Pubdate: Sun, 23 Mar 2008
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2008 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Stewart Ain
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Salvia

SUFFOLK MOVES TO BAN YOUTH-TEMPTING DRUG

BEFORE voting Tuesday to ban the sale and possession of the 
hallucinogenic drug Salvia divinorum, Lynne C. Nowick, a Suffolk 
County legislator, showed her colleagues two videos posted on YouTube.

In the first, a teenager waves his left arm while seated and staring 
blankly as someone else laughs. A voice in the background attributes 
the boy's actions to Salvia. In the second video, a teenager 
appearing to be in a daze after smoking Salvia is encouraged to sit 
down. He does, and minutes later crawls along the floor on all fours.

Ms. Nowick, a Smithtown Republican, sponsored the bill to ban Salvia 
divinorum (pronounced SAL-vee-ah dee-vin-OR-um), which is 
inexpensive, easily accessible and legal in most of the country.

She said she began researching the drug a year ago after seeing a 
news report about a 17-year-old Delaware high school student who 
committed suicide in 2006 after smoking Salvia. The medical examiner 
ruled that Salvia divinorum contributed to the boy's death, and 
Delaware lawmakers banned the drug.

The Suffolk County law, which was passed, 17 to 0, includes penalties 
of up to a $1,000 fine and a year in prison. Steve Levy, the county 
executive, said he would sign the ban into law after conducting a 
public hearing within the next 30 days. It would become effective immediately.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Salvia divinorum is 
a perennial plant native to Oaxaca, Mexico. Salvia divinorum, an herb 
similar to the sage plant, has large green leaves that when smoked or 
chewed induce "mystical or hallucinogenic experiences," the agency says.

Until now, Salvia divinorum has been sold on the Internet and in 
several smoke shops in Suffolk, the Suffolk County Police said. Susan 
E. Eckert, an aide in Ms. Nowick's office, said she bought about a 
half-ounce of it Feb. 27 for $15 plus tax at a store in Commack.

Krista R. Whitman, a chemical dependency coordinator at the 
Pederson-Krag Center in Smithtown, an outpatient behavioral health 
and chemical dependency treatment center, said teenagers as young as 
13 began reporting their use of Salvia divinorum about two years ago.

"We have noticed that adolescents are using it frequently because it 
is legal and it can't be detected in urine drug screenings," she 
said. She said the highs are strongest in the first few minutes.

Ms. Whitman said that since the beginning of 2006, there has been a 
30 to 40 percent increase in Salvia use by those treated at her 
agency. "It went from something we didn't even think to screen for to 
something we now ask all the kids about," she said.

Dr. Humayun J. Chaudhry, commissioner of the Suffolk Department of 
Health Services, said Salvia divinorum has no medicinal use.

Although there are no federal restrictions on the sale or possession 
of Salvia divinorum, a growing number of states and countries are 
clamping down. The federal Justice Department said seven states and 
eight nations had placed controls on Salvia divinorum or Salvinorin 
A, the plant's active component, and a dozen states, including New 
York, were considering restrictions.

Anthony T. Ferrandino, a drug and alcohol counselor in the 
Northport-East Northport School District, said he recently began 
asking students if they used Salvia.

"Several of the kids admitted experimenting with it, and one kid 
described the high," Mr. Ferrandino recalled. "He said it was like an 
out-of-body experience -- like he was in an altered reality state. He 
said it lasted 15 minutes."

Maureen Rossi, president of Kings Park in the kNOw, a group of 20 
residents formed to educate parents and children about the dangers of 
substance abuse, said that although the use of Salvia divinorum "is 
not a huge problem here, some kids have used it."

"Just look at YouTube," she said. "Will this law keep Suffolk County 
teenagers from using Salvia? No, because they can still buy it on the 
Internet. But at the end of the day, it creates an important dialogue 
and is a step in the right direction." 
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