Salvia-prohibition bill returns to Capitol

That’s right, if it makes you feel good it must be bad. Of course that doesn’t apply to alcohol, tobacco, medications or anything else that does real damage. Total waste of time.

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Yes, we must rush to criminalize salvia, without any evidence whatsoever that it’s harmful, because lengthy prison sentences and huge fines are not harmful either, or at least they’re less harmful than, uh. Well.

Some people will jump on any bandwagon, no matter how ill-conceived, to be elected.

If anyone has the mistaken impression that Salvia is a harmless drug please read the following article published last year in the American Journal of Psychology. Kudos to our legislators for attempting to regulate nature’s most potent hallucinogen.

Persistent Psychosis Associated With Salvia
Divinorum Use
Salvia divinorum (salvia) is a sage plant that
is easily obtained in the United States. Its active ingredient,
Salvinorin A, is a novel and highly selective pure kappa opiate
receptor agonist with rapid onset and powerful hallucinogenic
properties (1). Salvia has become increasingly popular
as a drug of abuse when smoked. No long-term negative outcomes
have been reported from the use of salvia. We present
a case in which salvia precipitated persistent psychosis.
“Mr. J” was a 21-year-old man with no family or personal
psychiatric history or laboratory abnormalities. He
was reported to have normal social interactions, behavior,
and cognitive skills. He was transferred to our psychiatric
unit for acute psychosis and paranoia, which occurred
shortly after smoking salvia. In transport, the patient became
suspicious and attempted to jump from the vehicle.
Upon presentation, he demonstrated echolalia, paranoia,
flight of ideas, and psychomotor agitation. The patient remained
agitated for the first 2 days of hospitalization. He
attempted to barricade himself in his room. Risperidone
(3 mg by mouth/three times per day) was administered,
and the patient was eventually stabilized. The dosage,
however, resulted in the parkisonian features of rigidity,
bradykinesia, and masked facies.
Mr. J was transferred to the chemical dependency unit
for further treatment. He was stabilized, and treatment
with risperidone was slowly tapered. During the taper
from risperidone, the patient continued to improve and
manifested better insight and logical thought processes.
He participated in group therapy and interacted with
peers, and the parkinsonian features subsided. One day
after risperidone was withdrawn, the patient’s symptoms
abruptly returned. He became agitated, paranoid, and aggressive
and believed he was able to project and receive
thoughts. He returned to the inpatient psychiatry unit
where risperidone (3 mg by mouth/twice daily) was reinstated.
He was once again stabilized and transferred to
the referring psychiatric facility for further treatment. At
the 4-month follow-up, the patient exhibited no perceptible
improvement.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case
of a persistent negative outcome from the use of salvia. We
suspect that our patient was genetically predisposed to
schizophrenia, and salvia precipitated the clinical manifestations.
This may relate to the drug’s ability to influence dopamine
levels in the brain and potentiate plastic changes in
frontal lobe networks (3).
Previous studies have cited salvia as a potential treatment
option for CNS illnesses (2). This is surprising, considering the
paucity of research regarding its efficacy. Salvia’s ability to increase
dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens increases
its potential for dependence. Consistently, patients at our
clinic who have used the drug report that its psychological effects
are abrupt and frightening. Clinicians should be aware
that salvia use can be associated with psychiatric illness.
References
1. Prisinzano T: Psychopharmacology of the hallucinogenic sage
Salvia divinorum. Life Sci 2005; 78:527–531
2. Grudmann O, Phipps SM, Zadezensky I, Butterweck V: Salvia divinorum
and salvinorin A: an update on pharmacology and
analytical methodology. Planta Med 2007; 10:1039–1046
3. Braida D, Limonta V, Capurro V, Fadda P, Fadda P, Rubino T,
Mascia P, Zani A, Gori E, Fratta W, Parolaro D, Sala M: Involvement
of kappa-opioid and endocannabinoid system on salvia
A-induced reward. J Biol Psychiatry 2008; 3:286–292
PETER PRZEKOP, D.O., PH.D.
TIMOTHY LEE, M.D
Loma Linda, Calif.
The authors

@Kit One case is not a statistics. Travelling can also awaken phobia and people predisposed to mental health can have their disease trigged by plenty of circumstances.
The fact is that millions of people have taken salvia (or cannabis) and the problems appearing are just nothing compared even to the trouble caused by aspirin (not talking about alcohol, smoked tobacco, alpinism, sports, car driving, etc.)
The interdiction of cannabis and salvia divinorum is based on wrong logic, wrong statistics, and is, typically, in contradiction with the american constitution. Thanks for the references, though.

I personally have used salvia and it is wonderful. Salvia is very different than other drugs in that it is not a party drug. It is a very strong hallucinogen but anyone who would try to use it at a party would have a bad trip. I use salvia for meditation and personal reflection. I use it to better myself and my life. The meditative state that it induces after the initial trip puts the user into a mind set that allows for clear thinking and meditation. Salvia has allowed me to view myself, my action, and my life from a different perspective. I have been able to realize things about my life that I would like to change. Tripping on Salvia is a very spiritual experience. I find that it makes me appreciate the gift of my life and the amazing world that God has created. Salvia has had a significant, positive impact on my life and banning it would be depriving many people of a way to better their lives. I hope that the Minnesota legislature makes the right decision again and continues the legality of Salvia Divinorum.

I would just like to state a few Facts About Salvia Divinorum. This Salvia when used responsibly is nothing more then a harmless plant.

The reason this would be a huge waste of our tax money sending people to jail that were only curious about the effects of a this plant.

Secondly The effects of this plant are not something that would make you want to do it over and over. Most people have only used it once and some twice. But for the most part people try it find out it nothing special or fun and don’t give it another thought.

Then you have the people that like to meditate or to think about things from new views that may like to smoke some salvia divinorum leaves to get slight effects to increase there meditational state.

Please don’t be stupid, This bill was nothing more then a dumb idea and a waste of time. Bad Idea that would be a huge waste of tax money, in a time when we need to reserve. We are in Debt People.