LEGAL HIGHS BEYOND SALVIA; JIMSEN WEED, K2, SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA ARE BAD
IDEAS, EXPERTS

There are legal highs beyond salvia. You just might not know about
them.

Salvia divinorum sales are booming since Miley Cyrus was seen on video
smoking a bongful, according to USA Today. Some customers specifically
requested "the stuff Miley was smoking."

But authorities have been cracking down on herbal highs for a
while.

A synthetic form of marijuana called spice, or K2, is in demand,
according to CBSNews.com. Also called genie and packed in colorful
bags, it provides a high that's been compared to marijuana, and it's
already banned in some states.

"This is incredibly dangerous," Dr. Gaylor Lopez, director of the
Georgia Poison Center, told CBS News.

New York is among the states considering a ban on K2.

While cooks would certainly go ballistic over a ban on nutmeg,
desperate druggies have been known to seek the spice for its
hallucinogenic properties.

"It takes a long time to get high," says addiction specialist Clare W.
Kavin. "It also gives you a headache and makes you nauseous."

Some people, she says, may drink poppy tea, adding it's debatable as
to whether it really provides a high. "Heroin comes from poppyseeds,
so some people think they'll get high from the tea made with
poppyseeds," Kavin says.

Dr. Mike Vincent, the curator of the Miami University Herbarium in
Ohio, says some people turn to jimson weed, but he stresses that it is
extremely dangerous. "People die from it" he says. "Just a few seeds
can kill someone."

Also called devil's trumpet, devil's weed, Jamestown weed and
locoweed, the plant has white or violet flowers. But it's the seeds
and leaves that are sometimes used as a hallucinogen "" and that
cause hospitalizations and even deaths, Vincent told the Daily News.

Morning glory seeds are similarly dangerous, says Dr. Charles Luther,
director of inpatient and emergency psychiatric services at Long
Island College Hospital. "These are very dangerous, so many states
either don't sell them or are putting a coating on them."

Now the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) may be putting an end to
the unregulated use of certain herbal products that offer a "legal
high," reports WebMD.

The agency plans to make K2 and other herbal products into Schedule 1
controlled substances. Eventually, those who sell or possess
substances like K2 will be charged with a federal crime.

"When the final rule is published, it gives us the authority to do the
same investigations as for any other controlled substance," Barbara
Carreno, a DEA spokesperson, told WebMD.