Mom Says Legal Herb Killed Son

(CBS)  Of all the crazy videos posted on YouTube, those depicting teenagers smoking an herb called salvia divinorum, then seemingly losing control, are among the most disturbing.

Salvia is legal in most of the country and it seems to be a fad among teenagers, said Dr. Bryan Roth who studies the herb.

"It causes a very intense hallucinogenic experience," Roth told The Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith. "People are more or less instantaneously transported into an alternate universe."

It may look like the kids in the YouTube videos are having fun, but Kathy Chidester is convinced salvia killed her only child. Sixteen-year-old Brett Chidester was a whiz on a skateboard, a straight-A student and the joy of his divorced parents lives. Then he started smoking salvia.

"He got withdrawn within the last couple of months," said his father, Denis Chidester. "And he wouldn't open up like he used to. I figured it was a teenage thing. Boys don't like to talk to their dads."

But Brett's mom did a little digging on his computer and found out he was buying salvia online and smoking it.

"He'd say, 'Mom, it's legal. There's nothing wrong with it. If it was bad it wouldn't be legal,' " Kathy Chidester said.

Brett's mood grew darker and on a cold Monday in January, at his dad's Delaware home, Brett Chidester did what his parents believe salvia drove him to do: he killed himself.

"My life as I knew was over," Kathy Chidester said. "It'll never be the same. He was our light and our life and it's gone."

While Brett's is the only known case that could link salvia to suicide, some fear there could be others out there. The journal Addiction says salvia is becoming increasingly popular among teenagers, which alarmed Delaware Sen. Karen Peterson.

"I thought this is not something that I would want people using driving around the streets of Delaware," she said.

Three months after Brett committed suicide, Delaware passed a law that banned salvia for recreational use. Delaware is one of five states to classify salvia as a controlled substance.

Since salvia is still legal in the rest of the country, you can order it off the Internet or buy it in a smoke shop. Smith went undercover in New York, where it's legal, to see how easy it is to get.

In less than an hour, she was able to buy it in leaf form, powder, and even an extract that comes in flavors. But don't let it fool you. Experts say this is the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen.

"It should be regulated," Roth said. "It is more difficult for people to buy alcohol or cigarettes than this extremely potent hallucinogen."

The DEA is considering classifying salvia as a schedule one drug, which means it has no medicinal use and a high abuse potential like heroin or LSD. That would make it illegal to buy, sell or use in all 50 states.

"Because people are buying this through the mail it certainly would be a lot more effective if the federal government dealt with it," Peterson said. "And then we wouldn't have to deal with it state by state."

Still, salvia experts are conflicted. While most agree that it should be regulated, they also say it could help treat diseases like Alzheimer's and HIV and worry that a strict DEA ban will stop that promising research.

But Kathy Chidester is convinced that without a federal ban other kids will suffer the same fate as her son.

"I want the DEA to take action and I want it to be outlawed and regulated across the United States," she said. "I don't want anyone else to ever have this happen. I mean, I wouldn't wish this on our worst enemy."

[mdogboy7]

notice how the lightly touch in the other reasons. Like his parents being divorced it didnt say if it was a good or bad divorice or what the kid thought about it. It also didnt touch much in to his personal expeirnce. Teens now a days are aturally emotional and things like break ups or fights between freinds can build up stress and if untreated or cared for can lead to them feeling like they have no where to go. ultimatly this herb needs more research and study. Also people need to stop pointing the finger and starte checking there hands for dirt that really is the problem instead of manfesting it on one thing just to seek comfort.

[bornpagan]

I think the real problem with this issue has been ignored. Not to make light of the tragic outcome in this instance but this whole scenario could have been averted if the Federal Government had intervened by scheduling carbon monoxide as a schedule 1 substance. This stuff kills people, we need it banned.

[vampyre68]

Wow I fill bad for the family and all, but its time to be real you had signs that your kid was acting funny, and if you knew that your kid was on it, then it was your responsiblity as parents to find out what was going on, not to make assumptions. I am 21 years old, and have been using salivia since I was 19 years old, obviously I m not dead and nor have the will to kill myself anytime, to be completely honest I have never seen anyone act the way they are explaining on this, and fyi alot of my friends do it, at most you would have a really bad trip, and never want to do it again. Its for 18 and older for a reason, before people try to bad mouth it, he is 16, and his parents knew he was smoking it and aloud it, take responsibilty for your own actions before going on tv, and setting a blame on a product.

[MrCrusade]

To the author of this article, I will prove why YOU and not the drug are to blame.

In your EXACT words, "He'd say, 'Mom, it's legal. There's nothing wrong with it. If it was bad it wouldn't be legal,' " Kathy Chidester said.

YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED HIM RIGHT THERE!

This is YOUR fault, NOT the drugs. Take some damn responsibility where responsibility is due.

