DEA warns of hallucinogenic plant

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.