| You want to talk media-induced paranoia? The local news media here in SoCal have been on a vicious personal crusade to get salvia criminalized. It's amazing how ridiculous the "news stories" about the subject are. They play out as little more than Reefer Madness-style horror stories of debauchery, insanity, murder, etc. Sometimes I doubt any of the local news producers or anchors has even seen salvia in person, let alone has any freaking clue what he's talking about.
Turn on any local news channel around 6pm and you'll hear promos the likes of "It's dangerous! It's more powerful than LSD! It can drive your children criminally insane! And it's...legal?! Stay tuned for our special investigation of salvia!"
Sadly, this is pretty much how the road to criminalization works. The media whip up some hysteria, parents put pressure on legislators to get bans on the books, and the rest is history. So if you're at all into salvia: smoke 'em while you got 'em. Personally speaking, salvia has never really done much for me. But it's annoying watching a pretty harmless plant get illegalized on pseudoscientific (at best) grounds right in front of our eyes. |