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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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Sales of salvia divinorum not legal in Canada, but not enforced
#13353915 - 10/18/10 06:27 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Sales of salvia divinorum not legal in Canada, but not enforced October 18, 2010 - weyburnreview.com
OTTAWA - Canada is no longer a safe legal haven for salvia divinorum, the potent hallucinogenic plant that is sold openly online and in head shops across the country.
Yet no one seems aware of the law and Health Canada is not enforcing it.
Websites and shopkeepers are still advertising the plant as a perfectly legal head trip for Canadians eager to join the thousands of "pschonauts" who've posted videos of their psychedelic salvia voyages on YouTube.
An estimated 1.6 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older have already taken at least one ride on salvia, according to the 2009 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey, the first to measure use of the plant.
For those aged 15-24, the number rises to 7.3 per cent.
Yet the federal government says products containing salvia divinorum and its active ingredient, salvinorin A, are considered natural health products and, as such, must be authorized by Health Canada before they can be sold.
"It is illegal to sell NHPs (natural health products) in Canada unless they have been reviewed by Health Canada and authorized for sale," Christelle Legault, a spokesperson for Health Canada, told The Canadian Press in an email.
"To date, Health Canada has not licensed for sale any drug or NHP which contains salvia as an ingredient."
Legault added: "The illegal sale of products containing S. divinorum and/or salvinorin A may be subject to compliance and enforcement action under the Food and Drugs Act."
This comes as news to head shops that are openly selling vials of salvia extract — for $20 to $80 per gram, depending on the potency — within spitting distance of Parliament Hill.
One shopkeeper, who asked not to be identified, said he's had no notification that the plant, also known as diviner's sage and magic mint, can no longer be legally sold in Canada. He said he purchases the extract from a Canadian supplier.
It's news to the police as well, who've complained in the past that their hands are tied when it comes to salvia, which has been known to produce some adverse reactions, including one case reported by Health Canada in 2006 in which a teenage boy became incoherent and suicidal and threatened to kill police officers.
"Until the government makes it illegal, there's nothing we can do about it," said Robin Percival, communications strategist for drugs and organized crime at RCMP national headquarters.
Informed that Health Canada says it is, in fact, illegal to sell salvia without authorization under the Natural Health Products Regulations, Percival said: "I don't think we have any jurisdiction there."
Indeed, it would appear that enforcement of the regulations is entirely up to Health Canada's Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate.
Asked why Health Canada has not stopped the illegal sale of salvia, department spokesman Gary Holub said complaints can be referred to the inspectorate by calling 1-800-267-9675.
However, an open letter from the inspectorate to "all interested parties" on Aug. 27 suggests the inspectorate has not yet really begun in earnest to enforce the Natural Health Products Regulations.
The letter recounts that the regulations came into force in 2004. Due to the large backlog of products that needed to be assessed for safety and quality before they could be licensed by Health Canada, suppliers were given until June 2008 to submit applications for licensing.
It appears the process took longer than expected and only now is the inspectorate preparing to actually enforce the regulations.
The letter advises that a new compliance and enforcement policy has now been adopted, which is to be fully implemented in February. In the meantime, suppliers are being given a six-month transition period during which those who've taken steps to become compliant and have made a submission for licensing will be "considered a lower priority for enforcement, unless a risk to health or additional non-compliances are identified."
The chances of salvia ever receiving Health Canada's seal of approval seem slim, given the department's dim view of the product.
"Canadians should not use products containing S. divinorum and/or salvinorin A because very little is known about the substance and its potential effects on the brain and/or body and its impact on physical and mental functions," said department spokesperson Legault.
Indeed, she said Health Canada is currently reviewing available information about the plant to determine whether it should be included in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which regulates or bans drugs deemed to have a higher-than-average risk of abuse or addiction.
Salvia is already banned or regulated in about a dozen countries including Australia, Japan, Germany and Belgium, and some dozen states in the U.S.
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eLShaMukO



Registered: 04/28/10
Posts: 1,694
Loc: far away
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Re: Sales of salvia divinorum not legal in Canada, but not enforced [Re: veggie]
#13354001 - 10/18/10 06:46 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Canadians eager to join the thousands of "pschonauts" who've posted videos of their psychedelic salvia voyages on YouTube.
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OddEye


Registered: 10/08/04
Posts: 453
Last seen: 6 years, 3 months
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Re: Sales of salvia divinorum not legal in Canada, but not enforced [Re: eLShaMukO]
#13354869 - 10/18/10 10:06 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
eLShaMukO said:
Quote:
Canadians eager to join the thousands of "pschonauts" who've posted videos of their psychedelic salvia voyages on YouTube.

hahaha
I think u can still buy salvia in québec.
-------------------- I'm at the highest peak, still glad the meak is understandin' me Artillery, thoughts of killin' me is just a fantasy The man in me is ready for war, like Holyfield-Tyson IV
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auronlives69
psychedelic monk


Registered: 04/19/09
Posts: 655
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Sales of salvia divinorum not legal in Canada, but not enforced [Re: veggie]
#13354950 - 10/18/10 10:38 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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wait so if understood correctly salvia would still be legal for non consumption puropses like lets say incense or magic sage confetti
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Simplepowa
In Pursuit of Knowledge


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 4,310
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Re: Sales of salvia divinorum not legal in Canada, but not enforced [Re: OddEye]
#13355763 - 10/19/10 04:49 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
OddEye said:
Quote:
eLShaMukO said:
Quote:
Canadians eager to join the thousands of "pschonauts" who've posted videos of their psychedelic salvia voyages on YouTube.

hahaha
I think u can still buy salvia in québec.
Yes, all the headshop in Quebec sell it along with BZP, HBWR, etc., etc.
--------------------
Carl Sagan - "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." --- Robert Pirsig - "When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." --- Brian Cox - "[One] problem with today’s world is that everyone believes they have the right to express their opinion AND have others listen to it. The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense."
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Country1
Ehhh



Registered: 03/11/09
Posts: 544
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Sales of salvia divinorum not legal in Canada, but not enforced [Re: Simplepowa]
#13360209 - 10/19/10 11:41 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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I can still buy it in Winnipeg
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