Amazon drugs row: Fury as deadly 'legal highs' which can trigger psychotic episodes on sale online

Internet giant is selling salvia, despite warnings from campaigners
Nitrous oxide and poppers are on sale as well
Maryon Stewart, whose daughter died after taking GBL, wrote to Amazon
She has asked it to withdraw the products along with drug pipes and bongs
She has had no response but says it is 'utterly irresponsible'

PUBLISHED: 16:01 EST, 10 May 2013 | UPDATED: 19:38 EST, 10 May 2013

Deadly ‘legal highs’ are being sold on Amazon.

Despite warnings from campaigners, the online shop is selling salvia and describing it as ‘more powerful than LSD’.

Nitrous oxide and poppers, which can be similarly lethal, are on sale as well. Maryon Stewart, whose daughter Hester died after taking the drug GBL, wrote to Amazon last month, asking it to withdraw the products along with drug pipes, bongs and scales.

Under fire: Online retailer is selling Salvia, despite warnings from campaigners

Danger: Maryon Stewart (left), whose daughter Hester (right) died after taking the drug GBL, wrote to Amazon last month

She has had no response and last night said: ‘It is utterly irresponsible that Amazon is selling this stuff and tantamount to an endorsement.

‘Amazon is a trusted brand and if it is selling something, it is likely to mislead young people into believing it’s safe.

‘We all know these products are not safe and people taking them are playing Russian roulette with their lives and mental wellbeing.’ EBay does not allow legal highs or drugs equipment to be sold through its site because it says they may ‘cause harm’.

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But packets of ‘pure salvia extract’ are sold on Amazon Marketplace by a firm called John Strong Supplies.

It boasts of providing ‘the purest extracts at the best prices in the UK’ and cites Press articles describing the psychoactive herb as ‘more powerful than LSD, and legal’.

It states: ‘Salvia continues to be used by Mazatec shamans in its native Oaxaca for its spiritual effects, which last for five minutes and offer the shamans deep psychological effects.’

Legal highs: Nitrous oxide and poppers were also on sale on the Amazon website

A disclaimer says the £7.99 product is a ‘herbal incense for the home’ but customer reviews make clear what it is used for.

One buyer said: ‘I can testify that this salvia is one of the best I’ve ever smoked. Buy, try, and fly high guys.’ Another praised ‘an amazing trip’.

Drug experts warn salvia can trigger psychotic episodes, particularly in young people and those with mental health problems.

It was linked to the death of Ryan Santanna, a 21-year-old film student who fell from a balcony in New York after smoking it in 2011.

Harry Shapiro of the charity DrugScope said that, at high doses, salvia has similar effects to LSD, triggering hallucinations and distorting time.

Salvia was linked to the death of Ryan Santanna, a 21-year-old film student who fell from a balcony in New York after smoking it in 2011

‘There is the danger with hallucinogenic drugs that people can injure themselves because they are seeing something that isn’t there,’ he added.

‘There is the very odd case of people who believe they can fly. And, of course, people can just get scared by whatever it is that they see.’

Nitrous oxide – known as laughing gas – can cause seizures, heart attacks and strokes.

Last year public schoolboy Joseph Benett, 17, died after inhaling it with his friends.

He suffered a heart attack and brain damage.

Nitrous oxide is widely abused as a middle class party drug and by students looking for a quick high.

It is often inhaled directly from party balloons.

Alarming side-effects include hallucinations, seizures, blackouts and incontinence. Drug experts warn it is especially dangerous with alcohol.

Amyl nitrate – known as poppers – is also on sale on Amazon as a ‘bottled room aroma’.

But the product descriptions make clear its intended use, 'working its magic’ with ‘heightened mood sensations’.

The Government’s drug website warns that poppers can cause death by reduced oxygen to vital organs. In June 2011, Eric James, a 46-year-old married father, died after inhaling amyl nitrate on Clapham Common.

It has proved impossible to prosecute over the sale of poppers because sellers can claim the product is a deodoriser.

