Advocates Call For Statewide (MD) Salvia Ban

[The Straight Story]

Advocates Call For Statewide Salvia Ban

(Maryland) This week the city council in Ocean City banned the sale and possession of the substance, ‘salvia.’ Substance abuse advocates are wondering, if salvia is dangerous enough to ban in Ocean City, why is it still legal in the rest of the state?

Salvia is an herb related to ‘sage.’ It can be smoked or eaten, and users typically have a quick, hallucinogenic reaction. ‘They will lose touch with reality, much like LSD or other hallucinogens,’ said Mike Gimbel, who counsels victims of drug and alcohol abuse.

YouTube videos of people using the drug get hundreds of thousands of hits. It's already illegal in Delaware, Virginia and several other states

In Ocean City, salvia was widely available in shops along the boardwalk, and city leaders say they wanted to ban it before a young person died or suffered an injury while using it. Possessing or selling salvia in Ocean City would now earn the offender a $1,000 fine.

Experts on drug use say salvia is dangerous, even though the 'high' lasts only about five minutes. ‘A kid could walk across a street and be hit by a car, could walk off a balcony, lots of bad things happen when kids take hallucinogenic drugs,’ Gimbel said.

Earlier this year, the Maryland House of Delegates passed a statewide ban on the drug, but the state senate adjourned without voting on the issue. So salvia remains legal in most of Maryland, a situation Mike Gimbel calls, 'crazy.’ ‘I'm out there along with other people trying to educate kids and parents, and then they say well it's legal -- so what's wrong with it if it's legal,’ he said.

http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story/Advocates-Call-For-Statewide-Salvia-Ban/Pdi-GvrUc0GHZVdEhB09XQ.cspx

[endarkenment]

1. 'cause we just don't learn nuttin so lets do some more WOD damage

salvia has been used for centuries with no known serious consequences, despite stupid apocryphal stories such as "a kid could walk across a street and be hit by a car". Indeed, so because of that undocumented risk, as there isn't much else for the WOD-Warriors to hang their helmet on here, we should impose a well documented risk of life-ruining health threatening imprisonment on people who get high using salvia.

We just don't learn nuttin.

[ejpoeta]

5. as far as i know, a kid could walk across the street and get hit by a car on any given day.

i see them darting out in the road out of nowhere all the time. and i am pretty sure they aren't on anything while they do it. if we had to worry about people getting hurt, no one would ever be able to do anything. we could get hurt riding a bike, or just walking down the street.... riding a skateboard... the list is endless.

i have never heard of this stuff and admittedly don't know much about it. but i do know that the surest way to start a sensation would be to tell people they can't have it. and if i haven't ever heard of it, then chances are that if they just ignore it and quit trying to make everything illegal, most never will and they will lose interest if they even decide to try it.

[hobbit709]

2. What bullshit

In that intense five minute rush you are most likely not to be walking anywhere, much less
‘A kid could walk across a street and be hit by a car, could walk off a balcony, lots of bad things happen when kids take hallucinogenic drugs,’

And what are they going to ban next?
I can easily think of a dozen completely legal natural substances that will give you some kind of buzz, some of which ARE dangerous if used too much.

[Rebubula]

3. Salvia

Well...I tried this substance a couple of times (got the 20x extract stuff) and was blown away. I have taken acid well over 100 times over the course of the last 20 years (41yo) as well as most other psychedelic type drugs but nothing prepared me for this experience.

It was brief but when I came back, I was confused and a little scared. It was the most intense thing that I have ever done (drug-wise) and I will likely never do it again. Also - nothing I saw and thought would translate well...

However, making a big fuss and prohibiting it will only have the opposite effect of the desired outcome.

Honestly...although I recommend that most people try mushrooms at least once - I would never try to convince anyone to smoke salvia extract.

[sofa king]

4. What's this? A hallucinogen I have not yet tried?

And it's one of the "balcony jumper" ones, too. Those are my favorite, maaan.

[customerserviceguy]

6. You caught that phrase, too!

Yeah, I remember all of my high school buddies in the 1970's who jumped off of balconies because of pot....NOT!