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Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.




Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
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Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO]
#8063842 - 02/24/08 10:24 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8351843
California kids legally can tune in, turn on and freak out these days with a potent, mind-altering drug that is readily available but targeted for a crackdown by police and lawmakers.
Typically smoked or chewed, salvia divinorum has become increasingly known on the Internet the past few years through sales on eBay and through YouTube videos of users tripping with it.
The drug is produced from a Mexican plant used by Mazatec Indians for healing and ritual prophecy. Users in the United States have reported effects ranging from relaxation and sensual pleasure to out-of-body experiences and frightening hallucinations.
"This is the first really new illicit drug in a long time," said Dr. John Mendelson, a researcher at California Pacific Medical Center who is preparing to study how much salvia users must consume to become intoxicated.
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Lt. Jerry Davis, who is pushing legislation to ban sales to minors, said one woman who used salvia — sometimes called "Sally D" or "magic mint" — claimed that her miniblinds suddenly began beating her.
"She had a burrito on the table," he said, reporting her hallucination. "It grew legs and teeth and started to attack her."
A Delaware woman, Kathy Chidester, is pushing to outlaw salvia nationwide after her 17-year-old son Brett Chidester committed suicide two years ago — a death that a medical examiner ruled stemmed, in part, from the teen's use of the drug.
Chidester said her son, a straight-A student, balked at her appeals to stop smoking salvia, which he purchased from a Web site. "He said, 'Mom, it's legal,'" Chidester recalled. "He said, 'If there was something really, really wrong with it, it would not be legal.'"
Daniel Siebert, a Malibu herbalist, counters that media coverage of salvia has been unfair. It is not a party drug, does not produce a euphoric high, is not addictive, and can be used responsibly for introspection, he said.
"It's kind of like a tool for gaining greater understanding," said Siebert, who said he has used the drug many times, sells it via the Internet, and has written a user's guide that describes its effects as "divine inebriation."
Siebert said users will experience varying degrees of impact, depending partly on dosage and how the drug is consumed. Salvia, whose active component is "salvinorin A," is an herb in the mint family.
"Salvia has much to offer: fascinating psychoactive effects, sensual enhancement, magical journeys, enchantment, apparent time travel, philosophical insights, spiritual experiences and perhaps even healing and divination," Siebert says in his user's guide.
The manual warns that salvia should be used only by adults in a "thoughtful, intelligent manner," and that a companion should be present if a user is taking doses high enough that he or she might "freak out, become confused, injure (himself), fall, or do anything that might harm others."
Siebert said salvia's visionary effects typically resemble a dream, with users not feeling like they are under the influence of a drug.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse characterizes salvia's effects as "intense but short-lived," beginning less than a minute after consumption and lasting less than 30 minutes.
Federal drug agencies note that salvia is not approved for medical use. But Mendelson said researchers are interested in studying its potential for treating bipolar mental conditions or slowing the transmission of HIV.
Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Spain and Sweden have restricted sale or use of the drug, as have a handful of U.S. states, including Delaware, Missouri and Louisiana, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
The DEA has listed salvia as a "drug of concern" and is evaluating it — addressing issues ranging from potential abuse to medicinal issues — to determine whether it should be banned like marijuana and LSD, spokeswoman Rogene Waite said.
"What we say, and cannot emphasize too much, is that just because something isn't currently a controlled substance doesn't mean it's not dangerous," Waite said. "It doesn't mean you should be experimenting with it."
Assemblyman Anthony Adams has proposed legislation, Assembly Bill 259, to make it a misdemeanor to sell salvia to minors. The bill passed the Assembly, 76-0, and is pending in the Senate.
Adams said public safety is endangered when teenagers can use salvia and hallucinate, perhaps behind the wheel of a car.
"You're encouraging people to be in a place in their mental state where they lose the capacity to make informed decisions," he said.
AB 259 is opposed by California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, representing defense lawyers, who argue that there is no evidence that salvia causes physical harm and that legislators know too little about the drug to take action.
"As a matter of public policy, we should not simply criminalize behavior without sufficient scientific information," the group wrote to lawmakers.
No statistics are kept on how widely salvia is used statewide. The drug is marketed in various sizes, shapes and containers as leaves, extracts and tinctures. It even comes in flavored varieties, such as cherry or peach.
At a Sacramento smoke shop, Twisted, a $40 package of salvia labels the substance as incense but describes it as "a tool for self exploration" and advises not to use it if pregnant, mentally ill or operating heavy machinery.
The downtown Twisted store does not sell to minors — a policy stated on salvia's packaging.
Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said officers cannot recall any emergencies or misbehavior tied to salvia, suggesting its use locally might not be widespread.
But Howard C. Samuels, executive director of Wonderland Center, a Los Angeles drug and alcohol facility, said dozens of salvia users have sought help from his staff.
Samuels supports banning sales to minors.
"Unfortunately, we have a generation that wants to change their minds, that want to get high," he said. "It's part of our responsibility as professionals, fathers, mothers, parents, to protect our children."
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Chemy
Jesus is Lord

Registered: 10/05/07
Posts: 6,276
Loc: A Church
Last seen: 14 years, 1 month
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] *DELETED* [Re: Bridgeburner]
#8063887 - 02/24/08 10:33 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Post deleted by ChemyReason for deletion: Reason for deleting?
-------------------- Alcoholics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous Get help, help is free and available 24/7/365. God bless you all and I hope you receive the help you need to turn away from your lives of sin. Mushrooms and drugs make you gay, you can reverse this homosexual condition with rehab, get help! Stop being gay!
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biggysmall
Stranger



Registered: 04/27/07
Posts: 1,694
Loc: your moms bedroom
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: Chemy]
#8064155 - 02/24/08 11:42 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
"You're encouraging people to be in a place in their mental state where they lose the capacity to make informed decisions," he said.
sounds alot like alcohol to me......
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Konryou
Stranger


Registered: 02/10/08
Posts: 25
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: biggysmall]
#8065137 - 02/24/08 04:40 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
But Mendelson said researchers are interested in studying its potential for treating bipolar mental conditions or slowing the transmission of HIV.
Here that? If you don't do Salvia you get HIV.
Smoke up kiddies.
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sui
I love you.



