INUVIK
It's a drug that goes by many names - Diviner's Sage, Magic Mint, Brain Freeze. But in most places it's known simply as salvia, and the Inuvik RCMP want members of the public to know it's in the community and can cause serious problems for some users.

RCMP Const. Mike Sturco said salvia can cause some users to become violent or even suicidal. During a information session at Ingamo Hall on Nov. 16, he told community members Inuvik is the only community in the territory currently experiencing problems with the drug. - James Goldie/NNSL photo

On Nov. 16, RCMP Const. Mike Sturco gave a presentation during an information session as part of National Aboriginal Addictions Awareness Week. Members of the public were invited to Ingamo Hall to learn more about salvia and to ask the constable questions.

"I have heard about the salvia, that it's really bad stuff," said Gerry Petrin, who once talked to someone who had tried it. "He described it to me and he said he'd never try it again. He said it felt like he was in hell. Like, literally."

Petrin said the description actually frightened him and said that as a father, he wouldn't want the substance falling into the hands of his child.

"I'm curious as to what it is, I thought I'd come to find out what ingredients are in there and to see what else people have to say about it," he said.

Salvia - a shortened form of the plant's full name, salvia divinorum - is part of the mint family and originates from southern Mexico where it was traditionally used for ceremonial purposes by indigenous people. When consumed, salvia has hallucinogenic effects that can vary dramatically depending on the user's frame of mind.

"When your mindset is good and happy and you're looking for good things, which is how the Mexican culture used it, they were getting visions and all these good things because of the hallucinogenic effects of it," Sturco told the audience of about 20 people.

"But when you mix it with alcohol or if you're in a bad mood to begin with, it will affect the hallucinations and the hallucinations can be more violent. And there are also suicidal ideations that have occurred."

Salvia's leaves are typically dried and broken down like tobacco, and most commonly consumed by smoking.

Earlier this year salvia was put on a list of controlled substances in Canada, but this change does not come into effect until Feb. 1, 2016. Sturco said this legal limbo the drug currently finds itself "causes a lot of problems for (police) because even if someone possesses it we can't do anything with it."

Sturco said that salvia can be purchased legally online and that some smoke shops will sell it as incense, with labels stating it is not for human consumption.

"I'm surprised that it's so accessible that anybody could more or less click a button on Facebook and boom the next day you got your drug," said Shirley Kisoun, who attended the information session.

"I never heard about salvia before tonight. Like, what next? My goodness," she said.

Kisoun wanted to know the age group of people experimenting with the drug, and according to Sturco, ages 12 to 20 is the "prime age group" for salvia users.

"From speaking with other RCMP officers and the drug units, Inuvik is the only community that's having an issue with (salvia) right now. Not even Yellowknife is having an issue with it," he said. "Unfortunately it seems to be an Inuvik problem."

In an interview with the Drum, Sgt. Scott Young of the Inuvik RCMP said he "wouldn't necessarily say it's a big problem" here, but any time a substance is causing some users to seek medical treatment at the hospital, it's definitely an issue.

"I'm not really sure how it came North," Young said, when asked why Inuvik and not other communities in the territory. "I don't really have an answer as to why it's made it's way to Inuvik."

Young said the RCMP decided to hold an information session about salvia because members of the public had been asking about it.

He said he wants "to send a message out there and a bit of a warning to the youth of the community that even though (salvia) is not illegal yet in Canada it does have some serious effects on the body."

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