Lawmakers seek to ban plant called a hallucinogen

[icymist]

Perfectly legal to sell and use, salvia divinorum is a mystery to most adults but, according to legislators and others seeking to ban it, a danger youths know too well.

At a public hearing Tuesday, Suffolk Legis. Lynne Nowick (R-St. James) played videos she'd found on the Internet of teenagers ostensibly stoned from salvia, a plant native to Mexico. She called the effects "dangerous" and called for the county to ban the plant.

Representatives from the Smithtown Central School District, Suffolk Police and local anti-drug groups implored legislators to outlaw salvia because, they said, people believe it is safe because it is legal.

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Levine said he sold salvia as an incense to customers interested in Wicca, a type of witchcraft with nature-oriented practices derived from pre-Christian religions. But in recent years, he said, salvia became more popular with young people he believed were misusing it. Still, he said efforts to ban salvia only serve to make it more popular.

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