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Nightmare herb?

Air Force investigators first noticed the syrupy herb extract last fall as they canvassed Oklahoma "head shops" that sell drug paraphernalia.

When smoked, chewed or inhaled, Salvia divinorum can make you feel like you don't have a body, they learned. The investigators also learned that as many as 100 local airmen were buying it.

In the civilian world, the hallucinogenic plant known as "diviner's sage" is legal.

Its status in the military: potential nightmare.

For starters, experts say there is no urinalysis test for it. Nor is there much research, other than anecdotal, into its physiological effects. And since it's legal, it's easily accessible, if not at head shops, then on several Internet sites.

Defense officials say its use could result in disciplinary action, though what kind would depend on the circumstance. Salvia is not included among drug offenses in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but one military law expert said that wouldn't necessarily keep a service member out of big trouble.

"I don't think it would take enormous skill on the part of a prosecutor to frame charges that would fly under the UCMJ," said Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice. "One thing about the UCMJ, it covers a multitude of sins."

The hallucinogen is so new on the scene that the Defense Department has no policy in development for it, according to Army Col. Mick Smith, science and testing programs officer for Defense Department Counter-Narcotics.

"In the process of developing policy, we have to determine that something has widespread impact," he said. "If a particular substance seems to impair somebody and is dangerous, the services can investigate whether they want to make it a prohibited substance."

Defense officials said they have no indications that Salvia use is widespread. Smith recalls one Marine admitting to using the plant about a year ago, but he was not certain where that occurred and whether any punishment was imposed.

He referred the Marine to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, which conducts specialized tests. At the time, they did not have a test for Salvia.

They still don't, according to an AFIP spokesman. And they're not developing one anytime soon. Chris Kelly said AFIP still is examining the chemical ingredients in the plant, and is not in a position to develop a human test.

Smith said the fact that there isn't a test doesn't put the military in any bind. But he added: "It would be easier if we had one."

'Chemicals of concern'

No airmen at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma have been caught with the plant. Investigators base their estimate of users on intelligence from the head shops, and OSI headquarters is waiting for them to substantiate the information before sending out a full-blown warning to command officials.

Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Administration lists Salvia under "drugs and chemicals of concern." That means Food and Drug Administration doctors are determining whether it should be a controlled substance based on its availability, potential for abuse and harm to the body.

There is no timetable for making that determination, said Bill Grant, a DEA spokesman.

The plant appeared on the DEA's radar early last year, he said. Though its effects are similar to mescaline, it is legal everywhere in the world except for Australia, Denmark and Finland -- and it's illegal in St. Peters, Mo.

Salvia abuse levels among the town's teenagers were so high that St. Peters in January 2003 became the first community to enact a local ordinance to regulate its distribution, according to a National Drug Intelligence Center information bulletin. The ordinance makes it unlawful to distribute it to someone aged 17 or younger. The fine for a first offense is $25.

In 2002, Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., introduced legislation to add Salvia to the Controlled Substances Act, but the bill had not been acted upon when the 107th Congress adjourned. The DEA and NDIC both are expecting his office to re-introduce the bill, but an aide said Baca would not.

Jim Mock, a drug-recognition expert and retired California police officer, blames the government for not acting sooner to make it a controlled substance.

"They're dragging their feet on this one, and they need to get this scheduled," Mock said. "The big problem we had with GHB (the date-rape drug) is that they waited too long to control it. In the late '90s, it went berserk once it got out there. Now you've got the lion out of the cage and you're trying to contain it."

Not a recreational drug

For hundreds of years, this species of sage that grows wild in the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico, has been used by the Mazatec Indians in religious and healing ceremonies. Now people are growing it in southwestern states or importing it from Central and South America, Grant said.

It's most often distributed on the Internet and at some head shops in California, Hawaii, Missouri, New York, Washington and Wisconsin. An ounce of leaves may go for $15 to $120, while the liquid extract sells for $110 to $300 per ounce.

One Web site promises free shipping or optional priority mail for an extra $3.85.

Salvia is described in an Internet "User's Guide" as a visionary herb -- not a recreational drug -- producing a profoundly introspective state of awareness useful for meditation, contemplation and self-reflection.

While it can be smoked or chewed, it also can be brewed and ingested as a tea. As a liquid extract, it also can be vaporized and inhaled.

It also makes a beautiful house plant, according to the guide.

Experts say it can cause out-of-body experiences and sensations of traveling through space and time. A strong dose could make you feel that you are fusing with inanimate objects, such as a wall or piece of furniture, or it could lead to blackouts, according to the guide, co-authored by Daniel Siebert, who sells the product.

The guide recommends having a "sitter" present if you're taking doses that may cause you to "freak out, become confused, injure yourself, fall or do anything that may harm others."

Its effects can set in quickly after ingesting the drug, but they don't last long -- maybe 30 to 40 minutes, said Siebert, a self-taught botanist.

Siebert sells the herb on the Internet. But he said the experience of taking it isn't always pleasant. In fact, it disturbs him that people are marketing it on the Internet as "some exciting legal high."

"People who take drugs for fun aren't usually attracted to Salvia," he said. "They may experiment to see what it does. The people who find it most interesting are philosophical types, meditators or spiritual seekers -- people who are exploring their own minds or feelings and examining themselves."

Asked whether any of his customers are in the military, he said, "I've seen a few APO addresses, but it's certainly not common."

Danger to others

Hallucinogens aren't often seen as a primary addictive drug for which people seek treatment, said Carol Falkowski, with the Hazelden Foundation for addiction treatment. But there are other dangers with Salvia, she said.

"It produces such profound hallucinations that people either endanger the public safety and their own personal safety and health by using it."

Because it induces introspective moods, opinions differ on where the herb is being smoked.

Deborah Mitchell, an intelligence analyst with the NDIC, said Salvia most likely won't be smoked at social events such as raves and dance parties. "The effects of the drug just don't seem like they'd be suitable for that kind of setting."

Mock disagrees. He teaches drug-awareness classes, and to keep his own awareness on the cutting edge, he estimated he's attended raves in more than 20 states and three different countries in the past six years. About two years ago, he said, Salvia began emerging.

"Sometimes I saw the drug," he said. "It's being smoked. They only take one or two hits off the pipe, which is not consistent with marijuana. Then I see the behavior that comes with it.

"It can happen in a few minutes. They start having hallucinations. Generally they sit down. When they're having hallucinations, the behavior they exhibit is very different from the behavior with Ecstasy. It's more along the lines with LSD," he said.

Mock said he was teaching a drug-awareness class in Pueblo, Colo., several years back when Ecstasy was the rage at the Air Force Academy. Academy investigators attended that class and asked him why drugs such as Ecstasy were turning up in the military, he said.

"My answer was, because of the age that you hire people, you're going to get ravers that go into the military," he said. "The drugs of this generation tend to be Ecstasy, Salvia, marijuana. It can be somebody working on their degree, working on becoming an officer. It doesn't have to be some lowlife. This stuff isn't just in Oklahoma."

So far, reports of possible Salvia use within the Air Force have been limited to Tinker, said Special Agent DeAnna Hayward, who manages OSI's narcotics program. But the Air Force should be concerned about the herb because it's being used in the civilian community, she said. "We want to get the word out about the drug as much as we can," she said.

At Tinker, the investigation into Salvia use is ongoing, said Ven Sova, of Tinker's Joint Drug Enforcement Team operating out of Air Force OSI. Though they believe it's being purchased, so far no airmen have been seen using it, he said.

"It's kind of frustrating, so far," he said.

No punishment determined yet

When Sova's team discovered there could be a problem, they brought it to the attention of the wing commander. The public affairs office put out a press release so airmen could "educate themselves so that they don't find themselves in a predicament," he said.

Just what type of a "predicament" they would find themselves in would depend on the circumstance, officials have said.

For scheduled drug charges, the punishment could be anything from a commander's reprimand to a court-martial trial. For Salvia, it's not that simple.

According to OSI, taking any intoxicating substance for the purposes of altering mood or function is against Air Force Instruction under "Administrative Separation of Airmen."

Currently, the Air Force has not specifically prohibited the possession, use or distribution of the herb, according to Air Force spokeswoman Valerie Burkes.

"Although its use is not currently 'illegal,' as with other substances that alter the state of consciousness, its use could, under certain circumstances, result in disciplinary action if, for example, the individual becomes incapacitated for duty or operates a motor vehicle while impaired," she wrote in response to questions.

Asked what type of disciplinary action that would be, she said it would be "appropriate."

Supporting Burkes' comments, a Defense Department spokesman said it's all hypothetical until they have an actual case. "It would be up to an individual commander in a specific case based on the circumstances of the case," the spokesman said.