Truth About Salvia Divinorum

According to Christopher C. Hazlitt (a life-time resident of Palmer, Michigan, United States), this medical herb --Salvia Divinorum, acts as an antidepressant and isn't threatening: "I would like to draw attention to new laws which has been introduced in Michigan to make possession of salvia divinorum, a rare medical herb from Mexico, a criminal offense:"

The bill is in knee-jerk reaction to the suicide of a teenager in Delaware who had been depressed over the divorce of his parents and their sending him to a private religious school. The parents of this teenage boy blamed the suicide on his having smoked salvia divinorum, calling it a robust depressant when in fact there are pages of documented studies showing that it is a robust anti-depressant. The media has recommended this plant looks like marijuana, when in fact salvia divinorum plants look nothing like it.

Other media hype is that salvia divinorum is either as strong or stronger than LSD, because when smoked in big amounts it can prompt fleeting, closed-eye visuals lasting about five to seven minutes for people who are delicate to this plant. Many are not and it has no effect on them at all. It is very difficult to get any effect from salvia divinorum in its raw dried-leaf form, whether its chewed or smoked. It only gives much of an effect when it's in concentrations from five to ten times the power of regular raw dried-leaf.

In its raw form, salvia divinorum has been awfully effective for me as a long term mood suppressant and more effective for me than other prescribed medications. For me, the state seeking to criminalize the sale of salvia divinorum is extremely offensive. I haven't ever been concerned in illicit drugs and do not drink alcohol, never have been arrested for anything and haven't ever been in prison. Yet, if I refuse to yield to the criminalization of salvia divinorum - refuse to give up my freedom to have an increased state of mind and increased general well being thru use of this herb - I am going to be subject to laws which are designed to further take away my freedoms and destroy my family life.

Although salvia divinorum has potentials for abuse when individuals who are thrill-seeking smoke too much due to strong inebriating effects (much like alcohol but lasting only twenty minutes for most people), I see no reason to criminalize this plant, that has been used as a medication for many centuries by the indigenous peoples of Mexico.

Criminalizing this plant is very destructive and against my right to seek contentment, not to mention the wonderful meditative states of mind one can achieve when using little to moderate amounts of this plant.

This plant is only a perceived problem and isn't noxious. There is no amount which is so harmful that it can kill anybody. It has antidepressant properties and is anti-addictive. Most individuals who use so much of this plant as to make them have closed-eye visuals, as they're called in the entheogen community, a grouping of people who study and use rare shamanic plants to reach spiritual states of mind do not want to use that much, if at all .

Salvia Divinorum in large quantities is simply too powerful for most people to want to endure, irrespective of being so short acting, 20 minutes at the most if having ingested a large amount which is essential. I don't use this plant in large quantities and plenty of the people I know don't do so either. Sure, big quantities are strongly inebriating and this is why I support a law which would restrict its sale to anyone under twenty-one years old. But a law that would stop those of us who can use it sensibly is completely unreasonable.

I see no reason to criminalize this splendidly helpful plant which I use on a regular basis as the handiest antidepressant I have been able to find and do not want this plant to be regulated to the point where I would need a doctor's prescription to use it.

There simply is no difficulty with salvia divinorum to make it become a criminalized substance with the same penalties of addictive and destructive drugs such as meth and heroin as the Senate bill seeks to make it.