Why is salvia legal and marijuana is not?

Question

I recently tried salvia and it was not what i was expecting. I was really gone.. I mean it was scary. I just wanted to be sober and i just kept thinking " I'm the couch.. I literally WAS the couch, with a head." I didn't want to move because i thought i was the couch and couches DON'T MOVE! lol.. wow.. Also i thought i was going to fall off a huge cliff if i moved even one centimeter. it was not cool. and i will never do that again! so why is salvia legal.. I cant even believe pot is illegal after what i experienced with salvia. salvia makes pot look like child splay in comparison.. What gives.?

Answer 1

because the beaurocrats find it hard to believe anyone would smoke a chia pet~

Answer 2

because the politicaly powerful and rich families in the u.s. didn't get control of its production and had little money to be made from it so they made it illegal and started this war on drugs which now employes way too many people to made legal at this time  

Answer 3

Because The Feds havent gotten around to making it illegal, it was never a big thing in the USA, now its growing huge because its SO cheap, plus it only lasts like 5 min.

Answer 4

Salvia isint well known at all, Even to those that make the laws

Oh, and many companies will go out of business if hemp is made legal.

Answer 5

--- *"Salvia divinorum, also known as Diviner’s Sage, ska María Pastora, Sage of the Seers, or simply by the genus name, Salvia, is a psychoactive herb which can induce strong dissociative effects."

*see [a] in the source box.

--- *" Salvia divinorum has a long continuing tradition of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions."

--- *" Its primary psychoactive constituent is a diterpenoid known as salvinorin A, a potent κ-opioid receptor agonist. Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only naturally occurring substance known to induce a visionary state this way. Salvia divinorum can be chewed, smoked, or taken as a tincture to produce experiences ranging from uncontrollable laughter to much more intense and profoundly altered states. The duration is much shorter than for some other more well known psychedelics; the effects of smoked salvia typically last for only a few minutes. The most commonly reported after-effects include an increased feeling of insight and improved mood, and a sense of calmness and increased sense of connection with nature—though much less often it may also cause dysphoria (unpleasant or uncomfortable mood). Salvia divinorum is not generally understood to be toxic or addictive. As a κ-opioid agonist, it may have potential as an analgesic and as therapy for drug addictions."

* see [a] in the source box.

--- "*The rise of the Internet since the 1990s has seen the growth of many businesses selling live salvia plants, dried leaves, extracts, and other preparations. During this time medical experts and accident and emergency rooms have not been reporting cases that suggest particular health concerns, and police have not been reporting it as a significant issue with regard to public order offences. Yet Salvia divinorum has attracted increasing attention from the media and some lawmakers." (*see [a] in the source box)

--- "*Salvia divinorum is not generally understood to be toxic or addictive. As a κ-opioid agonist, it may have potential as an analgesic and as therapy for drug addictions."

--- "*Media stories generally raise alarms over salvia’s legal status, headlining, for example, with not necessarily well-supported comparisons to LSD. Parental concerns are raised by focus on salvia’s use by younger teens—the emergence of YouTube videos purporting to depict its use being an area of particular concern in this respect. The isolated and controversial case of Brett Chidester, a 17-year-old Delaware student who purchased salvia some four months prior to committing suicide in January 2006, has received continued attention. Salvia divinorum remains legal in most countries and, within the United States, legal in the majority of states. However, some have called for its prohibition. Most proposed bills have not made it into law, with motions having been voted down in committee, failed, died, or otherwise stalled. Other more recent bills are as yet still at the early proposal stage. There have not been any publicised prosecutions of anti-salvia laws in the few countries and states where it has been made illegal."  *(see [a] in the source box)

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--- As long as there are no great numbers of reported abuse or injury or any evidence of damage done by plant most legislatures will go very very slow before making sweeping laws to make it illegal.

--- Thus far there are apparantly no cases of injury or death scientifically attributed to the use of the plant. However if it becomes too popular and we see increased use in children or teens or there is a rise in injuries then you may well see more laws passed against it. Apparantly it is already illegal in some states though.

--- But my understanding of it that it is not thought of as having a high potential for abuse as it is not known to be addictive and in fact may encourage sobriety amongst drug users because of its introspective tendencies on its users.

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THE LEGAL STATUS OF SALVIA (Salvia Divinorum)

          --- The United States ---

--- *"Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Delaware, Maine, North Dakota, Illinois, Kansas, Virginia, and Florida are the only states in the USA that currently have state-wide laws prohibiting possession of Salvia divinorum. The state of Maine only prohibits possession by minors. Possession remains legal for adults in Maine; however, it is illegal for adults to sell or transfer Salvia divinorum to anyone under 18 years of age. A similar law, prohibiting sales of Salvia divinorum to minors, will go into effect in California on January 1, 2009. Louisiana and Oklahoma have provisions in their laws that allow possession of the plant when it is not intended for human consumption. In Oklahoma, plain Salvia divinorum is legal, but extract-enhanced leaves are not (however, a new law goes into effect in Oklahoma on November 1, 2008, which will make all forms of Salvia divinorum illegal).A local law prohibits possession and sale of Salvia divinorum in Suffolk County, New York. A city ordinance, enacted in April 2008, prohibits the sale of Salvia divinorum in the town of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. To the best of my knowledge, Salvia divinorum is entirely legal in all other states. However, law makers in several other states are currently considering legislative bills that seek to ban Salvia divinorum in those states."*

* see [b] in the source box.

--- In the source box I placed a link/url for a site called " The Legal Status of Salvia Divinorum" That site has the legal staus of the plant for almost every country AND for all the states of the USA. I copied some of it above but it also has a state by state listing for all states that have laws or are considering laws regarding the plant, including what has been done at the Federal level if you are interested.

* see [b] in the source box.

I APOLOGIZE IF THIS IS TOO MUCH BUT I GOT INTERESTED AS I INVESTIGATED MORE INTO IT AND I THOUGHT PEOPLE MIGHT LIKE TO SEE OR KNOIW ABOUT THIS.

--- I HOPE THIS HELPS YOU UNDERSTAND IT A LITTLE BETTER.