[janderson42788]

I am sorry for the loss of your son, but I'm 100% sure that if it were legal to purchase pot in your area Brett would have never bought the saliva that lead to his eminent death. Legalize it before this happens again, your sons death can be the catalyst that leads to the end of this silly prohibition. May he rest in peace. - Jessica Anderson

[tronte]

I put this to you. Brett was a straight A student, intelligent, popular, a world traveler, and had no reason to commit suicide. That?s because he did not commit suicide. Brett was trying to make the Salvia state last longer then six minutes. I have tried the same thing. Instead of smoking it, I spread it out on a small barbeque grill. This worked a little, but the smoke blew around. Hey I thought, I can take the grill into a tent and spread the Salvia on the grill and get the concentrated smoke. Good idea, except I know about the silent killer in confined spaces with combustion. Carbon monoxide is what killed this bright young man, with a bright future. Salvia divinorum does not produce a ?high?. There is no come down. Sal produces a state of mind. In this state you get an awareness of the position of your self and where you lie in the fabric of the universe. These are observations at a set elevated level of concentration. If you see YOUTUBE people laughing and dancing around they are not truly in the Salvia state. These are their own reactions to the state after coming out of it, or not quite getting to it. When one is in the Salvia state, awe is mostly what you feel. When some one is in a total sense of awe they normally bow down and keep very quiet. Do you want to realize the connection of life? I mean how we are all connected and where you are in that connection, try Sal once. You will know, and if you like where you are you will think ?Hey that was the quickest six minutes of my life?. Don?t try concentrating Salvia divinorum fumes from a grill in a tent to extend the six minutes. It does not work well, and is life threatening. We need more warnings about Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
Thanks

[moonspider1]

I don't know if there is any likelihood that you will see this comment as your post is quite old. But would just like you to know that your theory makes such sense to me that I had to let you know.

I happened upon this boy's story this afternoon. I live in the UK so it wasn't anything I had heard about. For some reason it grabbed my attention, both what his mother said about him on her blog and what others were debating about the drug, his state of mind etc. It didn't seem to make sense and I am a 'make sense' kind of person. It has absorbed me for hours until finally I came to your comment.

And it clicked for me. I think your theory is the most credible, that it was 'misadventure' due to trying to extend the effect and with a young person's ignorance of the danger. I can stop searching now that a reasonable idea has turned up. Thank-you.

A sad story. He seemed a lovable boy with a bright future and people who loved him. It's a shame that it turned into a witch-hunt to do with the 'drug' rather than the dangers of carbon-monoxide poisoning, but that's a reflection of our western society I'm afraid, the readiness to direct blame to some evil or another.

[mdogboy7]

Dont you love how that wasnt in the article above and made people form a common assumption of shooting himself or hanging. I just love media prpaganda. and yes there should be more warnings about cabon monoxide poisioning it is crazy how many die from it

[frankro]

I definitely believe that salvio could have contributed to this kid killing himself. My niece told me she had tried it with two friends...& she said it was a really bad trip & that she would never use it again. It really scared her. From what she told me she experienced....I think this stuff is much more dangerous than pot...yet pot is illegal & this dangerous substance can be purchased easily & legally. Not good. Anything that makes you hallucinate can definitely alter your brain.

[richslayerbc08]

this article is just plain dumb, another person taking the blame of themselfs and finding something else to blame the cause of ther sons or daughters death. its the same thing as parents sueing rock bands for supposidly having subliminal lyrics. the problem doesnt lie within the music or salvia its the parents or the son or daughters problem... and i know im pretty much just repeating what most of the other people commenting on this site are saying, but its the truth

[sagedoctor]

The problem here is not with Salvia - it with CBS. In this "news" item you used sensationalism to create a News Event rather than using objective Journalism to investigate and report the news.

This is Tabloid Journalism - much akin to The National Enquirer. Is that the current policy of CBS? It seems that you have opted for Perky rather than reliability, and rumor rather than fact.

[brianfriend2]

This is just more government propraganda style misinformation. Trying to manipulate simple minds into believing "oh dear this is a terrible thing!" mentality. We need some REAL journalism and dig deeper into the reality of salvia, they get the moms point of view and just run with it, they dont talk to Seibert or others who study and live with salvia on regular basis and find out all the positives that salvia has to offer. And who is this kids mom to say what killed him. Like she''s an expert in teen suicide, maybe it was the divorce of his mother and father, why didnt she consider that had a negative effect on him? Even if somehow salvia had to do with him commiting suicide, that would be one death. Alcohol and tobacco claim over 250,000 deaths annually and are still legal. Hypocracy? Far more dangerous than these kids who smoke salvia once and get an intense inner depth journey, that scares the *** out of them and probably never bother to do it again. For most salvia is beyond thier conceptual limits. Dont report on something until you get all the perspectives...