RIPPING SELF-CONTROL AWAY

Re: Drug known as Magic Mint, Sally D or Lady Salvia may be legal but it's
absolutely no good for you, Dec 14

In response to Ian Mulgrew's column, I'd like to say that most people
don't enjoy the mind-ripping effects of Salvia divinorum. Once was
enough for me to find out that it is not similar to cannabis and rips
self-control away for a period of five to 10 minutes.

If salvia were made illegal, the next day it would be added to the
drug dealers' arsenal at a 1,500-per-cent profit with no more quality
testing or controls. Making substances illegal makes things much
worse. This should be common sense by now.

One correction to the column: Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), not salvinorin
A, is the most potent hallucinogenic substance. It is the active
substance in ayahuasca. Salvinorin A differs from "traditional"
hallucinogens because it is not an alkaloid and doesn't affect
seratonin receptors, as LSD and mescaline do.

Mike Foster

Laval, Que.