Salvia, a legal drug which causes powerful hallucinations and has been linked to psychotic episodes, has been tried by nearly one-in-ten UK university students, according to a new survey.
One-in-four students at British universities admitted to having taken 'legal highs', of whom 39 per cent said they had experimented with salvia. Salvia is one of the most powerful known hallucinogenic herbs.
The drug, which is banned in many European countries, derives from a Mexican plant and was traditionally used by shamans to alter their states of consciousness. It is often marketed as 'herbal ecstasy', can be either smoked or chewed, and can easily be bought online or from 'head shops' as a refined extract at strengths of up to '50x' concentration.
Commenting on the results Chris Hudson, a spokesman for the government drug education service FRANK, said: "So-called legal highs are not a safer alternative to illegal drugs.
"People who take salvia have experiences that can vary from fairly mild to strong with hallucinations. At higher doses users can experience dramatic time distortion, vivid imagery and scary hallucinations. As with all legal highs and illegal substances, the risks increase if you combine them with alcohol, or other drugs."
