Tulsa, OK

June 12- State drug agents are praising a new law that bans the drug Salvia. It is now a crime to use, sell, or even possess the hallucinogenic drug.

Possession of Salvia is now a felony. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Distribution carries a penalty of five years to life in prison.

Salvia has long been legal in the United States. Back in February, FOX23 News told you about salvia and how teens use it to get high. Some have even videotaped themselves smoking it and putting the video online. FOX23 Reporters were able to go online and buy it.

Drug agents say smoking or chewing salvia produces hallucinations and can cause a person to become dizzy and impair speech.

FOX23 talked with a Tulsa Police officer who says this new law will help keep teens from using the drug.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics says the new law shouldn’t alarm Oklahomans who have salvia variety flowers in their garden. The form of salvia now banned, is a particular strain of the species that is grown in southern Mexico.

Oklahoma is one of the first states to ban Salvia. Delaware, Louisiana, and Missouri have laws in place regulating the drug.

Is it just me, or is this the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard? It’s not bad enough that marijuana, despite over 300 medical/clinical trials proving the medical uses and relative harmlessness of it compared to tobacco and alcohol, is illegal, now they’ve outlawed salvia (aka sage).

Can you tell the difference between this allegedly “dangerous drug” and the stuff that Grandma put too much of in the Thanksgiving dressing? Considering there are hundreds of varieties of sage, how is anyone supposed to tell which is which? My mom is as far from a drug user as you can get, but no way is she giving up sage. It’s her favorite seasoning, and she shouldn’t have to risk jail to use it.

Can you tell which sage/salvia is legal?