Military Cracks Down on 'Legal High' From Salvia Divinorum

(Feb. 17) -- It's known as "spice," "magic mint" and "Sally D." Now, the psychoactive plant officially called Salvia divinorum is increasingly the target of military bans seeking to stop service members from using the legal drug.

Typically chewed or smoked, Salvia produces a "hallucinogenic high," according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. As legislatures around the country debate how to deal with the increasingly popular party drug, the military is already moving to prohibit its use, with Air Force Special Operations Command becoming the latest to ban it.

Don Ryan, AP

Packaging and a packet containing salvia divinorum, which is a legal hallucinogenic drug sold at novelty stores, smoke shops and adult video stores, are shown here in Tigard, Ore.

Salvia, which produces highs similar to marijuana, has been growing in popularity and availability over the past few years in the United States and other countries. But unlike marijuana, there's no U.S. federal ban on Salvia.

The military isn't waiting for federal law, however. A number of bases and commands have explicitly banned Salvia, though in some cases, the orders are merely clarifying pre-existing military regulations that ban drug abuse -- be it legal or illegal substances.

Military officials have also expressed concerns about Salvia's ready availability around bases and the effect on military families. "It's coming in flavors like bubble gum, green apple and grape," Raymond Matthew, the Drug Demand Reduction Program manager for the 56th Fighter Wing, was quoted as saying in an Air Force news article. "It's obvious those are not adult-age flavors and it is targeted at adolescents with the caveat that it's something they can do that's legal."

One of the problems the military faces is that even if it bans Salvia, it doesn't check for it in routine urine tests. One Web site selling Salvia even brags that military users of its product had "never reported a [sic] ill effect from a drug test ... "

Several lawmakers have supported federal legislation to ban Salvia, but academics have expressed concern that classifying Salvia as an illegal drug would make research on the substance harder.

"I typically recommend to policymakers and others that Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A should be regulated, but that they should not be made Schedule I compounds," Bryan Roth, a pharmacology professor at the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill School of Medicine, told Thomson Reuters in an interview. "Placing Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A in Schedule I status would greatly hinder biomedical research into the potential utilities of Salvia divinorum, salvinorin A and various derivatives."