The House J 3 Committee meets today to consider several bills including SB 138, Salvia Divinorum Unlawful. Salvie Divinorum is a mint plant that is widely used by landscapers as a ground cover. It is also smoked in Mexico as a hallucinogenic.
Bill sponsor Senator Bill Purcell (D Scotland) says driving a car or standing on a dorm room balcony could be dangerous when on the drug. 7 percent of college students have used it, it’s not addictive, Purcell is aware of two suicides that may be related (40 yr old man smoked it and 10 min later shot himself and a teenager who used it several times a week killed himself). FDA has identified it as a drug of concern.
This bill would make it unlawful to manufacture, sell, deliver, or possess Salvia Divinorum in North Carolina. The first and second violation would simply be an infraction with a $25 fine. Third and subsequent violations would draw a Class 3 misdemeanor and is not punishable by imprisonment. However, ?the possession, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a plant strictly for aesthetic, landscaping, or decorative purposes” is exempt from any regulation.
Kind of begs the question of why have a law that includes a loophole so large as to render it worthless and unenforceable. If it’s worth government intervention (and at a cost to the taxpayer of $62,500 for every day that the General Assembly meets) either do it right or leave it alone.
Rep Leo Daughtry (R Johnston) asks if the conferees putting the budget together are using Salvia. If so, I’m sure it’s only for landscaping purposes.
Thirteen other states are banning the herb range from classifying it as a high level controlled substance to stricter enforcement. Ten states, including SC, have rejected proposals for regulatory control of Salvia.
The bill passes and goes to full House next. Another day, another $62,500.
