Salvia Divinorum: Nebraska Man is Acquitted of Sales Charge, But the Plant is Under Continued Attack There and Elsewhere
A jury in Lincoln, Nebraska, found a local man not guilty of selling salvia divinorum Monday. Although the psychedelic member of the mint family is not a controlled substance in Nebraska, creative thinkers in the Lincoln Police Department arrested shop owner Christian Firoz under a little used law against selling a substance for the purpose of inducing intoxication.
salvia leaves (photo courtesy Erowid.org)
By this time next year, though, police anywhere in Nebraska may be able to arrest people on salvia possession or sales charges. The day after Firoz was acquitted, the Nebraska legislature voted 44-0 to advance a bill, LB 123, making salvia a Schedule I controlled substance. Under the bill, salvia would be classified along with heroin, LSD, and marijuana as substances with no medical use and a high potential for abuse.
Salvia is not known to produce fatal overdoses, nor has it been shown to be addictive. In fact, for most users, the high is so overwhelming that they only use it once or twice. Salvia use has been linked -- but only indirectly -- to two deaths, that of a Delaware teenager who killed himself some time after using salvia and that of an Ohio teenager who was slain by a friend who had previously used salvia, but was not under the immediate influence.
But that didn't stop the Nebraska bill's sponsor, Sen. Russ Karpisek (R-Wilbur) from declaring that the legislature had to save Nebraska's corn-fed youth by sending them to prison for possessing a plant. "Please, think about our children when you think about this one. It's another gateway drug. I think that it will entice people to use the drug and see what it's like. Scary thought to me," said Karpisek.
Nebraska isn't alone in seeing efforts to ban salvia this year. Also on Tuesday, the Maryland House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on HB 8, which would make salvia a Schedule I controlled substance in the Terrapin state. A similar bill has been filed in the state Senate. South Dakota legislators filed a bill, HB 1090 last week that would do the same, and declares the salvia threat so dire as to require emergency status, meaning the bill, if passed, would go into effect in 90 days. A Texas legislator has filed another salvia ban bill, HB 126, while another Texas bill, SB 257, would restrict its sale to minors.
That's what California did last year, although most of the dozen or so states that have moved against salvia have simply banned it for everyone. California's example is the correct response, said the Drug Policy Alliance Network's DC and Maryland office.
"We are very concerned about youth drug use, including the use of salvia, but by outlawing and prohibiting it legislators will make the problem even worse," said Naomi Long, DPAN's DC and Maryland Project director. "We can curb youth access to salvia by enacting age controls and placement restrictions similar to our strategies to reduce teenage smoking. We didn't have to criminalize tobacco or create prison sentences to achieve success. Criminalizing drugs makes it easier for young people to obtain them because the underground market doesn't check an ID to see if someone's an adult."
For salvia fans and civil libertarians, the one good sign in all this is that opposition is starting to appear. Not only did foes of criminalizing salvia make an appearance in Annapolis, they also objected in Lincoln. Opposition hasn't stopped any salvia bans yet, but at least it is finally showing up.
digg
redditnumbskulls? Sounds like most teenagers! Your kids?
Comment posted by mlang52 on Sun, 02/01/2009 - 3:55pmI venture to say I have much more education than you. I do not resort to name calling when I write my posts, as well. If you were right about the drugs getting researched, then cannabis would be easily available for medical research. Which it is not. There is plenty of information on the web to back up the fact, that what I said is true.
I agree that kids should not be abusing anything, including alcohol. We need alcohol prohibition again!! Is there proof to your statement that kids are injuring others or themselves? But, I must reiterate. They should not be smoking salvia, either!
Do you keep your liquor cabinet locked? I would if I had one and had kids in the house, any more.
research?
Comment posted by mlang52 on Sun, 02/01/2009 - 4:12pmThe problem, with researching (human research) the harm of the salvia use in minors, is that it would be unethical. If I wanted to see if it damaged the body, (as it is shown that alcohol damages childrens' young livers much worse, than adults). Then it would be very wrong to let minors consume it! So, the best idea would be to limit its consumption to adults (anybody over 18 in most states), who are allowed to take risky behavior.
Kids need to stay drug free, until they have at lest completed rudimentary education and developmental skills. That is just safest for you! But, you should not be afraid of going to prison, or losing college aid, because of such mistakes. That is exactly what restrictive laws like this do. Ruin the lives of children and families over a personal choice! If you were my kid, I would kick your butt and explain the stupidity of using. But, I sure as heck would fight to the death to make sure you did not get imprisoned or your life ruined from such behavior. Just think what would have happened if Mr Obama had been busted! That is not what our government should be doing!
sales to minors
Comment posted by mlang52 on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 1:23pmTo address your first statement, harmful substances are sold , every day, to people. Alcohol is likely the most harmful drug of all! So, if a child does not have the education or wisdom to not use alcohol, he should be able to get it anyway? It just sounds very uncaring about the welfare of children. I guess that would be the mantra of the NAMBLA people! Sex with children is OK! It does not matter how severely they they are harmed. They can make the decisions on their own! Want your five year old to have "uncle Dick", legally, molest him? It just makes no more sense to think that allowing children to freely use drugs is, in any way, beneficial to society.
And if a drug a warrior picks up on your approach, you can be there will be a big expose'. "This guy wants to let kids have drugs!!" I like the way it is with alcohol. At least you don't get thrown in jail for adult consumption And, it does keep it out of the hands of children, most of the time. Kids don't have the judgment, that is supposed to be attained after reaching the age of 18. Granted that is an arbitrary number.
I just don't think that trying to say kids should not be prohibited from using drugs either, is really going to fly, even with adults that use drugs. It also, would only make it easier for the drug warriors to point out that if adults could not have a responsible attitude about drug use, in children, then it would be stupid to allow the legalization of anything that causes, even adults, to be so irresponsible and stupid. So, you want your kids to use drugs before they are 18? Start maybe when they are twelve, or six, or five, or three?
helpful or counterproductive?
Comment posted by mlang52 on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 2:53pmI agree with the last assessment of the situation, by Naomi Long. In addition to that, making it illegal makes it next to impossible to evaluate it, through MEDICAL SCIENCE, for any use of such a drug for psychiatric problems. Again, our representatives reveal the total ignorance, of the voting public, on one side and their biases,on the other!