Fla. Lawmakers Consider Outlawing Drug Called “New Marijuana”

POSTED: 9:57 am EDT March 11, 2008

Original article in regular font.  My comments are in bold.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — State lawmakers are considering a ban on what is being called the new marijuana. Salvia divinorum is a hallucinogenic herb that’s inexpensive and easy to obtain.

Ok,  marijuana is nothing like Salvia.  At all. Period.  There is nothing “new marijuana” about Salvia whatsoever.

Florida state Representative Mary Brandenburg has introduced a bill to make possession of salvia a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and state Senator Evelyn Lynn, whose committee plans to study the salvia bill Tuesday, says the drug should be criminalized.

Native to Mexico and still grown there, salvia divinorum is generally smoked but can also be chewed or made into a tea and drunk.

Salvia is a natural herb that is showing up on local school campuses. It’s smoked through a bong and the effects kick in right away. In 2006, University of Central Florida student Joel Birsch said he tried it because it’s legal.

The video of his 10-minute high is disturbing to watch. He wrestled a friend to the ground. Then, Birch threw himself down a staircase. He dislocated his shoulder. He watched the video and admitted he even hallucinated.

“I thought I was a Ninja Turtle,” he said. “I though I was (rap artist) 50-Cent.”

This is a problem right there.  You aren’t going to have a spiritual trip if you don’t know what you are getting into, and you don’t start out with the right mental state and setting.  Salvia is NOT a party drug.  Few people use it for such and those are the ones giving it  a bad name.

Salvia is a hallucinogen that gives users an out-of-body sense of traveling through time and space or merging with inanimate objects. Unlike hallucinogens like LSD or PCP, however, salvia’s effects last for a shorter time, generally up to an hour.

Ok, then why call it the “new marijuanna?”  These people are morons.  Who elects them?

Commander Gil McDaniel with the narcotics unit at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said this herb should not be legal.

And I say people like Gil McDaniel should mind his own goddamned business.  Kiss my ass, Gil.

“If you think you’re a Ninja Turtle and you throw yourself down the steps, that should be your first clue something’s wrong,” said Commander McDaniel.

If you base your entire research of a Shamanistic and time-honored drug with a long, long history of spiritual and healing use, on one college dork’s trip, then you are a bigger moron than I thought.  There is plenty of research documenting Salvia and its healing properties (not as much as their could be of course.  We all know how governments like to squash drug research that isn’t done by a pharmaceutical company.)

Ten countries including Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, South Korea and Sweden have criminalized Salvia.

What can I say?  The ignorance in this world abounds.

In the U.S., Salvia is illegal in Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Delaware, and Oklahoma. Legislation is being considered in New York, Illinois, Alaska and California. But in Florida, there is no law.

“I’m not worried about it ’cause I didn’t do anything illegal or anything,” said Birch. But McDaniel counters by saying, “What’s amazing is the stupidity of people who say, ‘It’s legal so it’s okay.’”

That’s interesting!  Because what is amazing to me is that people in this so-called free country still go out their way to dictate what other people should or should not put into their bodies.

Salvia Divinorum is not a party or recreational drug.  If it is abused as such, it’s no worse than an arsonist torching a house with a common lighter.  Let’s ban lighters! 

Most people who use Salvia use it responsibly and for visionary and spiritual reasons.  To yank it away from them is just one more layer of drug-paranoia in our already drug-fascist society.

The sheriff’s office would like to see legislation passed in Florida to make Salvia illegal.

And Birch said, after watching the video of his high, “I probably wouldn’t do that again.”

Good.  Fools like you should stay away from it.

No known deaths have been attributed to salvia’s use, but it was listed as a factor in one Delaware teen’s suicide two years ago.

This is dubious to me.  There is nothing in any of the studies I’ve read on Salvia or in the experience of myself or the dozens of other people I know who’ve done it that would suggest it contributes to suicide whatsoever.  In fact there is some research that suggest that Salvia HELPS WITH DEPRESSION.  Prozac and other SSRI’s cause far more suicides, but I don’t see anyone taking it off the market.

In Florida, you have to be 18 years old to legally buy the herb.

I’d like to pick on Florida, but here in California we already have legislation trying to criminalize Salvia. 

If you want some real facts on Salvia check out the Erowid Salvia FAQ. If you want to see a modern Shamanistic use of Salvia check out “So You Want To Be a Goetic Shaman?” which utilizes Salvia as part of the technique.

Think and research for yourself! Don’t believe the FUD!

xoxox

Izabael

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