Salvia Divinorum Keep It Legal

For Hundreds of years the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico have used Salvia Divinorum, or as they call it, Ska Maria Pastora, for both it’s medicinal and mind expanding, psychoactive properties (Siebert 1). In 1962 two scientists by the names of Gordon Wasson and Albert Hofmann went to Oaxaca in search of the plant and introduced Salvia Divinorum to the western world. Since Salvia Divinorum reproduces mostly asexually there are not many genetic differences between most plants. Each set of plants with the same genetics is known as a strain. The strain they introduced came to be known as the Wasson and Hofmann strain and is one of the more popularly used in the western world (Ethnobotany 2). Despite Salvia Divinorum’s relative safety, low cost, and legality it has yet to become very popular and used widely enough as a recreational drug to cause any problems in the United States (Beifuss 5-6). Most people who do use Salvia Divinorum regularly use it either medicinally or religiously. The possible medical applications of Salvia Divinorum are countless and it could also prove very valuable in psychiatric medicine. Even so, Salvia Divinorum has been banned in eight states and many politicians are trying to pass a federal law that would add Salvinorin A, the active chemical in Salvia Divinorum, to the list of scheduled substances as a schedule one substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Schedule one is the same category that marijuana, LSD, and heroin are under and has the harshest punishments for possession out of all the categories (Associated Press 1-2). Many Americans believe that making Salvinorin A a schedule one substance in the United States will only serve to waste taxpayers money and delay or even put a stop to promising medical research, all while infringing upon the rights of American citizens (Beifuss 2, 6).

Salvia Divinorum has been being used in the United States since the early sixties and still has yet to create any kind of problem. It’s not a drug that recreational users are likely to abuse frequently because of its bitter taste and truly bizarre effects (Beifuss 5-6). Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies does not believe that Salvia Divinorum will ever become a big problem in the United States. “Salvia isn’t a вЂ?party drug,’ tastes terrible and is not going to be extremely popular,” he says. Doblin also believes that Salvia Divinorum use is not nearly problematic enough to require it to be added to the DEA’s list of scheduled substances. “I think the move to criminalize is a misguided response to a very minimal problem,” Doblin says in agreement with many other experts in the field (Associated Press 2).

Many people who are selling this herb market it as a legal substitute to marijuana or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to attract recreational users when it is really nothing similar. Even people who are seasoned in the use of hallucinogenic drugs say the effects are different from anything they have had before and drastically different from cannabis. Most people who are initially attracted to Salvia Divinorum recreationally will only use it one or two times. When it is nothing like what they were told or expected they move on to something different. This type of use could be easily eliminated by educating people about Salvia Divinorum and possibly regulating the sale of it by requiring sellers to advertise truthfully instead of advertising in whatever way makes them the most money. This type of regulation would cut down on the initial appeal Salvia Divinorum appears to have to recreational drug users. Those who have studied or used Salvia Divinorum agree. “It’s not something that’s fun to do. It doesn’t have a stimulating effect. It doesn’t really have a euphoric effect,” Daniel Siebert, who has studied the herb for ten years, says. He uses Salvia Divinorum ritualistically and is an expert on medicines derived from natural sources (Schaper 2-3).

Salvia Divinorum is completely useless as an escapist drug because unlike many other drugs it increases self awareness. Salvia Divinorum is for contemplation and soul bearing (Ruth 2). It is equally as useless as a party drug. Salvia Divinorum sends the user into another world. People on the herb do not usually interact with their environment. They could either not want to communicate or find it too hard to communicate (Effects 1). While most people are left disappointed and confused by the plants effects, some people who have tried using Salvia Divinorum recreationally are not affected by the plant at all and stand convinced that anything anyone else feels from it is nothing more than a placebo effect. They decide that it is not worth the trouble and move onto something else. These effects and properties of the plant discourage most recreational dabblers to continue to abuse it (Beifuss 5-6).

Experts also agree that Salvia Divinorum is not in any way addictive or habit forming. Studies and surveys that have been done actually seem to point in the opposite direction, showing that it is aversive, or the opposite of addictive. Many ex-drug addicts say Salvia Divinorum use helped them get over their addictions to other drugs while not making them feel any sort of addiction to the plant itself either (Siebert 1-3). Many users have reported the effects getting stronger after using it a few times and that after using it they felt less desire to use it again than they had before they tried it (Effects 1).

Studies have also been done to evaluate the toxicity of Salvinorin A. None of these studies have found any proof that Salvinorin A is toxic. This supports the Mazatec’s beliefs, which are formed from centuries of experience, that the plant is non-toxic (Siebert 3).

There are no known deaths that are attributed to using Salvia Divinorum. It was listed as a factor in a teenage boy’s suicide a few years ago, but no traces of the drug were found in his system during the autopsy. He had ordered it offline a few months before his suicide, and his parents said the drug had changed him, making him depressed. This goes against most research that has been done which puts Salvia Divinorum as a potential cure for depression, not a cause. Also, it is not known if he used it often, or as most recreational users do, only one or two times in the months before his death. This is the only death that can be loosely connected to Salvia Divinorum use (Associated Press 1).

It is sad to see that addictive and clearly deadly and addictive drugs