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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 3 hours, 42 minutes
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Salvia Divinorum: Virginia House Passes Ban (Virginia residents - Call your state senators)
#7982972 - 02/05/08 02:57 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Salvia Divinorum: Virginia House Passes Ban http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/519/virginia_house_votes_ban_salvia_divinorum
A bill to ban the hallucinogenic herb Salvia divinorum was approved by a vote of 98-0 in the Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday, paving the way for the Old Dominion to join the handful of states and localities that have already criminalized the member of the mint family. The measure now moves to the state senate.
Salvia divinorum produces powerful but short-lived psychedelic effects. Once obscure, it has become increasingly well-known thanks to Internet-spread word of mouth. While the DEA considers it a "drug of interest," the agency has yet to move to designate it a controlled substance, and it remains freely available over the Internet or at various retail outlets in locales that have not banned it.
Sponsored by Delegate John O'Bannon (R-Henrico), HB21 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?081+sum+HB21) would move salvia from unrestricted status to a Schedule I controlled substance under Virginia law. O'Bannion said he introduced the bill after receiving suggestions he do so from law enforcement.
"It's really not a pleasant thing to take. It can cause bad trips, dysphoria and sweats," O'Bannon said.
Which is why, despite all the hullabaloo, salvia has not emerged as a popular drug. Most users are quite happy to limit themselves to using it once or twice.
O'Bannion demonstrated an idiosyncratic view of individual liberties as he discussed his bill. "I'm respectful of individual liberties and public good. I think what's happening is this is becoming a drug that can be misused," O'Bannon said. "Putting it on the Schedule I will not harm anybody," he said, but would make "a reasonable balance between public safety and civil individual liberties."
Of course, putting salvia on Schedule I, where its users would be subject to the same prison terms as the users of other proscribed drugs, would harm those people unfortunate enough to be arrested with it. But O'Bannion and his fellow delegates apparently didn't consider the impact that being caged in jails or prisons for long periods of time has on individual liberty.
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Here is a list of Virginia state senators:
http://sov.state.va.us/SenatorDB.nsf/$$Viewtemplate%2Bfor%2BWMembershipHome?OpenForm
And a link about contacting Virginia state representatives:
http://legis.state.va.us/1_cit_guide/contacting_my.html
Here is a link to the proposed state law:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?081+fuh+HB21E+407482
How to track a bill through the Virginia state legislature:
http://legis.state.va.us/1_cit_guide/how_track.html
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DontFearThePeepr


Registered: 11/21/05
Posts: 730
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Re: Salvia Divinorum: Virginia House Passes Ban (Virginia residents - Call your state senators) [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#7983233 - 02/05/08 04:16 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Alan Rockefeller said: But O'Bannion and his fellow delegates apparently didn't consider the impact that being caged in jails or prisons for long periods of time has on individual liberty.
oohhhh diss! count it !
..wait a minute, is his name o' bannon or o' bannion? are these two separate people?! this is all too much, somebody needs to tell these people to fuck off.
-------------------- It's only the strongest people who will actually help
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