According to the NYT, there is a new drug rapidly gaining popularity in the U.S. and Canada: Salvia divinorum (literally: "Sage of the Seers." It's a plant in the mint family that has long been used by Latin American shamans to produce a hallucinogenic affect. It's much more potent than LSD--in terms of the amount necessary to create an affect--but it also wears off much faster. A typical high only lasts a few minutes.
Interestingly, no studies have documented any harmful effects from Salvia, which is probably why it is still legal federally and in most states. (But the jury is still out on long-term effects.) It is cheap and plentiful over the Internet for the time being. But a recent string of goofy You Tube videos of users clearly high out of their minds has prompted legislative action. Law makers are raising the concern that recreational use of Salvia could lead to other drugs or impair driving. Even proponents of the drug's use recommend a "sober sitter" to watch over the tripping.
People who take Salvia report brief, intense mystical experiences that are solitary and contemplative in nature. According to DEA, it's too introspective to make much of a party drug, but it is nonetheless popular among young thrill seekers.
The problem with banning the drug completely is that it makes research difficult, and many scientists believe Salvia could open the doors to entire classes of psychiatric medication:
Though Salvinorin A, because of its debilitating effects, is unlikely to become a pharmaceutical agent itself, its chemistry may enable the discovery of valuable derivatives. “If we can find a drug that blocks salvia’s effects, there’s good evidence it could treat brain disorders including depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, maybe even H.I.V.,” Dr. Roth said. ...
“We have this incredible new compound, the first in its class; it absolutely has potential medical use, and here we’re talking about throttling it because some people get intoxicated on it,” said Dr. John Mendelson, a pharmacologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute who, with federal financing, is studying salvia’s impact on humans. “It couldn’t be more foolish from a business point of view.”(source)
From a botany point of view, it's a noteworthy example of a "cultigen"--a species of plant resulting from human intervention. The ancients biogenetically engineered this plant to be a potent source of this drug. (As an aside, Bananas are also a cultigen.)
I've never tried LSD or anything like it, but I would be curious to go on a shaman-supervised vision quest someday. Perhaps like Kabbalah it's something to be explored only after one has a lifetime of experience in order to be properly grounded. Safety first!
-t
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