Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on February 12, 2008, to include Salvia divinorum as a schedule 1 controlled substance, meaning it would be in the same illegal drug category as cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, LSD, marijuana, etc. Salvia divinorum, also known as “Diviner’s Sage,” is a psychoactive drug that is ingested by chewing or smoking

The vote was 106 in favor, 0 opposed and 4 not voting

(House Roll Call 132 at House Journal 22)

Click here to view bill details.

...and tax it heavily. Why not legalize all drugs and license and tax them like liquor? Haven't they learned anything from Prohibition?

continue until duely subdued.

salvia divinorum has no potential for abuse and should remain legal

Salvia divinorum should be restricted from sale to minors but available to adults for research, religious practices and general use. The plant should probably incur an additional tax, similar to tobacco. This is not a Schedule 1 drug. The drug is non-addictive. Most users characterize the drug as unpleasant and never use it more than once. The effects, when they occur, last about 15-25 minutes. The drug has low toxicity and no deaths are associated with its use. Medical uses appear promising. Study of the plant, which just began in earnest around 2002, suggests various uses: the treatment of Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and depression, and as a treatment for alcohol and drug dependence. By criminalizing the drug to Schedule 1, before any study is conducted, these opportunities are being thrown away. Legislature should weigh the public good of keeping the drug off schedule versus the harm caused by prohibition. There are no public health costs associated with salvia. However, drug enforcement will bring costs in the form of enforcement and imprisonment. Though current sentencing is difficult to gauge from the law as it is written, it looks like the current penalty for 450 grams of salvia will be a 4 year jail sentence. Because 450 grams is a relatively small amount as salvia goes, most convicted of possession will receive at least this penalty. Thus, using the (low) estimate of $30,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate, the cost should be figured at about $120,000 per conviction, or about 60 million dollars for just 500 convictions of salvia possession. The Legislature should be concentrating on reducing incarceration costs, not finding a new way to burn through the Department of Corrections’ budget. Finally, it should be noted that there was no public outcry to see salvia banned. The law was first suggested by a group of teenage “explorers” who were practicing “law creation”--about the equivalent of setting fire to a building to learn how the fire department works. But there was no organizing authority, not the law enforcement and not public health agencies looking for this scheduling. In almost every case, both internationally and at home, the law has been passed by a fast track approach with out public discourse. However, at the national level, when this was proposed in congress, it failed. The medical discoveries held too much promise; the enforcement too much costs. Michigan should follow the same track, simply require adult verification for purchase, allow the interest in the drug to dwindle and allow medical research to continue.

out of the nanny business.

I don't believe that Salvia Divinorum should be regulated in any way, but I would rather it be regulated similarly to tobacco than have it be made illegal.

so I did some research. Why does the government need to ban this? It appears that worst case the effects are unpleasant. Best case, they are harmless and may provide some people with an altered state of mind for up to an hour. Sounds a lot safer than booze. Leave us alone to live our lives!

Why do you take money from corporate liquor companies that prey on the weakness of alcoholics and children - yet ban something that's been use since before recorded history, safely. How about making age verification required? Or making the sale of enhanced extracts illegal? I don't think this is something that children should use. Additionally most people that do partake don't like it. However keeping it legal would keep the money in the legal economic channels and keep otherwise law abiding citizens out of jail. Michigan should spend more money on Education than Prisons!! Concerned Citizen Matthew

you could tax the consumption of salvia at the same rate as you tax the consumption of gasoline and alcohol and tobacco. think of the money...

I haven't been to a city yet where there wasn't an alcoholic shaming or destroying their family or being violent. I'm betting that, unless the population of a city is way under 100, every city in America has a destructive alcoholic. What bills are you passing about that? College partying helps create new alcoholics every year. Look back at how they rampaged when their booze was taken away. You do NOT see this violence with cannabis prohibition. Maybe this war on drugs wouldn't be such a delusion if law enforcement/government would take the resources away from cannabis for a few years and focus on these insane crack/heroin/meth addicts walking up and down the streets. It's not funny because the crack addicts I watch breaking into homes and stealing from their families/neighbors and dealing are 1)smart enough to NOT get arrested and 2)get released quickly when they do, bringing havoc back to the neighborhood. And by the way, no I don't use cannabis or salvia. Tried it all in my youth and I see through the media/government self-righteous presentations equating cannabis with hard drugs. This "war" is already lost - people have and always will use substances because the problem is always the person...not the drug, not the music video, and not the video game! Funnel all that money & manpower wasted on cannabis towards the real homewreckers........drunk drivers, cocaine, heroin, and meth. Oh yeah, and don't forget about the pillheads, full of excuses because they have a legal prescription! WAKE UP, GOVERNMENT! Focus on Hard drugs because we're obviously losing funds to Iraq, losing police officers, losing the strong economy/homes, jobs in Michigan, and we're just going to have to re-allocate $$$ and reconsider old ways. Time to choose your battles more wisely. Concerned and frustrated in Macomb County.

and dealers just shoot people. no, they aren't violent at all.

