Cannabis Fun Club

Poisonous herbs. Is it easy for "grass" to become a drug?

Have you eaten too much henbane?

The correspondent learned about the fashionable craze for "diviners' sage" - another name for "salvia" - not so long ago. The capital's craze has reached the Southern Federal District. Although various plants that cause visions and illusions (hallucinations, in other words) have long been known to mankind - people have eaten henbane to death. Entheogens are natural substances of plant origin that alter consciousness (either strongly, like, for example, salvia, or weakly - like tea). For example, the well-known peyote cactus belongs to entheogens. And "chemistry", artificially created drugs, does not belong to them.

However, if you want to "expand your consciousness," you can easily order hallucinogenic plants online. Judging by the number of specialized websites with detailed instructions for use, this hobby is becoming fashionable. The correspondent was happily promised free delivery of salvia, or "diviners' sage," ready for use, by courier (in Moscow) or by mail (in the regions). The herb, sold online "for growing and creating herbariums," is in fact used for completely different purposes.

“Do you know that this herb is bought specifically for consumption?” I ask one of the site’s creators.

- In general, yes. But it’s legal, it’s not prohibited anywhere,” the telephone interlocutor cheerfully reports. - How old are you? And the seller begins to list his product in grams and concentration of extracts. When he finds out that I am a journalist, he does not show a shadow of fear. Everything is legal! Some clients of such sites even included a free bag of salvia in their order package for testing.

The same "Moment"

"YUR" bought the shamanic herb in Rostov, at a price of 400 rubles per gram (more expensive in Moscow). This amount is quite enough for both consumption (you can also read about the methods on websites) and for a drug test. Laboratory technicians of the Drug Control Service do not find anything scary in salvia: the herb does not contain components included in the list of narcotic and psychotropic substances (last approved in 1998 - "YUR"). This means that its distributors do not violate the law.

"It's like Moment glue," the drug police share. "They sniff it, it's bad for their health, but it's not banned."

It is unknown whether entheogens will ever appear on the list of prohibited substances.

— As soon as we have a new narcotic substance in development in any case, we immediately inform the central office, Moscow, and from there this list is submitted to the Ministry of Health and the government, to expand the lists, — explained to "UR" in the Directorate of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation for the Control of the Circulation of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in the Southern Federal District. — But the change in the lists is done in agreement with the Federal Anti-Narcotics Commission within the timeframes established by law.

The timeframes are not short: for example, while they were sorting out the ban on a narcotic substance in a popular weight loss tea, the manufacturers managed to recall batches and send new ones - with a different substance, which also needs to be tested.

Various "dope-herbs" are most likely not destined to appear on the prohibited lists any time soon. Meanwhile, the folk "science of intoxication" is moving forward. As a sample, the "UR" correspondent was shown an unsightly mixture of... chicken and camel dung, with the addition of slaked lime and tobacco, as well as other unpleasant impurities. Teenagers chew this "something" to get hallucinations.

Comments "YUR"

Evgeniya Koshkina, chief pediatric narcologist of the Russian Federation:

— It’s good that you raised the issue of using salvia and drew my attention to this problem. I looked at the materials you provided us, familiarized myself with the information from the Internet — from my point of view, this hobby is harmful. There is an addiction to both herbs and medicines, they destroy both personality and health, but all of this is not drugs, which means there are no problems with the law. We need to work with these psychoactive substances as well. It’s time to discuss issues of entheogens with the Drug Control Service.

Lev Levinson, creator of the New Drug Policy program at the Institute of Human Rights:

— Not all psychoactive substances are included in the prohibited list, but this is not necessary. Equating herbal substances with hard drugs is not justified. There is no data on “diviner’s sage”, except that it is a mild hallucinogen. Why don't we fight alcohol and tobacco then? By criminalizing the consumption of sage, we will only cause an increase in interest in it. Let them use legal salvia rather than illegal marijuana. There is no need to dramatize the situation, rather, you should even be happy - people don’t sniff glue!

Author Svetlana LUKYANCHIKOVA

"Southern Reporter"