ON A JOURNEY? FORGET SALLY D - GO TO CHURCH

Editor:

Is KTW running out of enough viable content that it feels the need to
highlight a head shop as front-page news ('They call it Sally D,' May
18)?

Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant.

Its active chemical, salvinorin A, is the psychotropic diterpene
(chemical resin) isolated from the plant that acts primarily upon the
central nervous system.

The salvinorin extraction measurement of safe dosages is difficult, so
a concentrate is usually produced. It is advised to have a "sitter"
with you, to watch that you do not harm yourself. It's not advisable
to have objects such as knives within your reach.

The effects of salvia divinorum can last from 15 minutes to three
hours, depending on consumption.

Exactly how much research has been done by your reporter or by these
head shops on this drug?

There is little room for error on the dosage, and when the pure
compound is used, it is possible to consume a dose hundreds of times
greater than anything every encountered by the Mazatecs.

And it will just be a matter of time before this happens. Not enough
is known about this drug to declare it safe.

Just because it's legal at this time in Canada says little about its
destructive capabilities.

Statements like, "It is not going to make you jump out of a window"
are asinine.

One death has already been attributed to this drug in the U.S. and
another case involves a 16-year-old Canadian boy trying to take his
life after taking one single tablet of salvia.

Are these shops willing to take the responsibility of "blame" if such
an occurrence happens from a substance they sold?

And Australia is not the only jurisdiction to ban it.

Awareness is a key to knowledge, but surely there is something better
to highlight on your front page than from where to get your next high.

If you want a spiritual journey, go to church.

Sharlene Klein,

Kamloops