Ah, StumbleUpon. You fill my nights and my mind with useless frittery... and the oh-so occasional bit of intriguing fact or eyebrow-raising news. Which is how I stumbled upon this. Salvia divinorum has caught the attention of U.S. legislators, my oh my.
A brief personal history: I first saw Salvia for sale almost 6 years ago, in the head shops on Bourbon St. It was being represented as a legal alternative to marijuana. I asked the guy behind the counter if it was really like smoking weed. He shook his head solemnly and said, "That stuff's bad news, man. You want to be careful with it, seriously." I put Salvia on my mental "no, thank you" list.
A few years later, a friend of mine told me that he had smoked Salvia with a few of his buddies. He found its effects on his friends hilarious. One guy crawled around barking like a dog, another narrated his bizzare hallucination which culminated in french-kissing a bobblehead doll of Jim Cramer from CNBC's Mad Money. When it came my friend's turn at bat, he took a few puffs... held it... and found himself trapped in a world devoid of time. He said it was like being in a nightmare; and he thought he would be there forever. He lived an eternity in the few minutes he was "out."
Then, a couple of months ago, another friend of mine told me about her experience with it. She'd smoked it with her boyfriend and a mutual friend. It had amounted to not much more than hysterical giggling, and she had to hit the pipe twice to get there.
All that, just to say: I've never tried the stuff. I'm not really interested in doing so, because it doesn't sound like an enjoyable or enriching experience. I believe recreational drug use should fulfill one, or preferably both, criteria.
Back to the issue at hand: the USA Today article. I'll skip over the soft sell they're offering on the "poor Mexican farmers" who depend on Salvia as a crop. I'm not informed enough to offer an opinion, nor am I interested enough in the agricultural exports of southern Mexico to research it. It sounds like someone inexpertly playing heartstrings to me, though. Which is a shame, because there's something far more interesting going on here. Let's take a closer look.
Eleven states have passed laws "restricting" the use of Salvia. In the cases of California and Maine, it is illegal to sell to minors. [If you're keeping score, I'm O.K. with this.] The DEA is looking into banning it federally. A state representative responsible for some of the new legislation is quoted as saying, "There was no legitimate purpose for that herb... We thought it would be better to deter this sooner than later." Am I crazy, or is that a piss-poor reason to criminalize another naturally occurring substance?
No legitimate purpose? Who the hell do you think you are, Mr. Thom "My Name is Misspelled" Collier? This is a plant that has been used for centuries by the Indian tribes throughout its habitat. Their shamans used it as a diagnostic and divinatory tool. Potentially harmful? Don't make me go into the alcohol debate, because it's been said and no one's listening anyway. But there is more than your average hypocrisy occurring here.
Where is the threat? Show it to me, and I'll reevaluate my righteous indignation, I promise. Meanwhile, from erowid.org:
"At higher doses users report dramatic time distortion, vivid imagery, encounters with beings, travel to other places, planets or times, living years as the paint on a wall or experiencing the full life of another individual. Needless to say these can be extremely powerful experiences and should only be attempted with a sitter." [emphasis mine]
"...many people find S. divinorum to be unpleasantly overwhelming and more scary than fun. As has been found with pharmaceutical kappa-opioid agonists, Salvia divinorum is aversive for many who try it."
"Salvia divinorum is not known to be either physically addicting or likely to cause psychological dependence. Withdrawal effects following discontinuation have not been reported."
And this, from the man who sells the stuff: "It's not a party drug, and it's not a substitute for marijuana. Most people try it once, put it in a drawer and never touch it again." [John Boyd, CEO of Arena Ethnobotanicals]
Oh sure, this is the new drug terror to sweep the nation. *rolls eyes*
Here's the link to Erowid's salvia vault. I encourage you, anytime you're in the market for actual factual information on a drug, from what it does to how it does it... check Erowid. Truly outstanding website, written by intelligent people.
In conclusion, to the lawmakers: please leave my herb garden out of it. God grew it, if he ain't tellin' me what to do with it, don't you start.
To Erowid: longtime fan, if I had more money, I'd send it to ya'll.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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