Smoking Salvia, Banned Because of YouTube Videos
Smokers suffer because of the smoking ban, but You Tube suffers because of its "irresponsible and deceptive" videos which were posted online and showed how young people smoke a hallucinogenic drug - Salvia. For example tobacco smoking is also very hazardous to the user’s health, but it does not have emotional effects or cause behavior changes in any way comparable to the other common drugs of abuse, one of them can be Salvia. A man said: "I went into a local head store to get some tobacco. And they sell this salvia. So, a kid comes in the shop, and he’s talking about doing some "dream work", and he wants salvia to "have a vision", because he’s got a job interview in a few days. I mean, the kid had flipped his lid. But I think now this salvia is banned in my state. So that’s good. I’ve smoked this drug a few times. The trip is like you think your body is an inanimate object. It’s like you become the last thing you looked at."
The clips showed users smoking the herbal drug Salvia, feeling the effects just seconds later.
Doctors said that Salvia, which is illegal in nine countries but legal in the UK, is unsafe and could bring on psychotic episodes, which were showed on YouTube. In UK Salvia is marketed as herbal ecstasy, using names such as Eclipse. Although, in some countries Salvia, which is part of the same family as mint, is classified at the same level as cocaine, that’s why it was banned. Drug information service FRANK says the effect is ’unpleasantly overwhelming and more scary than fun.’ For example in one video, a teenager smokes the drug before laughing uncontrollably and falling to his knees. In another clip, viewed two million times, an American girl is seen grabbing at her mouth and muttering. All these videos showed that Salvia is really a legal drug which can be smoke even in the street and it really work. Unlike most of the herbal fake-weed concoctions, salvia is actually a powerful drug. Now, New York state lawmakers are moving to ban salvia, with penalties of up to three months in jail for possession, and a year for distribution. The state senator who proposed the ban said that he was convinced that the drug should be banned after he and his aides watched YouTube videos of people smoking salvia and having psychedelic experiences.
He added: "Not so funny now, is it? Okay, it’s still funny. The videos in question—which we’ve helpfully posted after the jump—mostly prove that salvia makes people do one thing very well: fall down.
