Pubdate: Fri, 14 Mar 2008
Source: Lindsay Daily Post (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008 Lindsay Daily Post
Contact:  http://www.thepost.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2333
Author: David Flaherty
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hallucinogens.htm (Hallucinogens)

COUNCILLOR URGES REGULATION OF HALLUCINOGENIC HERB

You can smoke it like marijuana. It produces hallucinogenic effects 
like LSD. It's also likely available in a corner store near you.

Salvia divinorum, also known as diviner's sage, maria pastora or Sage 
of the Seers, is a herb which is a member of the sage genus and mint family.

It is being called the "new pot" in some circles and this has City of 
Kawartha Lakes Ward 12 Coun. Gord James concerned.

Last year, James recommended a resolution received from the city of 
Port Colbourne about a petition to the Minister of Health to call 
Health Canada to undertake a review of salvia be received and 
referred to both the City of Kawartha Lakes Police Services Board and 
local OPP for comment.

"It wasn't necessarily a problem before," he told The Lindsay Post. 
"It will be a problem...it is being abused, if we could regulate this 
it would be good for all communities."

Salvia can be smoked, chewed or using as a tincture, with effects 
differing depending on the individual.

Effects seem to last for a shorter amount of time than other drugs, 
sometimes only between one and five minutes.

Results seems to be more intense and last longer when the herb is 
chewed or using a tincture.

Effects from salvia may include uncontrollable laughter, past 
memories, such as revisiting places from childhood memory, sensations 
of motion, or being pulling and twisted by forces, visions of 
membranes, films or various two-dimensional services, merging with or 
becoming objects as well as overlapping realities, such as the 
perception of being in several locations at once.

Whatever the effects are, James believes salvia is dangerous.

"It's a hallucinogenic herb," he said .

The councillor acknowledged that salvia is readily available in local 
stores and said owners should be careful about the product.

"If I was a store owner, I would take it off the shelves to be a good 
member of the community," said James.

Salvia divinorum is legal in most areas however, many states in the 
United States having passed their own laws regulating it while others 
have proposed legislation.

So far, despite calls for it's criminalization, Health Canada has 
said it doesn't have enough evidence to place salvia under the 
Controlled Drug and Substances Act.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom