• Font Size    

CBS4.com Top Videos

Double Homicide In NW Miami-Dade
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Florida Makes Pot Like Drug 'Salvia' Illegal

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
May 29, 2008 8:02 am US/Eastern

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.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

The Slideshows You Love

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Local News

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.