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Clarifying comments from Couples Company:
Salvia is a member of the
Sage Family and common garden plant. The Divinorum species is the
only Salvia CC has been able to discover DEA information on and its
seeds are rare. Our objective is to bring this to parents'
attention, alert them to possible warning signs and provide background.
Our information came from US and Australian government agencies for hard
statistics and definitions, an article in the Oregonian, our own
interviews with various experts in medicine, healthcare and a variety of
non-traditional medical resources in addition to multiple Salvia
Merchant/User sites. We realize that users will not like this, but we do
appreciate the feedback and the time it takes. Below are comments
we've received (it seems the salvia users aren't too happy with us). If you'd like to add your own,
Submit Your Opinion
Dear Couples Company.
Thank you for a weighted article. I was honored to see my email
published in the article. Although, I am a year older now, I still
an avid proponent of Salvia divinorum. To the host of activities
centered on this plant, I have added a quarterly magazine.
Incidentally, it is called "Salvia divinorum" :) There were two
issues published already and I am working on the 3rd. More details
here: salvia.us/magazine.html The parenting issue has been covered
with two articles already as I consider this aspect of salvia use of
the utmost importance. I am fathering 3 kids myself and can
understand parents who are constantly afraid that their kids could
get sucked into a bed company and got hooked on drugs.
You do a good job citing people pro- and contra- salvia. If I can
only add one personal comment: unless you try that herb for
yourself, you still don't know what are you writing about!
Sincerely,
SO MALE (38)
Potomac Falls, VA
editor "Salvia divinorum" mag.
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I had not heard of Salvia, but I am now interested in learning more. As
psychologist treating persons with drug and alcohol dependencies, the
potential of this drug's misuse screams through the comments from the
readers. The justification of defending, needing or wanting something to
live better, think better, find God or be more creative is a classic
warning sign. If the drug itself doesn't concern me, the voracity
and conviction of its users does.
GW, (M) 53
New York, NY
I am sending you this as feedback on the outlandish article you people
wrote about Salvia Divinorum and the host of lies entailed within. Maybe
I missed my window of opportunity for sharing my opinion, but I feel
strongly, so here goes...
Quote from your article:
"Even more disturbing is this drug is being marketed as healthy and with
spiritual significance as shown in the yellow box. The leaves are
dried, cured and BLESSED."
For countless millennia, Shamanic traditions have used plant medicines
and plant teachers for ceremonial and spiritual use. For those of you
unfamiliar with Shamanism, it will probably come as a surprise that MOST
cultures today stemmed from Shamanic Ancestry. From the natives of North
and South America, to the Siberian Innuit, to the Celts... just about
every ancient tradition involved the use of psychoactive plant medicines
for healing purposes as well as to commune with the spirits. Western
Science likes to argue that it's "all in your head" and would prefer
that we believe that all our native, aboriginal, and shamanic ancestors
were spun out on drugs. At this point the argument becomes a theological
one and very difficult and emotional one to fight. I could try to tout
the authenticity of my experiences forever, but there are numerous
places online where that point could be more appropriately debated.
The human experience has always been about self-exploration... exposing
underlying truths in our
lives and getting closer to understanding who we really are. You
classified Salvia as an "escape drug" (which is hopelessly incorrect)
because you said (and I quote) "A drug is considered an escape drug if
it alters the users perception of reality." Any time your
perception of reality is altered, your existing paradigms are suddenly
challenged. Often the psychedelic experience is so profound that people
wonder how it could've come from their own minds....suddenly they are
faced with questions of unanticipated significance: "What is the meaning
of life?" "What does it mean to be human?" "What is god?" and so on....
I myself was an atheist until the day I found LSD. However, I did NOT
follow some dreadful road to "druggie-burnout." I (like countless
others) found direction... spirituality... purpose... love...
motivation....
Either way, the point is this... until the creator decides to come down
to earth and tell us all who's
religion is right and who's is wrong, nobody can say, with any level of
certainty, what "absolute truth" really is. Your statement is not only
an insult to virtually every native culture that existed, it's an
insult to many of us out here who believe there is more to dreams... to
visions... you're arrogantly
rolling your eyes at anyone who ever had faith in something.
These things can be argued to be "only in your head." However,
neuroscience and modern physics gives us proof that EVERYTHING we see
and feel can be traced back to neurotransmitter and synapse. Our
perception of waking reality is bio-chemical in nature to begin with.
However, you and I know better than that. Because for the experiencer,
life cannot be boiled down to discrete chemical secretions. We are human
and beautiful and our lives are full of intense abstract
concepts like love and pain and freedom and virtue and nobody can tell
us that these are merely chemical interactions. Our lives have more
meaning than that, regardless of what anyone else thinks...
Anyways... thanks for the punch in the mouth. I respect what you are
trying to accomplish with this
site but you already once admitted to shameful misrepresentation of
facts and I believe your editors
need to focus on a demographic that is more diverse than the after
school-special audience. Before you help to create a new flaming arm of
the drug war, please understand the magnitude of the subject matter, and
the diversity of the audience.
~ S.
Oh and P.S.....
"A drug is considered an escape drug if it alters the users perception
of reality."
- incorrect. Some drugs alter reality in such a way that you come face
to face with thoughts that which you have been afraid to confront. There
is a reason these substances have been (some still are) researched for
psychiatric applications.
Dear Couples
Company,
I read your entire article about the "Legal LSD", Salvia Divinorum
There's a lot of false information out there, and all you have done is
add to it. Just as companies have the responsibility not to market
Salvia as "legal LSD" (Not our description.
This is the descriptive term used by those treating people who've been
in trouble because of SD), you have a responsibility to make
sure you do not spread falsehoods. In the future, you should not take
what other journalists say wholesale without looking into the facts for
yourself.
