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Federal drug laws don’t address Salvia divinorum, but a handful of states have adopted their own laws regulating it. The Wisconsin Assembly Criminal Justice Committee is set to hold a public hearing Wednesday on a measure that would prohibit distributing or selling the herb for human consumption.
The bill’s main author, Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, says Salvia is dangerous and too readily available at Wisconsin smoke shops and from online dealers.
“It’s a psychoactive drug that affects the way we think, the way we act. It impairs our judgment,” Wasserman said.
Smoking, chewing or licking the herb can cause short, intense giggling fits as well as hallucinations. Teens and young adults have taken to videotaping themselves getting high on it. The popular site YouTube features a number of home movies showing teens smoking the herb and within seconds launching into laughing fits and talking about seeing designs.
The herb’s long-term effects are still unknown, said Dr. Neil Farber, an associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin who has researched the herb.
But it can be as potent as LSD, causing visions and improved moods in some people, Farber said. It also can cause loss of balance and coordination, and alter perception, which could create problems when a user gets behind the wheel, he said. Wisconsin drivers can now legally use the drug and drive.
Sue Nowak is a drug prevention specialist with North Central Health Care, which provides drug counseling, treatment and detoxification services for several northern Wisconsin counties. Nowak said she spends a lot of time talking with children in alternative schools in Marathon, Lincoln and Langlade counties.
Chatter about Salvia has grown over the last two years, she said. Most kids get the herb from area smoke shops, she said, or have someone get it for them.
Nowak estimated she has come across several dozen students who have tried it.
“One talked about trying to walk through a window,” Nowak said. “What kids have said is it’s just extremely intense.”
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration is looking into whether the herb belongs on its controlled substances list.
But Bertha Madras, deputy director of demand reduction for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Salvia users are few. Marijuana and non-medical use of prescription drugs remain the most popular forms of drug abuse, she said.
“Salvia divinorum is so far down the list, it’s a tiny fraction of 1 percent,” she said. “That does not mean we do not pay attention to it. On an individual, case-by-case basis, any drug that is intoxicating can produce devastation.”
Claudia Roska is the executive director of the Addiction Resource Council in Waukesha. She said a mother called the council’s hot line about a month ago saying her son, who had a mental disorder, had a bad reaction to Salvia, losing touch with reality and becoming violent. But that’s the only case she has heard about.
At least eight states — Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee — have enacted legislation regulating Salvia since 2005, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Wasserman’s bill would prohibit manufacturing, distributing, selling or delivering the herb. Violators would face up to $10,000 in fines but no jail time.
Wasserman said he wants to send a strong message, not “round people up” and throw them in jail.
Smoke shops will just have to find a new product to sell, he added, but acknowledged the the bill probably wouldn’t stop online purchases.
“The important thing is it should not be sold in the state,” he said. “We’re going to try to stop it.”
Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, chairman of the Assembly Criminal Justice Committee, said he wanted to hear from experts at Wednesday’s hearing before making up his mind on the bill.
If the measure gets out of the committee, it would have to pass the full Assembly and Senate and get Gov. Jim Doyle’s signature to become law.
