BILL WOULD BAN SALE OF HALLUCINOGENIC SALVIA DIVINORUM

A big yellow sign on State Street reads: "Salvia sold here. Get it
while you can."

Many who pass by are perplexed. To the middle-aged and older, salvia
is a perennial flowering plant found in many local gardens. But a
growing number of young people, even middle schoolers, know salvia as
an unregulated drug that delivers a powerful high.

Salvia divinorum, related to but different from the backyard salvia,
is a perennial herb of the mint family native to the Sierra Mazateca
region of Oaxaca, Mexico. It contains a powerful hallucinogen
considered by some to be as potent as LSD, according to the Drug
Enforcement Administration.

"We're hearing this is the new pot, so we should be aware of it," said
Stephanie Barchus, alcohol and drug coordinator at La Follette High
School. "Kids always find out about all that stuff before we do."

The DEA says adolescents and young adults are buying the herb to chew,
smoke or drink. It's sold at two Downtown Madison shops: Amsterdam,
447 W. Gilman St., and Knuckleheads, 550 State St. And one of many
Internet sellers of salvia has a Madison post office box address.

Federal authorities consider salvia a "drug of concern," but it's not
outlawed. In Wisconsin, as in other states, that could soon change.
Democratic Reps. Sheldon Wasserman and David Cullen of Milwaukee last
week began seeking sponsors for a bill that would ban the manufacture
and sale of Salvia divinorum for consumption in Wisconsin, with a
penalty of up to $10,000.

Authorities and users debate just how dangerous Salvia divinorum can
be. It has been blamed for a death in Delaware, but Lindsay White, 22,
of Madison, who has bought salvia extract at Amsterdam and
Knuckleheads, said she doesn't plan to stop using it even if Wisconsin
bans it.

"It is still legal in most places so, whatever, I'll just buy it on
the Internet if I can't get it here anymore," White said.

How Widely Used?

Madison Police Officer Lester Moore, a member of the Dane County
Narcotics and Gangs Task Force, said his group has received bulletins
about salvia from other agencies. But salvia isn't yet on the radar of
many local law enforcement officials and parents. It's not considered
a party drug because it typically makes users introverted, and its use
is not easily identified.

"I have no doubt its being used here," Moore said.

"We're worried about the impact salvia could have on someone driving a
vehicle," added Sgt. Gordy Disch of the Dane County Sheriff's
Department. "If someone is impaired, we don't know what they're on
unless they tell us. If there's a blood test, they only check for what
we ask them to test."

At Madison high schools, drug assessments also overlook
salvia.

"We ask about alcohol and marijuana specifically because they're so
common, but there are too many other drugs out there to ask
specifically about salvia during assessments," LaFollette's Barchus
said. "It's not showing up on our radar, either, but maybe it's just
that we're not asking about it. A lot of kids don't consider it a drug
because it's natural and it's legal."

But not everywhere. Four states have banned Salvia divinorum or
salvinorin A, the ingredient responsible for the plant's psychoactive
effects. In addition, as of January, legislative bills proposing
regulatory controls on salvinorin A or Salvia divinorum were pending
in Alaska, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota and
Virginia.

Internationally, a variety of regulatory controls have been enacted in
Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

How Addictive?

Online videos and blogs on salvia describe a wide range of possible
experiences among users of the drug, which is also called Diviner's
Sage, Sage of the Seers, Magic Mint, Sally D and Maria Pastora.

Some users feel they've merged with another object, or that they're in
another time or place. Some think they've found the wisdom of the
universe, or they might see giant insects in their heads.

The intensity of intoxication varies because of how salvia is
ingested. Smoking dried salvia gives a relatively weak, short-lived
high, while drinking a powerful extract is much more intense. Bloggers
urge people who plan to go on a full-blown trip to have a "trip
sitter" with them so they won't get hurt. At Knuckleheads, first-timer
users are advised to use salvia in a safe, calm place, while listening
to classical music.

Salvia has not been proven to be toxic or addictive, though its
long-term physical and mental effects on humans haven't been studied.
Dr. Michael Miller, medical director at Meriter Hospital's NewStart
chemical dependency rehab program, strongly disagrees with those who
consider salvia a harmless high.

"Salvia is a really fascinating drug because it's not really the same
as other hallucinogens like LSD, mescaline or peyote," he said. "It
has got to be addictive because it works directly on the chemical
pathway to the opiate system of the brain.

"Even the Web sites on salvia that are promoting its use warn that you
can't mix this with other chemicals or you could die," Miller said.

"Another problem is that most doctors don't know about salvia; mostly,
it's only scientists (who) do. So doctors don't know what they're
dealing with when there's a problem.

"There is always drug use," Miller said, "but patterns change.
Marijuana is down, cocaine is down, it waxes and wanes, but people are
always looking for what is being marketed as the new thing. I haven't
seen that many people (at NewStart) who are using salvia. I think most
users are young adults -- high school dropouts without insurance -- so
we are missing them."

'New and Different'

Salvia would join the list of banned substances only after a long trip
through the legislative process that starts with the introduction of
the bill and its referral to an Assembly committees.

"This bill is all about protecting our children," Wasserman said. "I
want to stop the Salvia divinorum dealers who are pushing young people
to experiment with a potentially dangerous substance."

Word of the proposed ban on salvia sales in Wisconsin has caused buzz
at Madison's two State Street purveyors. Matt Behm, who works at
Knuckleheads, said one customer plans to hoard salvia before it
becomes illegal.

"Dude uses it three times a day, and he wants to buy it in bulk," Behm
said. "The government wants to get involved with what people want to
do with their own bodies, and I can't understand that."