In the
Know...An Update on the Latest Substance Abuse Trends
Ask today’s teens about growing
substance abuse trends and they may be able to paint a vivid picture about the
latest drug craze…literally. As the Internet will validate if you run a Google
Search or check out YouTube, you might find some interesting information about
Salvia or "Purple Drank".
For starters, let’s talk about Salvia.
Also known as Diviner’s Sage or Magic Mint, Salvia Divinorum is a psychoactive
mint legal in most of the United States, Mexico and Canada. It is usually smoked
like marijuana however the effects produced are quite different…much stronger.
Salvia is a psychoactive hallucinogen that can cause dramatic and sometimes
frightening mind altering states.
Salvia has been used for decades in
spiritual practices by the Mazatec people of Mexico. In recent years, it became
more of an abused substance. Popular among college students, use can be seen as
early as middle school. Because it is legal, Salvia can be purchased on the
internet or over the counter in a head shop for as little as $10. Prices
however, vary all over the country and depend on the amount and strength of the
substance.
Potent and Powerful The Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA)
recently released an article about Salvia rivaling the potency of synthetic
hallucinogens like LSD. It can produce a reaction from a subtle,
just-off-baseline state to a full-blown psychedelic experience. PDFA also
reported that Salvia has the potency to induce an intense hallucinatory
experience in humans (particularly when smoked) which typically persists from
several minutes to an hour. It has been described as a "20-minute acid
trip." (drugfree.org, 2008)
Little is known about long term effects as
it has just begun to be abused and studied. Salvia, as with many drugs, can be
seen on such popular websites as YouTube. Many people are capturing their use
and effects in video and posting it on the internet. For more information, log
onto sites such as www.drugfree.org or see the story of Salvia featured on The
Today Show at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14030975/page/2/.
Recent federal research found that 750,000
Americans tried salvia in 2007, including 3 percent of males ages 18 to 25.
(Researchers’ Fears Among Salvia Concerns, September 9, 2008 – www.jointogether.com)
What is Purple Drank? Unfortunately, we continue to see that the
use and abuse of well known over-the-counter medications as wells as
prescription medications are still making it in to the hands of teens and young
adults. The new drug culture of "Pharming" (slang for abusing
pharmaceuticals) has now graduated to another level. According to the Arizona
Investigative Support Center (H.I.D.T.A.), the Arizona Department of Public
Safety lab recently analyzed a deep purple fluid concealed in the wine bladder
of a branded "boxed wine" that was recently seized by the Counter
Narcotics Alliance (CNA).
The liquid was determined to be
prescription cough syrup distributed at the street level as "purple
drank", slang for a recreational drug popular in the hip-hop community. The
main ingredients are codeine—a narcotic, and promethazine—an antihistamine.
Purple Drank is typically mixed with other ingredients such as Sprite. Numerous
slang terms include: Sizzurp, Screw, Lean, Syrup, Purple Tonic, Texas Tea and
Purple Sprite to name a few.
The Journal of Drug Research mentions that
the majority of users are African-Americans, but the craze is fast crossing all
race and economic boundaries. The name came from D.J. Screw, a Houston disc
jockey who created and promoted underground music in the late 1980s, and who
later died from the drug. Side effects includes: drowsiness, sedation, blurred
vision, euphoria, nervousness, insomnia and hallucinations to name a few.