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Powerful hallucinogenic available locally, legally to High Country |
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Thursday, 10 April 2008 |
 “Salvia divinorum” is a powerful hallucinogenic drug, but its effects only last a short amount of time. www.about.com
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by ALISON MEANEY
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
North Carolina residents have legal access to a powerful and inexpensive hallucinogenic drug.
Salvia divinorum is a drug whose potency is comparable to LSD.
It is a legal substance in all but a handful of states, and is available for sale in Boone and on the Internet.
“It will take you further in a second than a lot of hallucinogenics will,” senior finance and banking major
Jordan C. Ross said. “You lose all thoughts of where you are and who you are.”
Ross’ account of salvia is typical.
According to research at the Prevention Science Collaborative in San Diego, the effects of salvia are very powerful, but last for a short amount of time.
Web sites selling the drug explain the potency level will affect the intensity of the experience and ranges from a low extract of 5X to a very high potency level of 20X.
Media attention given to salvia in the past year suggests legislators, parents and police officers are
concerned about the ease of access to this product.
Ross said he believes driving while high on salvia would be even more dangerous than drinking and
driving.
Detective Darin L. Tolbert of University Police deals with campus drug issues and said there have been
no salvia-related incidents at Appalachian, though police have found it in dorm rooms.
Despite the lack of problems with salvia, Tolbert would still like to see legislation passed to limit
access to it.
“Anything that’s going to alter a person’s mindset, I feel that it needs to be controlled - not necessarily
illegal, but controlled,” Tolbert said.
These ideas are similar to those of Benjamin M. Querin, a senior appropriate tech major, who doesn’t
believe salvia should be made illegal, but that people should be aware of the extent salvia can alter
your mind.
“Some people may have tossed around the idea of smoking weed, and they might think about trying
salvia first because it’s legal. They might have a horrible experience and either be scared straight or
turned away from a better experience,” Querin said.
 Salvia-inspired painting created in 2007 by Mark Perceval-Maxwell
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Though Querin has tried the drug, like most others he does not know much about it.
According to the Prevention Science Collaborative’s 2007 study, salvia is a relative of mint and was
first grown by the Mazatec Indians in Oaxaca, Mexico where it was used for visions by shamans.
Though the effects of the plant have been known for a long time, it has not been widely available for
sale in the United States until recently.
Ken Gottfried, the owner of Expressions located in Boone’s New Market Center, estimates he’s been
carrying the herb for three to five years.
Contrary to national estimates, Gottfried said sales in Boone have not been increasing, but “cyclical,”
meaning that the trend of buying salvia comes and goes.
Even Gottfried, who might benefit from the sale of salvia in his stores, admitted he would tell people
not to try the drug.
“There’s a lot of [people] who will tell you to try it just to make a buck, but maybe one out of 10 will
kind of like it,” Gottfried said. “I’ve never tried it; there’s some things I’ll never try. I like to be in
control.”
Despite his personal view, he knows people want it.
“There are people who want to experiment,” he said. “No matter how many times you tell someone not
to do it, they will. People think that they’re superhuman.”
Gottfried said he believes, sooner or later, the same people who keep marijuana illegal will have their
way and make salvia illegal also.
“Everyone lives their own life and everyone should have the right to experience what they want,” said
Gottfried.
Currently, salvia has been placed on the watch list by the Drug Enforcement Administration and state
legislation has limited its distribution in Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Missouri,
Maine, Illinois, and Delaware, with many other states following suit.
Gottfried said perhaps the legislation will give consumers a better indication of effects of the drug.
“This is not tobacco or a mild product,” said Gottfried. “…It is a potent product.”
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