Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Until recently, many parents and even juveniles in Utah may have never heard of salvia.
That is, until a video featuring one of the country's biggest pop stars, whom many young people look up to, went viral.
A video featuring Miley Cyrus using a bong during a party to celebrate her 18th birthday has made big waves on the Internet. The substance she was smoking was reportedly salvia divinorum, an herb from Mexico that when smoked or ingested can have hallucinogenic effects.
The Miley video has sparked an outcry from some lawmakers and parent groups about the influence it might have on juveniles, and at least one website has already reported a spike in the sales of salvia.
We never found that this was of significant concern at this point and time to focus on. It wasn't of a sufficient use to merit controlling it.
–Dr. David Sundwall
Ironically, even before the video came out, Utah lawmakers were talking about salvia as part of their recent discussions about regulating spice.
The Controlled Substances Advisory Committee said in September it would recommend to lawmakers that Spice be put under state control. Currently, Spice can be purchased legally as incense.
The committee also considered salvia, but determined at that time it wasn't a problem in Utah.
"We never found that this was of significant concern at this point and time to focus on," said Dr. David Sundwall, Utah Department of Health director and chairman of the committee. "It wasn't of a sufficient use to merit controlling it."
Unified Police Sgt. Scott VanWagoner, over the Drug Court Unit in Salt Lake, concurred, "We don't see a huge problem with this particular drug in the Salt Lake Valley. You just don't have a lot of illicit use of it going on. There seemed to be a wave curiosity more than anything."
Unlike Spice, which has a synthetic component, salvia is natural. Discussions about salvia are not new to Utah.
In 2006, KSL TV's Debbie Dujanovic did an investigative report on salvia along the Wasatch Front. A producer was able to easily buy salvia at four local smoke shops.
The TV story also featured videos of people having salvia trips, a trend that received national attention four to six years ago. Juveniles would videotape their friends having a hallucinigetic reaction to smoking salvia and post it on You Tube.
But one of the factors the committee considered was just that, that it was "yesterday's drug."
"For a few years it was the popular fun drug," Sundwall said, noting it had lost a lot of its popularity in recent years.
The committee, made up of law enforcers, doctors and educators, wanted to be disciplined in the types of drugs it called for controls to be placed on, he said.
"Not to have a knee-jerk reaction to this week's popular drug," Sundwall said.
Salvia has a low toxicity and a low addictive potential. It also does not leave people with a hangover. But many people have reported not liking the types of hallucinations they get from using it.
And even if it's legal to purchase, using it as a drug is still illegal, VanWagoner said.
Some American Indian tribes in the region where salvia originates use it to induce a visionary state of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions.
"If you're using it outside that purpose, it's a drug of abuse," he said. "You can drive under the influence of virtually anything."
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com
