The legal status of the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum is rapidly changing in the United States, with state-level prohibitions emerging in a way not seen since the Controlled Substances Act. This article describes the plant, reviews the different legal mechanisms states have used to control it and the pending legislation proposing further controls, and discusses the implications of these various state laws.
After a well-publicized suicide in 2006 and reports that Salvia divinorum was used as a 'legal high' and cannabis substitute, Florida classified the plant and its active ingredient, salvinorin A, as Schedule I substances on July 1, 2008. Three self-report studies collected from young adults before and after the policy's implementation, along with interviews of law enforcement personnel, examined the policy's relationship with usage rates. Lifetime prevalence of salvia use was largely unchanged, but rates of past year and past month use in Florida were significantly lower following the scheduling. Perceptions of peer use increased markedly, while law enforcement and laboratories rarely encountered salvia possession cases.