TodayLegal drug causes stir in Mechanicsburg
Council to discuss topic at Tuesday night's meeting.
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Salvia divinorum is a legal hallucinogenic drug that causes out-of-body experiences and can be bought without a prescription at specialty stores. (Jason Malmont/The Sentinel)
Only a few knocks on a couple of doors made Mechanicsburg Borough Councilman Matthew Seagrist realize there may be a problem in the borough.
“I’ve had a disturbing pattern of complaints about friends of their grandchildren purchasing a drug in Mechanicsburg,” Seagrist said of a few elderly residents he visited while campaigning for the 88th Legislative District seat in the state House of Representatives. “It’s a hallucinogenic drug people can abuse and buy legally.”
The legal drug in question is known as salvia divinorum, not to be confused with the salvia officinalis, or cooking sage. Salvia divinorum is a little rarer than the salvia plants found in garden stores and has a far different use than ordinary sage.
“Salvia divinorum is a herb traditionally used for divination, where it got its Latin name,” said Susanna Reppert-Brill, herbalist and owner of The Rosemary House in Mechanicsburg. “Shamans would use it for exploring the consciousness or getting closer in touch with a supreme being and finding clearer answers.”
The mind-altering and hallucinogenic effects of the herb concerns Seagrist — and some state lawmakers, who have introduced and referred Senate Bill 710 to a judiciary committee to add salvia to a list of controlled substances.
“Senate Bill 710 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 29 and has remained there,” said Seagrist, who plans on asking the borough council to write a letter in favor of the bill at Tuesday night’s council meeting. “If the council agrees to pass it, I’m hoping it might be enough for (lawmakers) to start moving on legislation.”
In addition to hearing of children having access to the herb, another reason why Seagrist feels the law is necessary is the modern purpose, or lack thereof, for the drug that can be smoked or used in tea.
“There’s not really a reason for it (to be used today),” Reppert-Brill said. “It’s not necessarily used for healing purposes.”
What it is being used for is recreational purposes, according to Reppert-Brill and Adam Gallentine, who sells salvia at Hemp’s Above in Mechanicsburg.
“A lot of people buy it because it’s legal, I’m not going to lie about that,” Gallentine said. “People have an idea that it’s something that it’s not. Once they’ve tried it, they’re like, ‘oh, that’s it.’ They just fall into the hype.”
While Gallentine has served customers from 18 to 60 years of age — 18 being the required age to shop in the store — he doesn’t see any abuse or addiction to the drug a likely situation.
“As you use it, you become immune to it, and eventually you won’t feel anything,” Gallentine said. “I’d say about 15 percent are immune to it in the beginning. Not to mention it doesn’t taste that great.”
“The thing with salvia divinorum is that the achieved effects are not long lasting,” Reppert-Brill said. “It’s about 30 minutes, maybe an hour.”
Effects short-term
Some of the effects people do experience are hallucinogenic in nature, usually in regard to out-of-body awareness.
“The effect varies,” Gallentine said.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the effects aren’t as much of a problem as what a person could be potentially doing while under the influence, such as driving or being near sharp objects. However, Reppert-Brill is still wary about banning the drug outright.
“Some herbs that have been used for recreational purposes, such as ephedra, whose street name was ecstasy, have other purposes,” Reppert-Brill said. “Ephedra is an herb that’s high in caffeine and was used for parties, but that herb does have a cross purpose of a strong medicinal herb. When people started talking about restricting ephedra, as an herbalist, I was quite concerned. It was being abused, but for folks who need to use it, they need it to be available.
“Salvia divinorum does not have that cross purpose, but for countries that use shamans and have been using them for thousands of years, I would not berate the herb, which is an important part of their culture.”
While salvia does not have medicinal value, it also has no recorded long-term effects, though there is little information regarding salvia divinorum usage among children. It seemed reason enough for Seagrist to present the problem to council members.
“Mechanicsburg is doing everything it can do to curtail drugs, and our police department has been doing wonderful work doing so, but it’s frustrating that this mind-altering drug is sold openly and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Seagrist said.
