More states ban 'magic mint'

SAN DIEGO, June 22 (UPI) -- U.S. sellers of the hallucinogen Salvia divinorum say they're feeling the crackdown from states rushing to ban use of the leaf.

Eleven states, including Maine and California, now restrict the use of salvia and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is considering a nationwide ban, USA Today reported Monday.

As the legal market shrinks, wholesalers are making fewer trips this year to Mexico's Sierra Mazateca, where the leaf known as "magic mint" is grown, said Carlos Campos, president of Aztecas Plants.

The plant has been a crucial cash crop for poor farmers, said Campos who last year exported 8 tons of salvia leaves to the United States and Europe, up from 550 pounds in 2002.

"This is an important part of their economy," he said. "These legal issues really hurt."

Salvia's popularity spiked after videos on sites such as YouTube showed users laughing uproariously after smoking the leaf. In Mexico, local healers use salvia as a tea to diagnose illness, said John Boyd, chief executive officer of Arena Ethnobotanicals in San Diego.

"It's not a party drug, and it's not a substitute for marijuana," Boyd said. "Most people try it once, put it in a drawer and never touch it again."