Registered: 08/20/04
Posts: 31,853
Loc: Cali, Contra Costa Co.
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: Konryou]
#8065346 - 02/24/08 05:36 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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DAMN IT!
fuck looks like i need to stock up.
-------------------- "There is never a wrong note, bend it." Jimi Hendrix
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 5 minutes, 8 seconds
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: sui]
#8066939 - 02/24/08 11:16 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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No stocking up is necessary, AB259 only restricts sales to minors.
We need a better way to find out about these things - They often don't get news stories written about them until they are being voted on, and by that time it is often too late to stop it.
This bill has been in the works since Feb 5, 2007 according to the web page:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm
I don't see any other evil salvia bills on the horizon.
I'll have to do these searches more often, apparently eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
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alphabeatu
Sire


Registered: 11/07/07
Posts: 2,750
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: Bridgeburner]
#8067588 - 02/25/08 04:25 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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i noticed how its still legal (other than some countries/states where it has recently become illegal) because they havent found a medical use for it yet.
anything that has recreational mind expanding values gets swollowed up and made illegal so the drug companies themselves can own,monopolize and prescribe it
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i need names and addresses of narc members pm for details
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PoisonedV
Fuming Shrooming




Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 398
Loc: Hell
Last seen: 9 years, 1 month
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: alphabeatu]
#8067897 - 02/25/08 08:44 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Get used to it. I live in Illinois where it's already illegal. And since it does not produce seeds, there is no loophole for it. And I have no shady connections...
-------------------- Lazy...
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NizzyJones
Fight evil with funk



Registered: 08/22/06
Posts: 2,082
Loc: Somewhere North of Normal
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: PoisonedV]
#8068180 - 02/25/08 10:49 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
a death that a medical examiner ruled stemmed, in part, from the teen's use of the drug.
Because all of our medical examiners are licensed psychiatrists - and corpses are excellent therapy subjects, they say whatever you want them to say.
Quote:
Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said officers cannot recall any emergencies or misbehavior tied to salvia, suggesting its use locally might not be widespread.
Or ya know, maybe suggesting that it isn't a public safety issue? I don't get how people can be such fools.
-------------------- Wildflower seed on the sand and stone, may the four winds blow you safely home Curriculum vapidum (dry herb vapes)
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HighHat
Repeat Gold Medal eBay -TiVoist



Registered: 01/24/08
Posts: 303
Loc: Delocated
Last seen: 13 years, 11 months
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: NizzyJones]
#8068214 - 02/25/08 11:07 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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So one selfish deranged kid kills himself and leaves a suicide note blaming salvia. First of all, he's an asshole. Blaming a drug for your actions reveals to me an inability to take responsibility for yourself. Now his selfish actions have the clueless masses calling for the blood of another natural herb.
Second, how many people have committed suicide, murder, assault, or other crimes while under the influence of alcohol? Yes, suicide is a crime in most, if not all states. I'm sure at some point in the future there will be books published that contain all this propaganda for people to look at and laugh as they sit in the coffee shop drinking coffee, eating mushrooms, and smoking a joint. I hope I live to see the day.
-------------------- Have you ever felt like you were wearing a hat, but you weren't? "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" -Letter from the Pennsylvania Assembly, November 11, 1755 This profile is strictly for role-playing. Any alleged association with illegal activities is purely fictional. Any images depicting illegal activities are photo-shopped or stolen.
Edited by HighHat (02/25/08 11:09 AM)
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Romantican
MindSet



Registered: 04/07/07
Posts: 241
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: HighHat]
#8068964 - 02/25/08 03:43 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yo, Salvia isn't illegal in Illinois. I'm from Chicago and you buy it any local head shop.
-------------------- Trade List Legal Disclaimer: All posts made by this user are false. Every word and picture associated with the user "Romantican" is part of an online experiment that has no basis in reality. All pictures made my this user have been edited in photoshop to appear as though these projects are happening. In reality everything is green screened and digitally rendered. All pm's made by this user are automated messages created randomly by a programmed bot with no intentions of specifically contacting any individual. All activities associated with the user "Romantican" on the website "www.shroomery.org" are fabricated with no point besides to collect data on a social experiment.
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 5 minutes, 8 seconds
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Re: Crackdown may come for unregulated drug [SACRAMENTO] [Re: Romantican]
#8070668 - 02/25/08 10:54 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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> Yo, Salvia isn't illegal in Illinois. I'm from Chicago and you buy it any local head shop.
Check your local head shop again, the salvia will be gone.
Everyone in the US that reads this message, please do me a favor. Search your states legislature web page for "salvia" and post the results. You can find the page pretty easily using google unless your state really sucks. California residents are exempt, I just checked theirs.
The only way to stop anti-salvia legislation is to nip it in the bud.
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