What is salvia? | Savage Pacer

What is salvia? | Savage Pacer
Published on Savage Pacer (http://www.savagepacer.com)
What is salvia?
By shawn hogendorf
Created 08/06/2010 - 6:00am

By Shawn Hogendorf, Correspondent

The recent ban of salvia, an herbal supplement, has given residents of Savage peace of mind after they were nearly killed by a 50-year-old man who drove off the road and through three yards last month under the influence of the substance.

At about 4 p.m. on July 8, Marilyn and Richard Remer were washing a vehicle in the driveway of their home in the 5000 block of West 139th Street when their neighbor Shirley Hildebrandt came over to chat. Shirley had her back to the road as she was talking to Richard when she saw a look on his face she’d never seen before.

Just then, Marilyn grabbed Shirley and they jumped out of the way of a wayward vehicle that drove off the road and through a neighbor’s yard before “whizzing about a foot” past Shirley who was standing in the middle of the Remers’ driveway. The car continued between two trees over a boulder and into a third yard prior to crashing head-on into a tree.

Shirley stood in awe as she watched the crash unfold.

“If I had been over just a little bit, he would have wiped me out,” she said. “It was shocking to realize how close I was to death’s door.”

The next drug

To keep up with a fast-growing industry that is constantly creating legal herbal supplements and synthetic drugs that mimic the highs of marijuana and psychedelic drugs, police and lawmakers are trying to stay ahead of the newest trends in the name of public safety.

On Aug. 1, Minnesota became the 20th state to ban salvia divinorum, a powerful herb that is smoked like marijuana and produces altered states of reality and “trips” described as “euphoric” by some and “scary” by others.

Now, possession of salvia is a misdemeanor and selling it is a gross misdemeanor. At the time of the July 8 crash in Hildebrandt’s and Remer’s neighborhood, the man was in possession of 1 gram of salvia.

But because salvia is out of a person’s system in about five minutes, when a Minnesota State Patrol drug recognition expert arrived on the scene there were no signs of impairment, said Detective Mike Heski, the Savage Police Department’s representative on the Dakota County Drug Task Force.

“He endangered people’s lives, but only ended up with a citation,” because the substance is out of a person’s system so quickly, Heski said.

People under the influence of salvia lose their motor functions, don’t understand where they are or what is going on and should not be behind the wheel of a vehicle, he explained.

“This is new for police,” Heski said. “But now that it is illegal, we may have more dealings with it.”

Now that salvia is illegal in Minnesota, local law enforcement officials expect synthetic marijuana will take its place as the new illicit drug of choice for teens and young adults.

According to a law enforcement alert, K2, Spice and other synthetic cannabinoids that mimic the effects of marijuana are showing up in south metro high schools.

The pseudo marijuana comes in a small package of herbal blends that looks like potpourri. It is sprayed with one or more versions of synthetic cannabinoids that act like THC – the active substance in marijuana that binds to receptors in the brain to create a high.

The effects of the illicit drug are similar to marijuana, but also include panic attacks, convulsions, delusions, vomiting, heart palpitations, agitation and dilated pupils. K2 is smoked or ingested to obtain the high.

There are many names for K2: Summit, K24, Citro, Krypton, Swerve, Spike 99, Herbal Kush, Black Magic, Mojo, Cloud 9, Cosmic, Maya Blue, Night Watch, Starry Night, Spicey and Mango.

The manufacturers and retailers of K2 are labeling the packages as “Not for human consumption,” according to the police alert. K2 is sold online for about $25 a gram, but it is also showing up in tobacco stores where it is being sold as incense or potpourri. Retailers are requiring that buyers are 18 years old to purchase it.

The plants used to create the “legal weed” are bay bean, blue lotus, pink lotus and lion’s tail, which were used by ancient cultures as a sedative or for euphoric effects.

In addition to the natural herbal contents, K2 and its similar products also contain synthetic chemical compounds that are potentially hazardous.

There is no accepted urine or field drug testing kit available to detect the chemicals in K2, but lab testing can detect some of the synthetic chemicals in the products, which are controlled substances, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). One of those synthetic chemicals, HU-210, is structurally similar to THC, but reportedly 100 times more potent.

K2 is currently illegal in three states and most of Europe.
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Police in Savage and Prior Lake said they have not come across any K2 or Spice, yet.

But, with the increasing prevalence of these illicit drugs, parents should become familiar with what their children are doing, as well as what the packaging and substances look like, Heski said. Parents should talk to their children and explain the long-term health risks involved in smoking anything – as well as the criminal consequences of salvia.

Scary experience

As the trio of neighbors in Savage recalled what happened to them, Marilyn said her first thought was that the driver was seriously injured – or possibly dead.

She ran to the house to call 911 and another neighbor approached the man’s vehicle only to find the “guy’s foot was on the gas -- he was still trying to drive,” Marilyn said.

A third neighbor rushed to the vehicle and when he realized the man was OK, he grabbed the man’s keys from the vehicle and his wallet off of the front seat in case he tried to flee, Marilyn said. At that time the man got out of his vehicle and started walking down the street tugging at his shirt and yelling obscenities.

“The man was asking where his kid was, where he was and what just happened,” Shirley said. “I couldn’t believe the way he was acting.

“I have never seen anything like it in my life,” she continued. “It was unreal.”

“It freaked us out,” Marilyn said. “He went through three yards and never hit the brakes. He had absolutely no reaction to hit his brakes he was so out of it.

“He could have killed one of us while we were standing in our driveway,” she continued. “He missed us by a foot. The crazy thing was -- it was legal at the time.”

When police arrived, the man was handcuffed and later cited for reckless driving and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Enforcement

With salvia sales now banned, synthetic marijuana has gotten the attention of Prior Lake City Council members, who talked about ways to address the drug’s sale and use at their Monday (Aug. 2) meeting.

Councilman Warren Erickson said he heard about the drug at a recent meeting of the League of Minnesota Cities, which plans to draft a resolution on behalf of cities interested in prohibiting the sale of synthetic marijuana.

“As far as I know it’s not a problem here in Prior Lake, but I thought we should take a look at it in advance, before it is a problem,” Erickson said. “From what I understand, the state will eventually address it, but it’s a loophole we can close before the state can.”

The council has asked city staff to look at a possible local ordinance banning the sale of synthetic marijuana and to work with the Scott County Association for Leadership and Efficiency (SCALE), a multi-jurisdictional group, to see how such an ordinance could be implemented.

Councilman Richard Keeney suggested the city should keep in mind that there will always be some type of new drug to potentially regulate unless a broader ordinance is considered.

“There’s all manner of substances you can use to intoxicate yourself, from sniffing glue to huffing paint,” Keeney said. “We’re always going to be chasing the next thing.”



Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at shogendorf@swpub.com.