Flanagan Looks to Expand Salvia Divinorum Ban Beyond Suffolk

Senator John Flanagan (R,C,I- East Northport) sponsored a bill passed in the state senate late last month to expand the ban on sales of the psychoactive herb Salvia divinorum beyond the borders of Suffolk County, where it has been illegal since 2008.

“Salvia divinorum is a substance that can act as a gateway to further drug use and this legislation will help keep children in our state from starting down that destructive path,” said Flanagan. 

Salvia divinorum, also called Diviner's Sage, induces a short, intense dissociative high when smoked or chewed which many users liken to a "20 minute acid trip," and has been traditionally used in Mexican Mazatec shamanic rituals for hundreds of years. It is not a widely-used recreational drug and remains relatively unknown, though a 2010 video of Disney star Miley Cyrus smoking the herb has since increased its exposure.

Two apparent suicides are circumstantially connected to the herb -- that of Brett Chidester, 18, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 2006 while barbecuing inside a closed tent, and that of Ryan Santanna, 21, who allegedly jumped 15 stories to his death last year after smoking salvia in the company of a "stalker" ex-girlfriend.

Flanagan has attempted to ban salvia statewide since 2005, though the measure never passed the house. If his seventh time is a charm, all salvia sales will carry a penalty of up to $500 per violation, half the fine currently on the books in Suffolk County where sale of the herb has been illegal since 2008.

drug and alcohol counselor Anthony Ferrandino spoke in support of the county ban at a public hearing in 2008 on behalf of the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force and said last week that he is in support of a state-wide ban. "Right now you can just cross over the Nassau border and get it so it makes sense."

Multiple students at Northport High School have reported using salvia, according to Ferrandino, often getting it from nearby head shops, though reports have decreased since sales were banned in Suffolk County.

"Typically, the stories are that it's very intense and could be a very negative effect on mood or how they hallucinate, and it's not very comforting...It could be the 20 best minutes of your life or the 20 worst minutes of your life and you never know," he said.

Another legal and widely available drug known as K2, however, is more widely used among kids at the high school. Marketed as "incense" at gas stations and convenience stores, K2 mimics the high of marijuana though it may contain toxic chemicals. "The DEA made it illegal just recently but they keep coming up with new strains," said Ferrandino.

At the end of the day, he added, creating new laws will only go so far in the fight against drug abuse. "Education is equally as important. The law helps as a deterrent. It deters them from that opportunity, then, hopefully, our schools, parents, and community are educating their kids as to the dangers of drugs and alcohol."