What Is Salvia And Why Is Miley Cyrus Smoking It?

Miley Cyrus, the teen sensation made news recently as she turned 18. The biggest news came a few days after her big birthday when a video surfaced of the teen smoking “salvia” out of a bong.

What made most people do a double take was the fact that is wasn’t marijuana coming from the bong. Many wondered exactly what salvia is. According to FOX News salvia is:

…known as salvia divinorum, this leafy “houseplant” is a highly-potent relative of sage and mint plants. But unlike its spicy cousins, salvia leaves are sold as a legal alternative to marijuana because of the hallucinogenic effects people can experience from smoking it.

The salvia leaves were causing quite a stir for the young teen superstar as she prepares for her upcoming movie role with Kelly Osborne.

You can see footage of Miley smoking salvia and talking about “tripping out” over on TMZ.

Salvia is a legal herb in the state of California, so technically Miley did nothing wrong, other than set a bad example for children around the globe. But if you think about it, most teens join in rebellion, cigarette smoking and experimenting with marijuana around this time, so it is not out of the ordinary, just out in the open.

What do you think if Miley, salvia and the circus scene surrounding her and her 18th birthday celebration? Let’s talk in the comments below.

-Jim

FDA Cannot Regulate E-Cigarettes As Drug

It not so breaking news, the FDA has lost an appeal to regulate electronic cigarettes as drugs as they are now classified as a tobacco product. The ruling means the government can oversee the marketing of the products, not restrict their sale.

One of the bigger names in the case is electronic cigarette maker Sottera Inc., which does business as Njoy. They made their case that their products, battery-powered devices that generate a nicotine vapor instead of smoke, are tobacco products and not drugs. E-cigarettes are marketed as a tobacco alternative for “smoking pleasure,” rather than for therapeutic uses, the company said.

“We’re thrilled,” Craig Weiss, the president of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Njoy, said in a telephone interview. “Now we can continue to sell e-cigarettes under the regulations of the Tobacco Act.”

According to a Businessweek story that ran in early December:

“This ruling invites the creation of a wild west of products containing highly addictive nicotine, an alarming prospect for public health,” the group said in an e-mailed statement. “We urge the government to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

What do you think of this ruling? Is it fair? Are big tobacco companies scared of this new threat or was the FDA finally put in their place? Let us know in the comments below.