Is Miley Cyrus a Criminal?: Salvia in Canada

In December of 2010, a strange video depicting pop princess Miley Cyrus smoking a bong and incoherently giggling hit the internet; a video which resulted in every major media outlet circulating a story which either questioned whether the teenage pop-star had a potential drug addiction or discussed how the video had affected her “good girl” reputation. Though most who initially watched the video assumed Miley was smoking weed, she was, in fact, smoking salvia—a legal psychoactive drug available for purchase in both the United States and Canada. Up until Miley’s scandal in December, I—along with many of my friends—had never heard of salvia before. 

Likely due to Cyrus’ embarrassing episode, the legalization of salvia has suddenly become a topic of debate in Canada. Recently, the federal government has made a move to criminalize hallucinogenic salvia and include the herb—which today can be purchased online or in “head shops” around the country—in a category of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. When I first heard of the government’s intention to criminalize salvia, I thought to myself: Is such a law really necessary? What is the difference between salvia and marijuana, and—if the plant is potentially dangerous to society—why was it not criminalized before now? 

After conducting some slapdash research, I learned that many of the long-term effects of salvia are still unknown (this is cited as one of the reasons health professionals want it criminalized); however, the short term effects are simple, and potentially more hazardous to users than the short-term effects of marijuana. Salvia divinorum, also known as “diviner’s sage” or “diviner’s mint”, is a psychoactive plant which can produce hallucinations, vivid visions and—depending on the potency of the dose—can even cause an individual to become “disassociated” from themselves (individuals report having encounters with “beings”, travelling to other planets or time, etc.). Many sites warn that users tend to find their experience with the drug to be more “scary than fun”, and advise users to ingest or smoke salvia in groups. 

In contrast, the short-term effects of marijuana are euphoria, relaxation, changes in perception, the mild enhancement of senses, talkativeness, giggling, increased appetite or—at higher dosages—altered attention span, sense of time, mental perception and memory. Personally, these effects seem to me to be less dangerous than those of salvia, yet marijuana remains the criminalized drug out of the two. How can this be? 

The answer is that salvia is simply not as well-known as marijuana and, relatively speaking, medical experts and police have not reported significant cases of salvia-related health concerns or public offense issues. Despite the fact that not as many cases of salvia-related offences have been reported as other drug-related offences, I think—after considering the hallucinatory aspect of salvia and reading some of the warnings found in the Salvia Divinorum User's Guide (accessed through Wikipedia)—the Canadian government is justified in attempting to criminalize the drug. Salvia, when taken in high or pure dosages by an irresponsible individual, may endanger both the individual and other citizens (salvia + responsibility = problem).

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