Nitrous oxide can also be sold legally because it is used as a pressurised gas for spray cream cans. Government drugs advisers considered – but did not call for – a ban on salvia in 2011.

Last night a spokesman for Amazon said: ‘All sellers on Amazon Marketplace must adhere to our guidelines in relation to the products that they make available for sale on our web site, and we use a variety of methods to ensure compliance.

‘We act quickly to remove any items that contravene our guidelines and take appropriate action with the seller in question.’

Last night salvia and nitrous oxide were still widely available but it appeared Amazon had acted to remove amyl nitrate.

Mrs Stewart runs the Angelus Foundation which raises awareness of the risk of legal highs.

See angelusfoundation.com and whynotfindout.org for information on legal highs.

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It's very sad but the mother is clearly looking for an activity to pour her grief into. She just needs to recover. GBL and Salvia are very different things. GBL is illegal, Salvia has been used for millennia and deaths are rarely reported. It is not a 'fun time' drug, it is used by those exploring mind altering hallucinations and their uses

- Darren , London, 11/5/2013 20:32

Click to rate Rating 62

Firstly its on sale on Amazon but sold by a third party not BY Amazon. Secondly just because it is on sale doesnt mean people have to buy it and use it. People have free choice, to drink, do drugs, smoke and its no use complaining when your friend\relative has died blaming someone else when its their own free choice to do something dangerous.

- keyboard kowboy , the edge of reality, 11/5/2013 20:30

Click to rate Rating 97

If there was a petition to ask amazon to stop allowing these being sold I would be happy to sign it as I don't think the term saying its legal rather than illegal drug makes it safe and I would never want to be in the position of people with youngsters trying out what is apparently a so called safe drug (none of them are) and lose their lives as the end result :(

- lemondrizzlecake , UK, 11/5/2013 20:13

Click to rate Rating 63

Amazon should be banned from UK. It's an American company and pay no or little tax in Britain. They are taking the money of we British people to pay in American tax system. No way. I stopped buying anything from Amazon when BBC first reported their tax evasion. If a company cannot pay British tax then we British don't need you.

- tomy007 , Manchester, 11/5/2013 20:04

Click to rate Rating 100

Yes these things are legal and yes alcohol and tobacco are worse. But I work in a mental health hospital and you will not believe the effects these 'legal highs' have on people! I have seen people experience extremely severe psychotic episodes off the back of taking this stuff and the people who sell it, ordinary shopkeepers as well as amazon and the like, should be ashamed of themselves. They know damn well how dangerous they are and they know, despite the ridiculous claims on the packaging that they are 'aromatherapy', 'bath salts' or 'incense, what they are used for.

- Jen , Cheltenham, United Kingdom, 11/5/2013 19:56

Click to rate Rating 19

Thanks DM, if I wanted to I now know where to get these things easily and delivered to my door!

- JamesKnowsTheTruth , Where ever I lay my hat, UK, 11/5/2013 19:33

Click to rate Rating 51

Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with approximately 700¿900 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals.[2][3] It is one of several genera commonly referred to as sage. The genus is distributed throughout the Old World and the Americas, with three distinct regions of diversity: Central and South America (approx. 500 species); Central Asia and Mediterranean (250 species); Eastern Asia (90 species).

- asher_in_israland , tal_aviv, 11/5/2013 19:30

Click to rate Rating 30

Doing salvia on balcony is like smoking a ciggie in a bath filled with gasoline. Even before education there should a small degree of common sense.

- Flip Flop , Bristol, 11/5/2013 18:33

Click to rate Rating 49

Deadly Salvia eh OMG DM just stop with this sort of thing! It is almost as bad as Dr. Phil talking about how people would snort salvia up their nose. Stories like this just do nothing at all to educate people with true information about drugs.

- Jon , Notts, 11/5/2013 17:46

Click to rate Rating 54

It's legal.End of.

- chrismusc , Liverpool, 11/5/2013 17:22

Click to rate Rating 48

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