Salvia Divinorum - Controversy - Usage Shown On YouTube

Usage Shown On YouTube

A reported concern has been the emergence of YouTube videos showing alleged salvia users laughing uncontrollably, apparently unable to perform simple tasks or to communicate. In an interview with California-based newspaper the San Francisco Chronicle, published in June 2007, Daniel Siebert was quoted as saying:

"Those videos are certainly not going to help the situation. They make salvia look like some horrible drug that makes people nuts and dangerous " and "The sad thing is it creates this public image where people don't realize there are sensible ways to use something like this."

The New York Times has reported that "in state after state the YouTube videos have become Exhibit A in legislative efforts to regulate salvia."

Waco Representative Charles Anderson (R), who is sponsoring one of several bills to ban salvia in Texas saying, "When you see it, well, it sure makes a believer out of you." Anderson told colleagues at a legislative hearing about a video that depicts a salvia user behind the wheel of a car.

"What we really worry about," said Mr. Anderson at the hearing, "is youngsters doing this and then getting in a vehicle or getting on a motorcycle or jumping in a pool somewhere."

Michigan Representative Michael Sak (D) submitted a bill which proposed Schedule I classification of Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A. He said that if people had questions about the deleterious effects of salvia, they should go on YouTube to watch the videos. A reporter questioned Sak as to whether he had ever seen a "Girls Gone Wild" video, and whether that would incite him to make alcohol illegal (Sak replied that he hadn't yet had a chance to review the material).

Nebraska Senator Vickie McDonald said:

"Anytime anything's on YouTube it's an issue," and "Legislators, parents, grandparents, we need to be on top of these things," "We need to protect our children..."

Senator McDonald of Nebraska proposed Schedule I listing Salvia divinorum as part of their Controlled Substances Act, under which possession of salvia would have been considered a Class IV felony with a penalty of up to five years and trafficking would have fallen under a Class III felony with up to a 20 year penalty.

In Massachusetts, YouTube videos were shown by a retired police officer to public health and judiciary committees as evidence in favor of outlawing it there.

The issue has been raised of whether the salvia videos are in breach of YouTube's own community guidelines, which ask users not to "cross the line" and post videos showing "bad stuff" like "drug abuse". The question is considered as particularly problematical as the videos may be something of an enforcement grey area.