The Tarheel State is about to become the latest to ban salvia divinorum, the potent but fast-acting hallucinogen that has become increasingly popular among young drug experimenters in recent years.

Bismarck, North Dakota, resident Kenneth Rau, the first person arrested in the US on salvia divino

An Ohio law criminalizing the possession of salvia divinorum went into effect Tuesday, but that didn't stop an over-eager Butler County sheriff's deputy from arresting a man for it Monday or Butler

South Dakota has become the latest state to ban salvia divinorum, the hallucinogenic plant used for centuries by Mexican shamans whose recreational use has become noticeable in the US in recent yea

After more than five years of examination, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has yet to find that salvia divinorum is dangerous or addictive enough to merit placement as a scheduled drug un

The 2010 South Dakota medical marijuana bill, HB 1127, died a newborn as a House committee voted to table it

A jury in Lincoln, Nebraska, found a local man not guilty of selling salvia divinorum Monday.

MEDIA ADVISORY: January 27, 2009
Contact: Naomi Long (202) 669-6071

Maryland Legislature to Consider Criminalizing Salvia Divinorum

Both Senate and House to Hold Hearings on Bills to Outlaw the Currently Legal, Psychoactive Plant

What: Hearings for bills to criminalize salvia - House Bill 8 and Senate Bill 9

When: Tuesday, January 27, 1 p.m.

Where: HB 8 – House Judiciary Committee room 101; SB 9 – Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee room, Ste. 2E

Maryland state legislators are seeking to make salvia divinorum a Schedule I drug which would make the substance illegal and out of the realm of research. Opponents say the bill will have the consequence of making it easier for minors to obtain salvia by putting an outright ban on the drug and driving it underground rather than seeking to bring the sale and use of the drug under state regulation and control. Schedule I designations are reserved for substances with the highest potential for abuse and the lowest medicinal value.

“We are very concerned about youth drug use, including the use of Salvia, but by outlawing and prohibiting it legislators will make the problem even worse,” said Naomi Long, Director, of the Drug Policy Alliance, D.C. and Maryland Project. “We can curb youth access to Salvia by enacting age controls and placement restrictions similar to our strategies to reduce teenage smoking. We didn’t have to criminalize tobacco or create prison sentences to achieve success. Criminalizing drugs makes it easier for young people to obtain them because the underground market doesn’t check an ID to see if someone’s an adult.”

Neither the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) nor Congress have taken any action on Salvia Divinorum. Studies have shown that Salvia has no known potential for abuse and may be a candidate for treating addiction, eating disorders, and even HIV infections.

The bills, House Bill 8 and Senate Bill 9 are scheduled for hearings in the Judiciary Committee room 101 and Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee room Suite 2E on January 27 at 1 p.m.

The bills to criminalize salvia, a psychoactive herb, have been introduced by Delegates Addie Eckardt (R) Jeannie Haddaway(R) and Senator Richard Colburn (R).

The Drug Policy Alliance opposes both bills.

Salvia divinorum will become a Schedule I controlled substance in Ohio 90 days from Wednesday. That's the day Gov.

With 2008 now rapidly receding in the rear-view mirror, it's time to reflect on the year that was in drug policy.

Both the Ohio House and Senate voted this week for a bill, HB 215, which will, among other things, make salvi

Monday was the first day to file bills for the next session of the Texas legislature, and by day's end, two different bills addressing salvia divinorum had been filed.

A bill that would add salvia divinorum to the Bay State's list of controlled substances has passed out of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

US Marine commanders in Okinawa and US Air Force commanders in England have moved this month to ban salvia divinorum, the fast-acting, short-lived hallucinogen that has become increasingly popular

The Washington Post has a trainwreck of an editorial calling for preliminary discussion of prohibiting salvia. They seem to think the DEA’s job includes evaluating drugs scientifically and that videos of people getting high on YouTube prove that salvia is dangerous. The one thing that’s missing is any evidence of the drug actually hurting anyone.

Pete Guither rips it into confetti, so I’ll hold my breath. My thoughts on salvia hysteria are here.

Sometimes no publicity is good publicity, but it's too late for that for Lincoln, Nebraska shop-owner Christian Firoz.

The New York Times has a fascinating piece on the growing hysteria surrounding salvia. Researchers are studying its medical potential, college kids are tripping on YouTube, and state legislators are trying to outlaw it entirely.

All of this may soon provoke an illustrative glimpse at the philosophical dimensions of drug prohibition, in that salvia is powerfully psychoactive, yet shows no signs of addictiveness or toxicity. It isn’t causing crime or medical emergencies. The short duration of its effects allows users to indulge without becoming incapacitated to the point of impacting their daily lives. In short, salvia simply doesn’t fit into the pre-existing categories that drug warriors have carved out in order to justify prohibitions against other popular recreational drugs. So what will they say about it?

Though states are moving quickly, Bertha K. Madras, a deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said federal regulators remained in a quandary.

"The risk of any drug that is intoxicating is high," Dr. Madras said. "You're one car ride away from an event that could be life-altering. But in terms of really good studies, there is just very little. So what do you do? How do you make policy in the absence of good hard cold information?"

Is that a trick question? I give up, Bertha. How? This is the same woman who opposed distributing overdose prevention kits, based on the theory that overdoses might be good for people. So I'm sure she’ll eventually find a solution here that won’t require copious doses of scientific methodology. Rarely in the history of the war on drugs have facts or common sense ever gotten in the way of someone trying to outlaw something. Tell Joe Biden it makes you think you’re a unicorn and he’ll have the Saving American Lives from Volatile Intoxicants Act on your desk by nightfall.

But if salvia is ultimately banned at the federal level simply because it makes you insanely high for 5 minutes, one might interpret that as a long-awaited acknowledgement that the war on drugs really is just an attempt to control our minds.

Kenneth Rau, the Bismarck, North Dakota, man with the dubious distinction of being the first person to be charged with a salvia divinorum possession offense in the US, got some good news last week.

Kenneth Rau, the Bismarck, North Dakota, man who suffers the dubious distinction of being the first pe

Efforts in state legislatures to ban or otherwise restrict the sale and possession of salvia divinorum, a fast-acting, short-lived psychedelic member of the mint family, continue apace.