New Cautions Over a Plant With a Buzz

By RICHARD LEZIN JONES

An obscure hallucinogenic herb from Mexico is gaining a toehold in the world of recreational drugs, prompting law enforcement officials to increase their scrutiny of the plant, which is legal, and moving health experts to issue cautions about the drug, whose jarring effects are not fully understood.

The herb, Salvia divinorum, is a type of sage plant that can cause intense hallucinations, out-of-body experiences and, when taken in higher doses, unconsciousness and short-term memory loss. Users have also reported sensations of traveling through time and space, assuming the identities of other people and even merging with inanimate objects.

"This is a very interesting agent," said Dr. Ethan Russo, a neurologist in Missoula, Mont., who studied Salvia divinorum and other herbs while preparing his book, "Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs" (Haworth Press). "It is really in a class by itself."