Salvia headed for ban in Massachusetts
Looks like Massachusetts is warming up to join the growing list of states in the US to move Salvia divinorum to it’s list of controlled substances. On 9/29/2008 legislation (H 4434) proposed by Reps Vinny deMacedo (R) and Daniel Webster (R) of Plymouth County got one step closer to a Senate vote after deMacedo agreed to strip language that would classify blunt wrappers as drug paraphernalia from the year and a half old bill. If there is anything interesting about this legislation it’s the motivation behind the move.
“Once I saw (on YouTube) the effects of the drug, I realized it isn’t just a small thing,” said Rep. DeMacedo, who has introduced a bill to ban the compound in the Bay State. “All the young kids know about it, and none of the parents know anything about it — so it’s clearly becoming an epidemic of sorts insofar as kids are accessing it and talking about it frequently. By us doing nothing, we’d be sending the wrong message.” (link)
Youtube killed this buzz. Seriously. Debating the need to ban Salvia would certainly be an effort in futility; conversion to the team that believes prohibition in any form is bush league public policy happens on its own schedule, but does Vinny really think banning this particular substance is going to protect Plymouth County kids from their worst enemy, themselves? Anyone who has tried Salvia knows it poses no threat to ones health simply because it makes doing anything at all nearly impossible for it’s meager but awe inspiring 20 minute duration. Impossible to the degree that Salvia is the running gag in one comedians online series:
Gardening on Salvia
Driving On Salvia
Writing A Letter To Congress on Salvia
The point is, concerned parents, banning salvia wont make your kids any less dumb. Your daughter is still going to have compromising camera phone pics taken of her at some point and chances are 50/50 your son has pictures of him circulating school passed out, drunk and covered in permanent marker. They’ll do these things for the whole world to enjoy and then act shocked when the admissions officer at the Ivy League school of his/her choice knows they did these things. And guess what? Salvia, alcohol, weed, soda, video games, porn and religion are not to blame. Kids are stupid you see, and while it’s our job as adults to help them with that, simply trying to remove all the sharp corners from their lives only means they’ll grow up to bruise easy. If you want to ban something it should be access to anything that would allow them to add to their “permanent record”.
I’d suggest if you really want to keep your kids from doing salvia, let them try it. In fact I’ll bet you one, nearly worthless American Dollar it’ll be the first and last time. Wade Davis, author of Serpent and the Rainbow once described hallucinogens of the caliber of Salvia as “… rather like being shot out of a rifle barrel lined with baroque paintings and landing on a sea of electricity” and trust me on this one folks, that’s not how you describe the next big party drug. So while your local law enforcement officer will be likely to categorize Salvia as analogous to LSD or mushrooms, lets be honest, they’re no more well informed than your kids who are putting videos of themselves getting high online.
This may be irrelevant to most but we have an interesting and rare opportunity on our hands to regulate a substance for minors and let it find it’s own way into obscurity for adults instead of that natural process being held up by receiving extra attention from media, law enforcement and politicians. Since I may be the entirety of the ’save salvia’ movement in Massachusetts, I’m sure that wont be the case so I guess I’ll just be happy with the the results of Question 2 on next months ballot. But make no mistake, this legislation will do nothing to keep your kids from doing stupid shit and posting the videos online. One step forward, one back; last one out don’t forget to think of the children.
I believe this text is from The State House News, as it was forwarded to me from Beacon Hill:
TO OUTLAW SALVIA, REP ABANDONS EFFORT TO THWART KRATOM, BLUNTS
In a bid to build broad consensus around his bill outlawing a certain hallucinogen, Rep. Viriato DeMacedo moved Monday to strip out language that would have designated blunt wrappers and certain “rose bud” pipes as drug paraphernalia. During Monday’s House session, the House adopted DeMacedo’s amendment, which removed from his bill provisions to outlaw kratom, a hallucinogen derived from tropical trees in Southeast Asia, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The only remaining provisions in DeMacedo’s bill (H 4434) would classify salvia divinorum, a legal hallucinogen, as a class C narcotic. The drug, illegal in a handful of states, is “one of several vision-inducing plants employed by the Mazatec Indians” – a Oaxaca, Mexico-native species, according to the DEA. It is described as invoking short but powerful hallucinations, and proponents of outlawing it say it has grown in popularity among youth as an alternative to illegal drugs. After adopting the amendment, the House advanced DeMacedo’s bill, now one favorable vote away from reaching the Senate.
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5 Responses to “Salvia headed for ban in Massachusetts”
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I’ve been keeping up to date on the state of Salvia in the MA House for months now. I’ve e-mailed every committee that the bill went through in the process. I know that other have e-mailed as well. Check http://www.entheogen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16785
At this point, I am not sure they read the e-mails… Don’t give up - keep e-mailing. I think that the next committee the bill goes through is the committee on House Bills in the Third Reading. You can find them here:http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/h36.htm
I can’t believe they are justifying this bill with a YouTube video…
Buck, I meant to tell you that I got your e-mail about the NYT article. (I hardly ever check that account anymore). Did you ever grow some at your place? Did it “work”?
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the only thing they don’t like is the buzz it gives someone else. And they’ll celebrate over drinks. I wonder if they’ll try to squeeze it through both houses BEFORE the results of #2 come to light? It would be great if they did and 2 passed with a landslide. This issue would be gone faster than a politicians promise.
Peace.