.

The police and a majority of the council members are backing a move
to make possession and sale of the substance a misdemeanor with a
possible penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

"By Monday night, it will be illegal in Ocean City," said police
Chief Bernadette Di Pino, warning visitors from Baltimore not to
bring salvia, which can be acquired legally in Maryland and a host
of other states, to the beach town.

Supporters say the ban is a matter of protecting the public -
pointing to incidents of bizarre behavior by people using the
substance. Some, including Di Pino, point to the proliferation of
videos on YouTube showing young people under the influence of salvia.

But critics call the move a rush to judgment that could have
unintended consequences more harmful than salvia by criminalizing a
substance that's not addictive.

Joe Mitrecic, president of the Ocean City Council, said he supports
passage of the legislation as an emergency measure - making it
effective as soon as it is signed by the mayor.

"I believe the council feels this is a public safety issue, and we
want to do something about it before next year," he said.

Councilman Doug Cymek said use of salvia has led to violent
outbursts on the Boardwalk, where he said as many as 18 stores sell
the product.

"We've had some incidents in Ocean City that have not been good," Cymek said.

Di Pino said the incidents include one in which a woman was yelling
that she had been raped but turned out when officers responded to be
actually under the influence of salvia. In other cases, she said,
officers have had to restrain people affected by the substance.

"It's like they hallucinate and see things," Di Pino said.

But a Johns Hopkins professor who is familiar with salvia said that
while it is indisputably an hallucinogen, it is neither addictive
nor physically harmful. If anything, he said, users often try it
once and never want to repeat the experience.

"This isn't the next cocaine or next methamphetamine," said Matthew
W. Johnson, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine.

The substance in the cross hairs is a derivative of a plant that is
native to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where the Mazatec Indians use
it for medicinal purposes and to produce mystical experiences. It
can be chewed or smoked to induce dramatic but
short-lived psychedelic trips that Johnson called similar to
those caused by peyote or hallucinogenic mushrooms.

"It's an intense drug that definitely puts someone in an altered
reality," he said.

But Johnson said salvia use has not led to any perceptible increase
in emergency room visits - perhaps because its effects typically
wear off within 15 minutes.

Salvia is not a controlled substance under federal law, but a dozen
states - including Delaware and Virginia - and about 10 other
countries have banned its possession or sale.

Spurred by concerns from Ocean City, Eastern Shore lawmakers
introduced legislation during this year's General Assembly session
to classify salvia as a Schedule 1 drug --the same category as
heroin. The measure never made it out of committee.

Among the opponents were Johnson and a Hopkins colleague who argued
that such a classification could have a chilling effect on research
into salvia's potential usefulness as a treatment for such disorders
as Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Di Pino said that after the legislature declined to act, Ocean City
received an opinion from the Attorney General's Office saying the
municipality had the authority to enact a ban of its own. She said
she hopes other jurisdictions in Maryland, as well as the
legislature, will follow Ocean City's lead.

But Johnson said that while there is ample evidence in favor of
barring the sale of salvia to minors, a law making possession by
adults illegal with a jail term could harm those it is intended to protect.

"They have a permanent mark on their record and it affects the rest
of their lives," he said. "That would be an over-reaction."

But Mitrecic, the council president, said city officials are
determined to move forward with the measure even though there has
been no public hearing on the issue. He said the council will take a
preliminary vote Monday night, then allow members of the public to
speak. After that, he said, members would decide whether to make the
ban official right away or defer a final decision for two weeks.

Mayor Rick Meehan said he's prepared to sign the emergency measure immediately.

"Why would we wait another two weeks if we think it's a problem?" he said.

About salvia

Scientific name: Salvia divinorum

Aliases: Ska Pastora, Diviner's Mint, Sally-D, Lady Salvia

Place of origin: Oaxaca, Mexico

Effects: Motor impairment, altered senses, hallucinations,
"out-of-body" experiences.

Federal status: Legal

State status: Legal in most states, including Maryland; banned for
human consumption in 14.