Video Drug News Roundup

LSD-like high? didn't realize LSD was a kappa-opioid agonist.

gotta love how media distorts the facts... also notice the cheesy piano score behind the sob-story; influence public opinion, and create a perceived widespread problem.

stupid kids are the problem too.

Jimson weed is legal too.

Haha no, unfortunately I don't actually expect to find correct information about drugs in the mainstream media or the public that believes in that media. In fact, I've kind of given up hope on finding much truth at all within the mainstream press, for the time being at least (vive la internet!). It's just so silly, you know? We know that this campaign does not work, and we know that lumping all drugs together (especially drugs with no easily definable similarities - eg. cannabis and opiates) is dangerous because when you throw a blanket over all of them and say "these are bad, no touchy" then you make the connotation that they're all bad for the same reason, and to the same degree. We know that's not true, and yet this attitude has been prevalent in mainstream culture at least since the "Just Say No" Anti-Drug campaign of the USA, but probably well before that (admittedly I'm a bit of a youngen, so I don't know for sure the Social history of this practice but I do know that within my lifetime this has been the method: all drugs are bad, and that's all you need to know). In my own personal story I was fed this argument, with no reasoning other than "They're bad, people who do them are bad, try some and you'll end up dead" and you know, slowly I discovered the truth for myself. Starting in grade 6 with Alcohol and Tobacco, I met my ally Cannabis in grade 7...but moments before my lips touched that shoddily-rolled joint, I was terrified. I thought I was going to blow my brains out on the sidewalk, see colors and taste sound, and ultimately be immersed in a world of drug-induced-hallucination that I might never return from. Of course, that didn't happen. Some awesome stuff happened and I was in LOVE with Cannabis from the get go, but getting a glimpse of the truth (Well, if Cannabis is nothing like they say it is, then what about the rest?) led me to some experimenting that was, let's just say, less than safe. Yet for a long time I put it all on the same page; I figured it was all a hoax, nothing could hurt me. Again, we know THIS isn't true either...so I suppose the thing that worries me so much is that the misinformation is nothing but a cop-out, it's an attempt to scare kids away from even having the idea of doing drugs, but I think we all know from personal experience it simply does not work...and when it fails, the lies can all come down and land on top of you...so really, kids are being hurt and being led to possible bad decision making because of the lies fed to them about drugs. Enough ranting, the point I REALLY wanted to make is I find the Salvia - LSD comparison confusing because to me it seems like calling it "Legal LSD" would make kids want it WAY more than if they were simply told the truth. LSD has such an infamy surrounding it, even most pre-teen kids have some semblance of what LSD is and what it does: so doesn't this appropriation of a well known pop-cultural item (which is rare and unavailable in comparison with Salvia) attract MORE youth attention to Salvia? Certainly it attracts more misguided dabbling with this potent psychedelic than the truth may, and it leaves people considerably under prepared. I think the funny thing is if some newscaster did a little bit of research (even just clicked onto Erowid for about 10 minutes!), they would be able to develop a story that is closer to the truth and that would probably deter more of the casual, uninformed youth users of this drug. I would love to turn on the TV (assuming I could stand to do so) and see a news reporter saying "This legal drug called Salvia can apparently produce hallucinations so intense that the user can experience the entire range of sensations experienced by some inanimate object. For instance, a user taking a high does of Salvia may find themselves immersed in the life of a Dishwasher, fully believing they are experiencing the perspective of a Dishwasher and so convinced by the experience that this MUST be real, that often there is fear you will not return from this state. Oh, and on a side note, Salvia has the capability to distort your perception of physical reality, and can alter the way you experience gravity and your body sensations, sometimes bringing intense pain and disorientation. So, you are not just seeing a vision, or feeling a feeling, but all of your body systems become involved in this phenomena." This is not the "Sunshine and Love" stereotype most people have in their head when they think LSD (not that that's what LSD always IS, in reality, but it is the popular stereotype). Any kid who is brave enough to still be interested in this drug after learning that it can cause you to experience the life-perspective of a couch, a tree, or a pair of scissors is perhaps the type of person who is drawn to Salvia for a reason, and then I say all the power to them, as this IS a powerful tool. I just get so frustrated because in this light it seems like the scare-stories have nothing to do with deterring youth from using these drugs, the way they're built now they seem to be aimed at attracting youth attention...no, the simple minded scare stories, in the end, seem to be there for the same reason most other things are in this fucked up, backwards media of ours: shock value. Oh, and omgoleus: I didn't watch the Tamiflu video the first time around, but that's hilarious (if not very sad)! Haha yes they basically say "To save yourself the horrors of the Flu, we recommend indulging in Advanced Germophobia and general Hermetic behavior"; this could turn out to be advantageous, however: once the rest of the world has watched enough news programs to become too paranoid to leave their house, we'll run this planet!

I'm not at all surprised with such a comparison. Anyway, LSD is the best known psychedelic. Sean, do you seriously expect the mainstream public to notice a difference between the effects of LSD and salvia? Hallucination is hallucination, for anti-drug public there are no details here.
By the way, this comparison is at least much safer for potential users then what some kids assume (I have really met this kind of attitude!): that if it's a smokable herb, it's probably something like pot.

I like in the Tamiflu segment, the pharmacist recommends the best flu prevention to be "social distancing and very frequent hand-washing". Sounds like the definition of some kind of obsessive-compulsive social-anxiety disorder. Great, let's convince everyone to be clinically insane so they don't get the flu!

Re sean's comment: When they find out it's all lies, they go out and do a bunch of drugs. Duh. ;)

Re: Indiana's Legal High...why is it that anything which causes "hallucinations" causes "LSD like hallucinations"? Have none of these people heard of Mushrooms? Or DMT? Or Iboga? Or on and on and on and on. It's infuriating to hear misinformation spilling out of the radio or television anytime they're on...why can't Salvia just cause "intense hallucinations"? Do we REALLY need to lie to our children in order to scare them? If so, what happens when they find out it's all lies?