From
Local12.com:
Police are gearing up for a new front in the war on drugs:
salvia, the hallucinogenic plant, becomes illegal in Ohio, one week from today. Commander John Burke of the Warren County Drug Task Force had a roomful of officers in training today. He kicked off the meeting with a primer on salvia....a leafy drug that becomes an illegal drug in Ohio next week.
Cmdr, John Burke, Warren County Drug Task Force: "There's been some incidents in Ohio and across the country with Salvia where, I believe even some deaths associated with it... not necessarily deaths from the drug, but behavior that occurs afterwards."
Videos on youtube show reactions to high doses of salvia. The plant is readily available for mail order on several websites that deliver to all but a handful of states. Officers asked if it shows up on drug screens, what it smells like when burned, and if K-9's could sniff it out. The answer was we just don't know. Police say they have no idea how popular salvia is and what making it illegal will ultimately do.
The people who sell it say it is extremely popular. This store sells five thousand dollars of salvia every month. The smoke store sells a brand called purple sticky that, depending on the potency, goes for 21.95 to 95 dollars a gram. The owner says it's really caught on with people 25 to 35.
Sales stop next Monday. Police say that's when they'll know just what they're dealing with.
"March 31st at 11:59 pm it'll be legal and at midnight it won't. And that's when we'll see how much in demand this is."
A bill to outlaw salvia was introduced in the Kentucky house last month, but failed to move forward. There are no regulations in Indiana. Next week, it will be a felony of the fifth degree to possess salvia in Ohio. The illegal salvia is a cousin of the flowering salvia that many people plant in local gardens. The illegal variety is native to Mexico and Central America and wouldn't survive outdoors in Ohio.