Salvia is a member of the sage family that grows in the Mexican desert and has a long history as a medicinal plant by Mazatec herbalists.  Non-habit forming and non-addictive, Salvia has very little reported history of abuse.  Salvinorin is the psychoactive ingredient contained in the plant that induces an introspective alteration of consciousness for a brief period following ingestion.

Salvia is largely unknown to the general public and has long been an obscure "legal high" that was difficult to obtain.  The internet changed all of that and now puts Salvia in the hands of anyone with a computer and a credit card.  Lawmakers, often clueless about the pharmacology of the medicinal plant, have reacted with shock, alarm, and legislation.

Daniel Siebert runs the Salvia Divinorum Research and Information Center and also sells the plant and its extracts on-line from the Sage Wisdom Salvia Shop.  Siebert says, "Because it is a powerful consciousness-altering herb, some regulation of sales is sensible and appropriate, but criminalizing possession certainly is not."

Australia was the first country to prohibit Salvia despite the admission there is "no evidence of a major public health hazard" by the committee responsible for the ban.  The anti-Salvia law went into effect June 1, 2002.

Denmark passed a ban on the plant in August 2003 that includes a two-year prison term for possession.  Finland, Norway and Iceland require a doctor's prescription to use Salvia, which has to be imported, as it does not naturally grow there.

Sweden declared Salvia and salvinorin to be controlled substances on April 1, 2006.  Italy banned sale of Salvia in 2004 and possession in 2005.  Spain classified the plant as "toxic" and banned sale but not possession in May 2004.

Japan has approved a five-year prison term for the importation, production or sale of salvinorin making it one of the harshest penalties on the books.  The growing response to internet sales of Salvia has also caught the attention of U.S. lawmakers.

In 2002, U.S. Representative Joe Baca [D-CA] sought to make Salvia and salvinorin a federally controlled substance but the bill failed to make it to a vote.  The Drug Enforcement Administration followed with an ongoing "eight factor analysis" of the desert shrub.  The eight factors are mandated by the Controlled Substances Act that requires a review prior to classification as a controlled substance and include pharmacology, potential and history of abuse, and public health risk.

Meanwhile, legislators in the states have been busy.  In August 2005, Salvia and salvinorin became controlled substances in Missouri and Louisiana.  In Louisiana, there is a five-year penalty for possession where it is classified as a "hallucinogenic plant".  Proposed legislation in Oregon to place the plant on the controlled substances list died in committee this year.  A similar bill with a 10-year prison term for possession failed in Oregon in 2003.  A bill in Wyoming this past legislative session was introduced to ban Salvia but died in committee.

Pending legislation in New York to impose a civil fine for the sale of Salvia passed the Senate earlier this year but has stalled in an Assembly committee.  In Illinois, legislation to put Salvia on the state list of controlled substances was signed into law and goes into effect on January 1, 2008.

In Tennessee, salvinorin possession became a misdemeanor on July 1, 2006 while Salvia can still be owned as an ornamental plant or taken as a homeopathic compound.  A similar approach in Georgia has passed the Senate and is pending in the House.  In Oklahoma, salvinorin was declared a state controlled substance in May 2006.  Also, that same month Delaware made Salvia a controlled substance but not salvinorin, the reverse of Oklahoma.  Pending legislation in Alaska to make Salvia a controlled substance is in committee, as are similar measures in New Jersey, California, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Maine just enacted a law last week that treats Salvia like tobacco and bans its use by minors.  While in Virginia, a 2007 bill to declare Salvia and salvinorin hallucinogenic substances was tabled in committee.  North Dakota declared Salvia and its derivatives to be controlled substances on August 1, 2007.

In Iowa, possession of Salvia or salvinorin would be a misdemeanor while delivery would be a felony under pending legislation.  In Utah, 2007 legislation to make Salvia a controlled substance passed the house but failed to advance in the Senate.  Similar legislation in Florida this session failed in a Senate committee.  Three new bills to ban Salvia in Texas failed to advance and died in committee.

In Wisconsin, a bill is in committee that bans Salvia but recognizes salvinorin as a homeopathic compound.  The uneven and frenetic pace of anti-Salvia legislation shows no signs of slowing and more legislation can be expected to be introduced in 2008 in a rush to fight the "War on Drugs" by politicians throughout the nation.