News

 

Florida Makes Pot Like Drug 'Salvia' Illegal

Law Goes Into Effect July 1

Possessing Salvia Punishable By Up To 5 Years In Prison

 

TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ― A hallucinogenic herb known as Salvia, which was sold legally in the state of Florida, will soon be illegal.

Governor Charlie Crist has signed the hallucinogenic herb law (HB 1363) which makes Salvia divinorum illegal and puts it in the same class of controlled substances as marijuana and LSD.

Salvia looks like crushed marijuana and users say it creates a high similar to marijuana, PCP, or even LSD. The drug comes from a plant that's commonly grown and used in Central America. Historians date its use by the Mazatecan Indians in Mexico as far back as the 16th Century.

Possessing the herb, often sold on the Internet, will be a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, when the law goes into effect July 1.

Several other states including South Carolina, Virginia and Illinois have also recently passed bills to make salvia illegal.

However, so far, the federal government and the DEA do not consider this drug illegal under federal law.

reference: cbs4.com