If you saw it in the wild, the salvia plant would look a lot like the shade flower bordering your annual bed. Its leaves might resemble the mint used to make a nice pot of tea.
But if you eat or smoke Salvia divinorum, your head could feel like a balloon being inflated. Your heart would pound and you would probably convulse in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. You could also experience acute anxiety and fear, then depression. If you are prone to mental problems, it could launch a psychotic episode.
Salviais not sold as a plant in garden stores here. But it is available at some local head shops, co-ops and novelty stores in extract and leaf form.
Maybe not for long.
A bill in the Minnesota Legislature seeks to make the sale and possession of salvia illegal.
"The goal is for people to stop using it and doing other things like operating a vehicle," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights. "We're not going after gardeners here."
Though research is scarce, Atkins added, "one thing is clear: It's akin to LSD as a very potent hallucinogen."
Carol Falkowski, director of the Chemical Health Division of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, agrees legislative action could help prevent potentially serious consequences.
While not long-lasting, the drug could cause people to do things they normally wouldn't do, Falkowski said, and "put yourself and others in danger."
Jake Jacobs, 19, St. Paul, can testify to the plant's potency.
"It's definitely an experience," said Jacobs, who attends college in Iowa. "It's not a party drug, it's not something you can do and carry on a conversation."
Jacobs said the effects begin within a few seconds, with an accelerated heart rate, uncontrollable laughter and light-headedness. It lasted only about five minutes, with lingering effects for 20 minutes.
"It's like everything is being pulled down a tunnel and you lose your equilibrium," he said. "It's physical and psychedelic. It's not something that's very pleasurable."
He said because of that feeling, and the fact not much long-term research has been done, he doubts many people would do it more than as a novelty experience. He won't.
Handful of states ban use
Atkins said the issue came to his attention when he saw news reports of a death potentially linked to the plant.
Brett Chidester, a Delaware teenager, bought salvia on the Internet in 2006, and smoked it. Later, Chidester committed suicide and left a note that read: "How can I go on living after I learned the secrets of life?"
Chidester already suffered from depression, according to reports, but his parents believed his salvia-induced hallucinations provoked his death.
Eight states, including North Dakota, have laws banning its use. (Several varieties of ornamental plants are known as salvia. Salvia divinorum's common name is diviner's sage.)
The extract of the plant can be bought at a few "head shops" across the state, and co-ops occasionally carry the leaves. And it is readily available on the Internet.
Brittany Johnson, manager of Hideaway, a store and hookah lounge in Dinkytown that sells the extract, said that "it's pretty popular, actually."
The extract ranges in price from $8 to $35 per gram, depending on potency. Johnson said she's aware of the legislation and her store will "just stop selling it" if it becomes law.
Some question the efficacy of trying to restrict salvia.
"There are a ton of plants sold here that can be hallucinogenic," said Paige Pelini, owner of Mother Earth Gardens in south Minneapolis.
Mike Hibbard, horticultural adviser for Bachman's, said Salvia divinorum is "not something that grows [in Minnesota]. You won't find that plant at any legitimate garden store," he said. "You can buy the seeds on the Internet. I don't know if they can stop sales unless you can stop the Internet."
Law enforcement's suggestion
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has had only two samples sent to the lab, mostly by officers wondering what it is.
Dave Bjerga, assistant superintendent of the BCA, said the bill probably wouldn't affect law enforcement much.
In fact, the BCA has suggested that if the bill continues through the Legislature, it should instead address the active hallucinogenic chemical, Salvinorin A, instead of the plant, to make it easier to prosecute.
Bjerga said alcohol, marijuana and cocaine will continue to be the agency's focus, and agreed that people know about scores of natural hallucinogens, including some kinds of toads, that cause euphoria.
"But that doesn't mean people are going to go out and lick a toad," he said.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/16583991.html?page=1&c=y


This sucks, because I'll be in Fargo, ND in the fall and I planned on buying salvia at a headshop in Moorhead, MN. Now maybe I won't be able to :(. I hate those bastards.

Who the fuck drives after salvia? That whole article is rife with bullshit.


