Salvia divinorum is an herb, but it's not like the sage sitting in your cupboard. Salvia is a powerful psychoactive herb that had been used primarily by Mazatec Indians to bring about visionary states of consciousness during traditional spiritual healing sessions.

Its primary psychoactive ingredient is a diterpenoid, also know as salvinorin, which is a potent opioid. You remember opioids, the same stuff they make oxycodone and heroin out of.

Salvia can be chewed or smoked to produce experiences ranging from uncontrollable laughter to intense and profoundly altered states. Basically, individuals who ingest salvia often encounter a psychedelic "out of body" experience.

One of the biggest differences between other opioids and salvia is that unlike oxycodone and heroin, salvia is not yet a controlled substance. In other words, someone can purchase salvia at a head shop (where drug paraphernalia, such as pipes and rolling paper, are sold) or over our good friend, the Internet.

There is a salvia users guide on the Internet, as well as multiple videos of people (including young people) videotaping their psychedelic experiences and posting them on YouTube.

I viewed one such frightening video at a conference in Washington, D.C., recently that showed a young person filming his salvia high, where he verbalized that he felt like his hands were not his own, his pants were so uncomfortable he had to take them off and he exhibited "uncontrollable" pawing at his face throughout the experience.

The facial pawing was especially disturbing as it looked eerily similar to watching a psychotic episode.

You may ask why I am writing about salvia; you may think this is something our kids probably haven't even heard about. Unfortunately, this is exactly why I am writing on this topic.

The question, "what is salvia?" was brought to me by a Walker-Hackensack-Akeley middle school student who has been watching the same YouTube videos I have. If you are a parent, a teacher or someone who works with kids, it's critical you keep up with what's available to our young people and what the dangers are.

Just because the federal government hasn't listed salvia as a controlled substance DOES NOT mean it's not dangerous. Some states have already passed laws banning it (not Minnesota). Look it up on the Internet, watch a YouTube video and make that decision for yourself.

Please e-mail your questions or comments to prbatod@hotmail.com or call me at (218) 587-4292.

(Collin Frazier is the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs coordinator for Pine River-Backus. View prbatod.org.)