Albert Hofmann, 102, a Swiss chemist and accidental father of LSD who came to view the much-vilified and abused hallucinogen he discovered in 1938 as his "problem child," died April 29 at his home in Burg, a village near Basel, Switzerland, after a heart attack. His death was confirmed by Rick Doblin, the Boston-based founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit pharmaceutical company developing LSD and other psychedelics for prescription medicines. Lysergic acid diethylamide, thousands of times stronger than mescaline, can give its user an experience often described as psychedelic -- a kaleidoscopic twirling of the mind pulsating with color and movement. [continues 1303 words]
Salvia, a relative of flowering sages, is considered by experts to be the most powerful natural hallucinogenic, almost as potent as LSD. A hallucinogenic herb called Salvia divinorum is growing in popularity among teens and young adults across the U.S. Local law enforcement officials said they're aware of the drug and plan to monitor its sale and use among teens, but they can do little to stop local smoke shops from selling the herb, which is legal in most states, including California. [continues 552 words]
Could Ecstasy, LSD and magic mushrooms one day be legitimate prescription medicines? It sounds unlikely, but doctors and researchers in the US and across Europe believe it is possible and that new science will prove the case. Second chances are rare in science. In the Fifties and Sixties, hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD, were hailed as the magic bullet to everything from alcoholism to migraine. But they became caught in the crossfire of the cultural wars of the times. Western politicians banned the use of psychedelics in research once they started to be used recreationally, and became associated with flower-power and the counter culture. The drugs were dangerous; the science was flawed; the researchers biased. [continues 962 words]
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. [continues 262 words]
Bill Makes Possession of Saliva a Felony TALLAHASSEE - On Web sites touting the mind-blowing powers of salvia divinorum, come-ons to buy the hallucinogenic herb are accompanied by warnings: "Time is running out! . . . stock up while you still can." That's because salvia is being targeted by legislators concerned that the inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant could become the next marijuana. Eight states have already placed restrictions on salvia, and 16 others, including Florida, are considering a ban or have previously. [continues 699 words]
Also known as "Acid", this drug is the most potent and highly studied hallucinogen known to man. It belongs to the class of drugs which basically make you think you see and hear things that aren't really there. The drug itself, known as Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD for short) is a form of a fungus toxin that infects rye and other grasses. LSD was first extracted in 1938 by Dr. Albert Hoffman. At the time, he was researching for a circulatory stimulant, but instead accidentally ingested a dose of it, and discovered its hallucinogenic properties. One particular psychologist who was conducting experiments into the potential medicinal use of acid commented that it kept him unable to speak for five days and that he never recovered from the mind-shattering experience. The drug, identified as having no therapeutic use, was outlawed in the 1960's. The popularity of acid reached its peak during the 60's hippie movement but gradually declined through the next 30 years as the psycho-stimulant drug ecstasy replaced it in popularity among younger users. [continues 380 words]
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. - On Web sites touting the mind-blowing powers of Salvia divinorum, come-ons to buy the hallucinogenic herb are accompanied by warnings: "Time is running out!" and "stock up while you still can." That's because salvia is being targeted by lawmakers concerned that the inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant could become the next marijuana. Eight states have already placed restrictions on salvia, and 16 others, including Florida, are considering a ban or have previously. North Carolina is not among them. "As soon as we make one drug illegal, kids start looking around for other drugs they can buy legally. [continues 305 words]
TALLAHASSEE -- Shamans in part of Mexico find value in Salvia divinorum, a hallucinogenic sage plant. So, apparently, do some young adults who post giddy, sometimes incoherent on-line videos of themselves smoking it. The Florida Senate? Not so much. On Tuesday, the plant that migrated from Oaxaca, Mexico, to the United States made what could prove a fateful trip -- to the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice. The committee endorsed a ban on the plant and its extract -- which researchers say are comparable in potency to LSD, arguably the best-known hallucinogen. [continues 375 words]
Perfectly legal to sell and use, salvia divinorum is a mystery to most adults but, according to legislators and others seeking to ban it, a danger youths know too well. At a public hearing Tuesday, Suffolk Legis. Lynne Nowick (R-St. James) played videos she'd found on the Internet of teenagers ostensibly stoned from salvia, a plant native to Mexico. She called the effects "dangerous" and called for the county to ban the plant. Representatives from the Smithtown Central School District, Suffolk Police and local anti-drug groups implored legislators to outlaw salvia because, they said, people believe it is safe because it is legal. [continues 437 words]
Research Unveils Link Between Hallucinogen And Psychotic Delusions It's A hallucinogenic drug that was once hailed as a promising psychiatric therapy before being banned amid concerns over recreational use - now scientists believe LSD could hold the key to new drug treatments for illnesses such as schizophrenia. A team of American researchers has discovered a biological link between LSD "acid trips" and psychotic delusions in the brain. Both states can cause hallucinations and feelings of disassociation from reality, and now scientists have uncovered what they share at a biochemical level. They say this could open the door to promising new drug treatments for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression. [continues 508 words]
