Few police, teachers or counselors have even heard of it, but the drug salvia — a powerful psychedelic herb from Mexico — is legal in the U.S. and easily purchased over the counter in Medford or on eBay.

Also known as Diviner’s Sage or Sally-D, salvia divinorum is extremely intense, say those who have tried it. They say it is as powerful or more so than LSD and produces vivid, often terrifying hallucinations and out-of-body experiences lasting five to 10 minutes. Effects vary widely; a few users report little or no effect.

The herb is sold at Magic Man in the Bear Creek Shopping Center in various strengths for $11.95 to $44.95. In Ashland, Zen Den doesn’t sell it and Puff’s used to but stopped.

Theresa Jermain of Medford called police when a 17-year-old high school student, for whom she is guardian, bought salvia at Magic Man and, after smoking it, told her he "got real high" and it was "way too strong."

After checking out the shop, police reported back to Jermain that the drug was not illegal and there was nothing they could do, she said.

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The student, "Chris," who asked not to be identified by his full name, said he smoked it with 15 fellow South Medford High School students and that only three of them had a "good trip" – the rest being "very bad." Students, he added, are little aware of the drug and it’s not being much used there.

He described his experience as an "out-of-body experience in a totally different world" followed by a bad "body high," in which he felt sick and awkward and couldn’t move. With a cell phone, he videoed another student on salvia hallucinating and trying to crawl out the back window of a car, he said.

Sheriff’s Lt. Dewey Patten, commander of the Jackson County Narcotics Enforcement Team, said he wasn’t aware of the drug. "I don’t know what we’d do if we found someone whacked on it, because it’s not illegal," he said.

Jan Janssen, community outreach officer with Ashland Police, said she’d never encountered it, but after consulting the drug Web site erowid.org, said it’s surprising that it’s legal, considering that most users report unfavorable experiences. Ashland officers trained as drug recognition experts do know the drug and can spot its effects, she said.

Patten consulted a comprehensive drug reference, "Uppers, Downers and All-Arounders," co-written by Ashlander William Cohen, who also lectures and makes films about psychoactive drugs.

Salvia, wrote Cohen, is similar to PCP and originates among the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico, who use it to induce dreamlike hallucinations, delirium and out-of-body experiences, so as to seek out the causes of illness.

The effects, or "trip," last up to 10 minutes, tapering off over half an hour, with the nature of the trip dependent on the person’s mind-set and surroundings.

"Cliff," a 19-year-old from Ashland who asked not to be identified, called salvia an "anti-drug drug" because his trip was so intense that it turned him off alcohol and drugs.

"In my first trip, my legs turned to a waterfall of tears," said Cliff. "The second time, I thought, seriously, that I had died and that my soul was being sucked out of me. It was the most intense thing I’ve ever done. Coming off it, I felt needles were coming out of my body. It definitely had teaching value because I was abusing (alcohol and drugs) and it gave me a lot of insight about what I was doing."

Magic Man owner John Hopf said salvia is sold as an incense or meditative aid like sage — and that customers learn about it on the Internet and come in to buy it. Although Hopf said he knows of no psychedelic properties for the plant, his store had a stack of printouts from a government Web site warning that salvia is a powerful hallucinogen.

"Pete," 27, another Medford resident who used salvia and asked not to be identified, said he had bought salvia from Magic Man seven or eight times. He described it as "a meditative thing that helps you feel a reality outside the ordinary reality and become one with yourself, as a unity."

He added, "It’s very personal, not smoke-a-bowl-and-relax."

"Max," an 18-year-old senior at North Medford High School who bought salvia last week at Magic Man and declined to be identified, said friends suggested he try it. "I’m curious. I’ll probably feel good for a while and hallucinate. They said it was worth the money for the feeling you get."

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has the plant under review based on its potential abuse, availability and effects on users, said DEA public affairs officer Lauren Alder in Washington, D.C.

"The DEA lists it as ‘of concern,’ but just because it’s not listed as a controlled substance doesn’t mean it’s healthy or safe," said Alder. "The medical profession stresses the danger of it."

The DEA Web page on salvia — www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/newark_intel_bulletin_salvia.html — classifies it as a psychoactive terpenoid, a family that includes marijuana. It produces "profound hallucinations," with effects similar to mescaline, the DEA bulletin said.

The DEA welcomes comments at its Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section: 202-307-8570 (fax) or 202-307-7183 (phone).

Three years ago, staff Oregonian columnist Margie Boule branded salvia "the most powerful natural hallucinogen known on earth."

"Salvia divinorum is a wild ride," wrote Boule. "This is not a drug that simply makes people play Beatles’ records backward. It induces powerful hallucinations that sometimes are terrifying."

Salvia is illegal in Australia, Italy, Denmark, Norway and South Korea. California Rep. Joe Baca in 2002 introduced a bill to ban it in the U.S., but, says erowid.org, it is chemically different from schedule I and II drugs, so it is not covered by the federal law used to ban drugs.

SALVIA