Government thinks that it's a moral compass for the American people, or in this case Michigan people. It's not. The truth is law makers have no place getting involved in the things private citizens do in the PRIVACY of their own homes. I've never even used salvia, I only know what it is through friends and the internet, but I certainly don't care one bit if someone wants to smoke it in their house. Neither should Michigan legislators. I mean, if you want to talk about moral compasses, maybe you should direct that information to Kilpatrick.

Why should any government Control peoples Morals? we have tried it with prohibition, that didnt work. I guess im missing something.

I have started a forum for any Michiganders wanting to learn more about Salvia divinorum or see it's current legal status. The site is a great meeting place for the people of Michigan to get together and try to amend this HB5700 bill so that it only prohibits the plant to minors. I have letters ready to print and send to you local Legislators. www.MichiganSalvia.com.

to drug use in public, yet they use drugs in private.they also say that the public is responsible for the addict. republicans say no to drug use and they use prescription drugs. they say that private insurance is responsible for addicts. libertarians say yes to drug use, let the addict live with the consequences of his addiction. let the addict be free to be addicted, and stop feeling sorry for him.

Then nutmeg, then coffee, then whiteboard markers, then holding your breath, then sex.... God Almighty. The window-lickers have taken over.

 As a parent, I urge this bill to become law. Children are under the immense impression that drugs, especially marijuana and salvia are cool and natural. I have a teenager already attending rehab at the age of 15. It is a crying shame that there is even a consideration to legalize its use. To all the hippies writing in to say what next, paprika, sex? I say to them, watch a child you love ruin their lives in front of you, turn into addicts, crave highs, etc. and I'll tell you from EXPERIENCE, the hurt and devastation it causes an entire family is nothing less than evil.  The crave the get high is at the center of self-destruction.

Drug addiction is a pathological condition. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) has categorized three stages of addiction: preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect. These stages are characterized, respectively, everywhere by constant cravings and preoccupation with obtaining the substance; using more of the substance than necessary to experience the intoxicating effects; and experiencing tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and decreased motivation for normal life activities.^[2] By the American Society of Addiction Medicine definition, drug addiction differs from drug dependence and drug tolerance.^[3]

It is, both among scientists and other writers, quite usual to allow the concept of drug addiction to include persons who are not drug abusers according to the definition of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The term drug addiction is then used as a category which may include the same persons who under the DSM-IV can be given the diagnosis of substance dependence or substance abuse. (See also DSM-IV Codes)

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rockymeet

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http://www.crystalrecovery.com-- http://www.crystalrecovery.com

THIS IS SO STUPID!!!!  I AM TOTALY AGAINST THIS RIDICULUS AND UNNECESSARY BILL!!  I don't control your life, i don't tell you how to live, and to a certain someone who posted befor me, i do not tell you how to raise your stupid little kids. Why do you people need to keep banning every little thing that brings someone else just a BIT of happyness??? Do you think it's really gonna help to put innocent people who want to experiment with their O W N mind in prison? Can you really be that selfish? REALLY!!!????? Listen, LSD helped in coming up with the DOUBLE HELIX!!! A medical breakthrough that reshaped science and is probably saving your selfish existence, and the REAL PEOPLE through medicine and surgeries. All in all you CAN NOT control FREE WILL!!! And to try to is the worst thing you can ever do, which makes you no better than an ignorant selfish fool...and also the COMPLE ANTI-AMERICAN!!!! THIS COUNTRY WAS ABOUT FREEDOM, now..i just don't know anymore......Mabey we should pass a law that prohibits anti-americans, like some of you, from breathing. Because you are killing this country. (which makes about as much sence as banning as what you are trying to do now)  I hope you get alife, get outside, and stop being scared by everything the news craps on your lap. Serously....STOP IT!!!