Assemblymen Jack Conners and Herb Conaway

CONNERS/CONAWAY TO SPONSOR BILL OUTLAWING
HERBAL HALLUCINOGEN SALVIA DIVINORUM
Potent 'Diviner's Sage' Plant Produces Powerful LSD-Like High;
Legal Substance Attracts Teen-age Interest via Internet Sites

(DELRAN) -- Expressing alarm over the ready access that teenagers have to a legal hallucinogen over the Internet, Assemblymen Herb Conaway, MD, and Jack Conners announced today that they will sponsor legislation to ban the possession and use of salvia divinorum in New Jersey.FOR RELEASE:
April 21, 2006

CONTACT:
Assemblyman Conners
(856) 461-3997
Assemblyman Conaway
(856) 461-3997
Alescia Teel
(609) 292-7065

(DELRAN) -- Expressing alarm over the ready access that teenagers have to a legal hallucinogen over the Internet, Assemblymen Herb Conaway, MD, and Jack Conners announced today that they will sponsor legislation to ban the possession and use of salvia divinorum in New Jersey.

The plant has gained national attention after the suicide earlier this year of a Delaware youth who had experimented with the hallucinogenic herb.

Conners and Conaway (both D-Burlington, Camden) said they were shocked to learn of so many young people -- some as young as age 14 -- readily chatting about their experiences with the substance at internet web sites, such as MySpace.com.

"Salvia divinorum use may not be a runway epidemic, but it certainly is a phenomenon that warrants attention," said Conners. "We should take preventive steps now to prevent wholesale problems later on as more and more kids start using the product, which is entirely legal at this point in time."

"Salvia Divinorum is a potent hallucinogenic drug with serious potential for abuse," said Conaway, one of two practicing physicians in the Legislature. "We cannot allow young people to be deceived into thinking the drug is safe, when we do not know the health impacts associated with use of the substance. We have an obligation to protect our kids and the public from this dangerous substance."

If enacted into law, the legislation Conners and Conaway plan on sponsoring would make New Jersey the third state in the country to ban the powerful herb. Louisiana and Missouri already outlaw the drug. It also is illegal in Australia, Italy and Denmark.

The legislation was crafted in the wake of the death of a 17-year-old Delaware youth, Brett Chidester, who committed suicide in January, several months after starting to smoke the herbal drug. Chidester's parents attribute the boy's death to salvia abuse and Delaware State Senator Karen Peterson has introduced legislation known as "Brett's Bill" to ban the substance in her state.

While there are only anecdotal connections between the Delaware youth's death and salvia use, the suicide has generated a new level of public awareness of the problem across the country.

Known by gardeners as "diviner's sage," salvia divinorum is sold in leaf and liquid form at "head shops" and web sites across the United States. The salvia leaf is smoked or chewed to produce hallucinations similar to the side effects of LSD, including out-of-body experiences, fits of wild laughter, and nausea, as well as with symptoms of depression.

"We cannot allow a substance as dangerous as LSD to remain unregulated," said Conners. "The current silence of our laws regarding this substance is tantamount to an open invitation for abuse and catastrophe."

"Unfortunately, the Internet is making this drug more available and attractive to impressionable young people," said Conaway.

The drug has even spawned its own nomenclature, as users increasingly refer to themselves as "sageheads."

Salvia divinorum is a member of the mint family and is commonly grown in some parts of Mexico's Sierra Mazatec region, where it is used in religious ceremonies by local Mazatec Indians.

The salvia plant produces large amounts of an extremely potent hallucinogen, salvinorin A. When ingested by smoking or chewing, salvinorin A targets a single chemical receptor in the brain and creates an effect that researchers say is close to general anesthesia.

Salvia divinorum is not listed in the federal Controlled Substances Act. But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly is considering whether to outlaw the substance. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency considers salvia "a drug of concern."

Conners and Conaway said they intend on sponsoring the salvia divinorum control legislation with Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union). They plan a measure that would ban the plant salvia divinorum, any extracts from the plant, and the active chemical salvinorin A.

The bill would be formally introduced in May.

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