It's a plant - and its extract gives users an
LSD-like high. No, it's not the latest target in the U.S. War On Drugs. In fact, it's perfectly legal. Salvia, also known as Diviner's Sage and Magic Mint, is a psychoactive drug and it's readily available across the GTA.
That's right, pop into any hemp store in the GTA and chances are you'll be able to pick up as much salvia as you want, plus tax, of course. Take it home, smoke it or chew it and fly high without breaking the law. Its legal status is due to Health Canada ruling the substance as nontoxic and nonaddictive.
Can this be possible? Has
Timothy Leary's dream finally come true? Sort of, for the time being. Salvia use has been largely under the radar, giving Health Canada no cause for concern. But in recent years its popularity has skyrocketed thanks to Internet sales. More use, however, means more controversy and Australia added Salvia to its list of controlled substances in 2001. For now, however, it remains unmonitored in Canada or in 45 U.S. states.
Even though Salvia is legal it doesn't mean it's healthy. In parts of Southern Ontario a group of concerned parents have started a movement to ban the substance, following the lead of various groups across the US. The Drug Enforcement Agency across the border has officially listed Salvia as a "drug of concern". Recent reports of Salvia-ridden suicide are prompting government agencies to monitor Salvia-use more intently. Even though Canadians can still access the drug without question, experts on addiction say extensive use of Salvia can cause depression and anxiety.
The low-down on Salvia:
- The effects of salvia are brief, an experience with salvia normally peaks five minutes after ingestion and lasts for, at most, 45 minutes to an hour.
- LSD is a completely synthesized drug that was first created in laboratories in the 1950s, while salvia is a naturally occurring substance. In addition, LSD's effects can last for up to eight to 10 hours.
- The feelings Salvia evokes are reported to be more dream-like and natural than other hallucinogenic.
- The plant was originally used by the Mazatec Indians of the Oaxaca region in Mexico for spiritual and medical purposes.
- In ceremonies, the Mazatec would orally consume up to 100 leaves of Salvia, which they often referred to as Ska Maria Pastora, meaning leaves of the Virgin Mary, the Shepherdess.
Smoking it:
Concentrated preparations or extracts have become widely available to smoke in a pipe or bong. The enhanced leaf is often described by a number followed by an x (such as "5x," "10x," etc), to delineate potency. If Salvia is smoked the main effects are experienced quickly. The most intense 'peak' is reached within a minute or so and lasts for about 1-5 minutes, followed by a gradual tapering back. At 5-10 minutes, less intense effects typically persist, but give way to a returning sense of the everyday and familiar until back to recognizable baseline after about 15 to 20 minutes.
Chewing it:
Chewing the leaf makes the effects come on more slowly, over a period of 10 to 20 minutes, the experience then lasting from another 30 minutes up to one and a half hours
More information on Salvia
Watch Salvia in action here