[Salvia divinorum--representation of a new drug in the Internet].
Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband der Arzte des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)) – May 01, 2006
Source: PubMed
Summary
The internet acts as an early warning system for new drug trends, often before they appear in official medical texts. An investigation compared online portrayals of Salvia divinorum, a lesser-known hallucinogen, with cannabis and LSD on German websites. Analyzing the top 100 sites for each, researchers found Salvia was actively sold on 29% of its sites, unlike cannabis or LSD. Salvia-related sites also showed a strong drug-friendly attitude (64%). Official information was rare for Salvia. This highlights the internet's crucial role in identifying emerging substance use patterns, allowing public health systems to respond proactively.
Abstract
The German pages of the Internet were searched for the presence of the hallucinogenic herbal drug Salvia divinorum, which is not dealt with in current addiction medicine or psychiatric text books. The investigation is part of the EU sponsored project "Psychonaut" as preparatory work for the development of an Internet-based early warning system. The first 100 websites of the search using "Salvia divinorum" were compared with the search results for "cannabis" and "LSD". The following aspects of the sites were especially analyzed: the originator, marketing of drugs, and the attitude towards drug use. Salvia was offered for sale on approximately a third of the sites (29%); cannabis and LSD were not marketed on any sites. Official websites such as those from governmental organizations or universities were seldom found when searching for "Salvia divinorum", and then only under the last hits. The percentage of institutional sites (e. g. public organizations) were 12% with Salvia, 21% with cannabis, and 38% with LSD. A drug-friendly attitude was found at 64 % of the sites with regard to Salvia, 58% for cannabis, and 24% for LSD. The drug help system must be aware of that the Internet is a source of drug-related information, and of drug trade. As this investigation shows, sites often have a drug-friendly attitude. The low availability of official information on Salvia divinorum (also outside the Internet) relative to the presence of drug-friendly or drug trading sites is an indication that new trends of drug consumption can be tracked in the Internet before they will be found in official literature.