Salvia: Tell Employees and Parents About It

Salvia (Salvia divinorum) is a plant native to the region of Oaxaca, Mexico. You should start mentioning this drug and discussing it abuse and prevalence among young employees. It is sold on the Internet as a powerful hallucinogenic drug, but it is illegal in only 21 states. At the federal level, Salvia is completely legal and unregulated, but it is beyond a doubt a substance that should be discussed and warned about. Salvia is usually smoked and creates an “out of body experience,” making it dangerous and unpredictable, and rendering the user utterly out of control of their behavior and decisions. The user may have complete amnesia from the "trip." Salvia is sold in strengths and dosages that may be 10X, 30X, or 200X in potency. Salvia is used mostly by young people ages 12 to 25. If you are a concerned parent, supervise your children, know who their friends are, and monitor their whereabouts. Talk to older teens about the dangers of Salvia and abuse of any drug, including alcohol. Signs of Salvia use may include drug paraphernalia, Internet purchases, or small butane torches used for burning the substance in a pipe. A YouTube search will show the vivid dangers of this drug in videos that have been posted online by users, people who have had bad experiences with it, and those it thought. To preview out drug and alcohol education programs, visit multiple programs preview page.

Misuse and Abuse of Drugs Defined

You can be an expert on a subject and stumble over your tongue trying to explain some simple concept if you are under pressure or caught off guard. It happens to all of us. For example, can you explain in seconds the difference between misuse and abuse of drugs? I am sure you know the difference, but unless you have a rehearsed and prepared script in mind, you may back up a few times as you try to clarify the difference. It's at these special times that a handout comes in handy.

I found a great handout that discusses the difference between misuse and abuse of drugs. It was emailed to me by one of my article sources at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There's no copyright, so you print and copy this handout and use it in trainings. It would be a good for supervisor training in workplace substance abuse or employee drug and alcohol awareness, for that matter.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/UCM220434.pdf

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