And if you are worried, take a cue from what they said and get it online.

I only know of 1 website that will ship salvia to North Dakota, and it's from some asshole that I was talking to on MySpace who overprices his stuff.

EDIT: The site is salviasupply, they used to advertise on totse. The guy is a fucking idiot. Here's our convo.

HIM: Some say Salvia Divinorum blows all other drugs out of the water. If you haven't tried Salvia at least once, now is the time while it's still legal :)

It's comparable to DMT and Ketamine, but stronger and more potent.

Salvia is legal to grow, legal to sell, legal to possess and legal to get fucked up on. Your soul will go places it has never gone before.

ME: Please close your business. You overprice all of your products and are one of the reasons why salvia is illegal in many states, including mine. Your dumbass business is pissing off a lot of people who use salvia responsibly.

HIM: Sorry you feel that way John. Ours might be a little bit more expensive but that's because of the higher quality of extraction.

As for it being illegal, we'll still ship the product to any state in the United States and most countries.

ME: I've bought some very high quality stuff for much cheaper, but that doesn't really bother me because people have the choice to buy from you or not. What bothers me is that you advertise salvia as something to get high on, which makes even more people think that it's an alternative to marijuana. Salvia is not something to be taken lightly, but when you have an ad that says "GET HIGH?" people are going to.

HIM: I don't know how much more high you can get than on Salvia :)

The guy on that site sounds like an asshole. As for it being illegal, I'm sure it wont be much of a penalty for possession of buying. You can still go over state lines to get it.

When salvia becomes illegal in my state i will not even care. i have done it 2 times and i found that was enough for me. They can have the salvia I dont care. I will still be able to get weed and smoke it so why would I want an "alternative legal high"(which we know it doesn't even come close) to take the place of the weed I can almost get just as easily.

Considering you don't even know what you are, driving is a little bit of a stretch..

Later, Chidester committed suicide and left a note that read: "How can I go on living after I learned the secrets of life?"


nigga didn't learn shit, obviously!


I'll be pissed if this shit becomes illegal anytime soon.

goodreadalso.

nonsense

you probably shouldnt be posting that convo on totse

you probably shouldnt be posting that convo on totse
No, I agree with him, it should be made public that this dumb fuck supplier is not only advertising it as a drug alternative, but is also blatantly disregarding the law in saying he will ship somewhere where the plant is prohibited. What a fucking faggot. Of course everyone here knows better than to buy from a douchebag like that, so it's not actually going to do much good publicizing it here, per say, but on the other hand, why NOT publicize it? Who gives a fuck if it gives that dumb motherfucker the WRONG kind of attention, it's his own fucking fault for being such an ignorant jackass by being so willing to just break a law and make the situation even worse, having CAUSED the problem in the first place with his "testimonials" about the plant.

This sucks, because I'll be in Fargo, ND in the fall and I planned on buying salvia at a headshop in Moorhead, MN. Now maybe I won't be able to :(. I hate those bastards.


are you from fargo? i was born in bismarck.....there big boy is the shit.

btw fargo's gay compared to bismarck

I live in Wisconsin and the only headshop around here is across Lake Superior into Minnesota. What will I resort to if I can't get my salvia fix?

I always knew that website looked sketchy, i mean they have video reports and everything, they are actually condoning the use of smoking it most other websites dont do that...To OP buy mushrooms or something, there are WAY better hallucinogens out there than salvia ( i have never even hallucinated on salvia but have gotten EXTREMELY messed up, the closest i've come to a hallucination is when i blacked out for 10 seconds and when i came back i felt as if i was reborn or something, very strange).

What the fuck are you talking about??

There are 3 headshops that i can name off the top of my head that are in Green Bay!
Crossroads sells salvia, may be expensive but it's not bad.
I'd rather get it online though.

are you from fargo? i was born in bismarck.....there big boy is the shit.

btw fargo's gay compared to bismarck

I live in a small town about 5 hours away from Fargo. I'm gonna be going to NDSU in the fall.

its been illegal here in texas since january. ):

"You can buy the seeds on the Internet."

NO, YOU CAN'T.