This line struck me the most, of all the exaggerations.
Salvia cannot be eaten, or drunk, (It
is held in the mouth in liquid form called Emerald Essence long enough
to be absorbed into the pallet and surrounding tissue). In
the stomach it has no effect. It MUST be smoked or a large amount must
be held in the mouth for a long period of time. When the latter method
is used the "trip" is incredibly mild, nothing like LSD. It also only
lasts about 20 minutes, as compared to about 12 hours with LSD.
When salvia is smoked the "trip" only lasts about 3 minutes. ("Salvia
is being smoked to induce hallucinations, the diversity of which are
described by its users to be similar to those induced by ketamine,
mescaline, or psilocybin" The official DEA Report). I
have never seen hallucinations with the plant. Again, there is a
problem with corporations making 20x extractions. You can OD and "trip"
off a LOT of things if you huff enough. I won't try to describe the
feeling to you, as I'm sure I will fit into your definition of a future
junkie... =]. But I can tell you, it wasn't much more "intense" than
smoking tobacco. I will remind you, you can get very ill from smoking
20x tobacco. Which is why you cannot say that salvia is an "intense
trip," it is not that at all. It is calm and meditative using the plant
itself. Just like tobacco is relatively mild, just like chamomile tea..
or any other plant we use commonly. The spice Nutmeg is hallucinogenic
at highly concentrated doses. The key is to realize responsible use.
Also, if you believe that, "of course only the positive [trips] are
shown" Then you haven't been doing enough research. Check out
www.erowid.org. However, read the
trip reports of other "legal" drugs. You will see, salvia hasn't caused
anyone any more problem than alcohol would.
Another problem with your article "This is an escape drug." You are
totally wrong, unless you consider 3 minutes of calm an escape. No,
alcohol is an escape drug. (A drug is
considered an escape drug if it alters the users perception of reality.
Salvia alters reality. The users themselves refer to Trips as the
experience. Of course, sugar is also considered a drug, though not
an escape drug.)
I agree that teens should not be using this plant, it's not for them,
just like alcohol and cigarettes are not for them. But outlawing it
will not solve that problem, if anything it will make it worse.
Companies can exist perfectly well by only selling to adults. The law
should be to enforce ID checking. However, on your site you say this
alert is for "children 12-24." This is a window into your psyche, if
you believe a 22, 23, or 24 year old is a child. (Couples
Company addresses Parenting Issues up to age 24. This article is
meant to alert parents. The majority of drug abuse and alcohol
related incidents occur between 16 and 24. Any articles we have on drug
or alcohol abuse will always be targeted to Parents with children up to
age 24.)
I would appreciate it if you would post at least _some_ corrections to
your article, salvia cannot be "slipped" in anyone's drink.
Even using the emerald essence would not work. It
barely works when used properly, not to mention putting it in a drink.
It will be diluted and have no contact with the absorptive inside of
the mouth. Even the essence has to be held in the mouth for quite a
long period of time.
Spreading fear and misinformation to parents so they will come down on
their kids about using certain words in their vocabulary is just as
irresponsible as companies calling Salvia "Legal LSD", it is obviously
not anything like LSD, in any way. (Or any other known drug. You
theorize it's "hormonal," (Incorrect. We
state it is unknown which may suggest it is hormonal according to
the medical experts we queried) but what if it affects a set
of receptors yet unknown? You keep hammering on the point that it's
legal. Outlaw it and kids will get it without IDs, no research will be
done. And many people will lose out on the benefits, (According
to the DEA, no medical benefits exists for SD).
Hope you decide to be honest,
BEN
Dear Couples
Company;
I thought I'd warn you that your article is being passed around
e-mail lists frequented by Salvia Divinorum users. The article is so
chock full of distortions, so unusually rife with misinformation that it
has a certain comedic attraction. Really, you should try to get your
facts straight before you offer your opinions to the world. When you
don't the consequences are more than simply looking foolish (though that
is certainly the case); instead the article advertises its author as
being either grossly misinformed or else as being a particularly
shameless liar. When young people read such an article they cannot help
but form the opinion that adults are extremely unreliable sources of
information pertaining to psychoactive chemicals, and they therefore
conclude (perhaps correctly) that they are more likely to get useful
information from their peers than they are from persons like yourself.
Please, try a little harder next time. IV, Male 39 Cambridge, MA
This story
is biased and ill-informed. Salvia is nothing like LSD. You state things
like, it could cause a user to fall asleep while driving. What idiot
would use this while trying to drive a car. You also say that there were
some incidents which brought the plant to the attention of the people in
Australia who banned it. What incidents? They banned it out of fear and
misinformation. Which your article helps to spread. JW: Male, 23:
Pittsburgh, PA
Dear Couples
Company.
Thank you for bringing this subject to the parents attention. I
wonder, why would the parents be the last to know about this plant ? In
answer to my own question, I say the parents are too comfortable in
their lives and they don't want to know. Answering your question - I do
know what salvia is. My first experience took place last December. Even
though I had been reading what other people posted about their
encounters with salvia for a few months before I got enough courage to
try it myself (unfortunately, I am not a teenager any more). It was so
unexpected, so moving, so out-of-this-world that you wouldn't believe.
That experience that lasted no more than 5 minutes of Earth time changed
my outlook on life in general and my life in particular. I set up a site
to collect any salvia related posts that were ever published online -
SalviaDivinorumCorps.org, started a discussion group "SalviaD Alliance"
on Yahoo and recently formed "Salvia Buyers Club" to provide good
quality salvia at wholesale prices to salvia community. My advice to the
parents - take it into your hands, "say once to salvia" and be the
judges what is good for you children. Potomac Falls,VA Sincerely,
Slava M 37 |