Salvia divinorum, designated a "drug of concern" by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is currently uncontrolled in the United States at the federal level, but it has been controlled at the state level in Delaware, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Between November 2006 and May 15, 2007, legislation was introduced to ban possession or sale of Salvia divinorum in fourteen additional states: Alaska, California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas (two bills), Utah, and Virginia.

The majority of the pending legislation would add the plant "Salvia divinorum" to the states' lists of controlled substances. Salvinorin A, the active principle in salvia, would also be controlled by most of these laws, but is not specifically mentioned in the legislation pending in Illinois, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, or Pennsylvania. Pending Texas bill SB1796 does not mention salvinorin A, and would only make it a crime to sell salvia to minors; Texas bill HB2347 would make both the plant and salvinorin A illegal. While many of the proposed bills are in limbo and some will certainly not make it through the legislative process, at least a few are likely to pass.

Many states allow public comment on proposed bills. California, for example, includes in its formal "bill analysis" a list of groups and individuals (either named or anonymous) who have registered support or opposition for pending legislation. An Erowid crew member registered her opposition to California's AB 259 earlier this year and the current bill analysis now shows "One private individual" in the list of opponents.1

The increase in recent salvia legislation is certainly due in part to the ongoing media frenzy. We have been told that at least one vendor has been repeatedly alerted to new salvia-related media stories by the corresponding spikes in product sales.