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"DOC" ANDERSON TO TAKE HIS EFFORT TO BAN HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG PLANT TO DR.  PHIL SHOW

State Rep.  Charles "Doc" Anderson, R-Waco, is to appear on the "Dr.  Phil" show today after he filed legislation Monday that would ban the increasingly popular hallucinogenic drug Salvia. 

Anderson, who is on the show to discuss the drug's effects on young people and their families, has been pushing to have Salvia placed on a list of controlled substances for more than a year and a half. 

Also known as "Diviner's Sage" and "Magic Mint," the active ingredient in Salvia, Salvinorin-A, which is found on the leaves of the herb Salvia divinorum, produces a psychedelic high that lasts anywhere from minutes to hours after it is smoked. 

Salvia divinorum was used for hundreds of years by Mazatec Indians in spiritual ceremonies and has become popular in the United States since the 1990s. 

Anderson hopes to curb that increase. 

"This substance is dangerous, incapacitating and serves no medical use whatsoever," he said.  "This drug is readily available, has possible dangerous health effects and is unregulated in Texas."

Currently, Salvinorin-A is available for over-the-counter purchase in stores in Waco and across Texas. 

Anderson's proposed legislation, filed under House Bill 126, would make possession and use of Salvia a Class A misdemeanor, with escalating penalties for possession of larger amounts. 

Anderson unsuccessfully supported legislation last year that would have included penalties of up to life in prison and fines up to $100,000 for those who manufacture, deliver or possess the plant or its extract. 

"When it is readily available and there are sites on the Internet that promote its use, youngsters could make some poor decisions about what they are doing," Anderson told the Tribune-Herald in March 2007.  "If somebody is getting behind the wheel of a car or other situations where they could injure people, we need to make folks aware of it and start to control the access."

The "Dr.  Phil" show airs at 3 p.m.  Monday through Friday on KCEN-TV, Channel 6.