Legislature Bans Salvia

Nebraska lawmakers have voted to ban the hallucinogenic drug Salvia divinorum. The bill (LB123) from state Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber makes it a felony to possess or sell salvia.

Possessing it would be punishable by up to five years in prison; selling it, up to 20 years. A similar bill didn't reach a final vote last year.

Salvia divinorum is generally smoked but can also be chewed or made into a tea. Called nicknames such as “Sally-D,'' “Magic Mint'' and “Diviner's Sage,'' salvia is a hallucinogen that gives users an out-of-body sense of traveling through time and space or merging with inanimate objects.

Unlike hallucinogens such as LSD or PCP, however, salvia's effects are shorter, generally up to an hour.