Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

DEA warns of hallucinogenic plant

|
|
 
  
Published: July 20, 2003 at 10:23 AM

NEW YORK, July 20 (UPI) -- The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a nationwide alert about a legal hallucinogenic herb from Mexico that is more intense than LSD.

"There has been a recent interest among young adults and adolescents to rediscover ethnobotanical plants that can induce changes in perception, hallucinations or other psychologically induced changes," the DEA says in a bulletin titled "Drugs and Chemicals of Concern."

Salvia divinorum, popularly known as diviner's mint, is most powerful when smoked, but it also can be chewed or taken orally in an extract version.

A 25-gram bag can be bought for $10, 100 grams for $35. Smoking as little as one-quarter of a gram can alter perception and senses, according to the DEA.

One DEA official told the New York Daily News that investigators were having a difficult time tracking the level of sales because of the widespread use of the Internet.

© 2003 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
Note to the youngsters out there: if a legend dies and you want to sneak into his or her inner sanctum...
You don't have to be too smart to coach high school sports. Just smart enough to not post nude photos...
There's vandalizing your school, and then there's doing a million dollars damage to your school
Police say Taylor Burnham, 18, was only wearing cowboy boots as she led police on a Sunday morning...
If you're working as a dog groomer and accidentally chop off a dog's ear, don't try to glue it back,...
After a two-year sting operation, the Feds shut down ... an Amish farm. Another victory in the war...