"I would like to see some college set up a psychedelic center and after a great deal of careful preparation, make an expertly guided session available to the students willing to prepare for it," said former assistant professor of psychology Michael Kahn, advocating the academically-sanctioned use of LSD. These words were printed in an Oct. 1966 edition of the News, right in the middle of an era popularly considered synonymous with flower power, free love and psychedelia. Was Kahn's comment reflective of the mood of the times? [continues 740 words]
Salvia: State Senate Bill Would Put It on Controlled Substance List. It's been called the most potent naturally growing hallucinogen on the planet. And it's legal. Salvia divinorum, a species of sage, isn't banned under the federal Controlled Substances Act, but more than a half dozen states have made the drug illegal through state law. At least 12 more states, including Alaska, are debating whether to do so. Sen. Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, has been leading the charge here. Therriault said the drug's effects, which are similar to LSD's, are too powerful, dangerous and unpredictable to leave it unrestricted. [continues 933 words]
CORNING -- After making the biggest drug bust of its kind in county history Tuesday, Tehama Inter-agency Drug Enforcement agents displayed on Wednesday most of the 160 pounds of processed hallucinogenic mushrooms they seized from a Corning home. "This would make a pretty nice-sized salad," TIDE Commander Vic Lacey said. But all kidding aside, he said, the mushrooms seized are illegal and dangerous. They would have been worth at least $518,000 on the streets -- enough to sell one-eighth-ounce quantities at $25 to 20,754 customers. Lacey said he hasn't heard of a bigger mushroom bust in the north state in at least 20 years. * [continues 418 words]
Salvia divornorum also known as Shepherdess' Herb and Ska Pastora, is a psychoactive hallucinogen as potent as LSD. The plant, a relative of a common landscape flower, contains a substance called Salvinorin-A which is considered to be the most potent hallucinogen available when smoked. Salvia, in a liquid form, can be ingested or in powder form, smoked. It produces an almost immediate, short-term reaction. Depending on the dosage, a user's response can be just a subtle, off-kilter reaction to a full-blown psychedelic experience. Typically, the hallucinatory experience lasts several minutes but can last up to an hour. During this time, users are mentally and physically impaired and demonstrate poor judgment, slowed reflexes, and dissociation. [continues 142 words]
There is a drug out there so legal that your 6-year-old brother could order some ... if he really wanted to. Yet that same drug is so potent, so mind-altering, that researches are classifying it under the same category as LSD. I've tried some. I've tried some right on campus, in a friend's dorm. The effects of Salvia divinorum lasted about 10 minutes, but have left so much of an impact on me that I felt urged to write this article. [continues 679 words]
Lawmakers Fail to Recognize That Banning Salvia Does Not Mean Preventing Its Trade or Usage There is a danger growing around Madison. And no, it isn't the sexual assaults, kidnappings, bank robberies, murders or violence. According to state lawmakers (and probably Lou Dobbs), it is imports from Mexico that may be here illegally to destroy American culture and American youth. I'm talking, of course about Salvia Divinorum - a non habit-forming herb that has historically been used in the Mazatec region of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Oaxaca, Mexico as part of ritualistic healing and prophecy rituals. Since the early 1990s, it has increased in popularity in the United States (although, to call (although, to call it popular is somewhat misleading.) State Representatives Sheldon Wasserman and David Cullen authored a bill that would prohibit the sale and manufacturing of Salvia Divinorum. The Assembly Criminal Justice Committee held a public hearing on the measure last Wednesday. [continues 607 words]
At the Health Ministry's request, five dangerous substances sold in kiosks and 24-hour shops were added to the list of "dangerous drugs" by the Knesset Labor, Social Affairs and Health Committee on Monday. The addictive "mind-benders," which previously were illegal to sell but were not on the ministry's list of restricted imports, are called Halahit shel Ilanit (Ilanit's Hit); Halom Belavan (White Dream); Rakefet (Cyclamen); Aspirin Im Kritza (Aspirin With a Wink); and Hagigat Kayitz 2008 (Celebration of the Summer of 2008). [continues 197 words]
Derived From a West African Root, Ibogaine May Be a Pain-Free Drug Detox - but in the U.S. It's Highly Illegal. They've given you the pills and now they're checking your heart rate - it's skyrocketing - when you see it in the corner of your eye. It could be a caterpillar, a cat, your first bicycle. It's growing, and then there's another - a lion? A tiger? A bear? - and soon that's all you can see. It begins: a kind of "movie" of your life, things you didn't know you remembered, drawn out from your mind like barbed wire. A comedy, maybe; a tragedy, definitely; and yours alone. It will stay this way for a good, long while. [continues 636 words]
Lawmakers have set aside a proposed ban on the hallucinogenic herb salvia divinorum. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, who proposed listing the plant as a schedule 1 controlled substance, said federal regulators alerted him that they were close to reaching their own classification for salvia divinorum. The herb presently is unregulated under federal law. For at least five years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has said it is researching the herb's effects and addictiveness, media reports say. A spokeswoman on Wednesday said there is no clear schedule for when the DEA will conclude its examination and determine whether salvia divinorum should be regulated. [end]
