Texas Limiting Hallucinogen To Adults
The Texas legislature is considering banning the sale of a totally unregulated plant derived drug to minors. The plant involved is commonly called Diviner’s Sage and has the scientific name Salvia divinorum. This induces a mind altering effect which often includes visual hallucinations, mood changes, and feelings of disconnection from reality. Sen. Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) has introduced SB 257 which would ban the sale of salvia to minor’s making it a Class C misdemeanor. The bill has passed the state Senate and is now under consideration by the state house.
Salvia was initially used by the Mazatec tribes in Oaxaca, Mexico as an aid to foster religious visions centuries ago. Western scientists discovered this in the 1930’s but otherwise the drug remained unknown until the 1990’s when many websites began to sell it over the internet with touting as a legal and safe “LSD”.
Scientific studies on the drug have identified the biochemical mechanism of the active ingredient Salvinorin A as a “powerful hallucinogen” which is very potent. Limited studies to date however have not documented long term or short term threats to health that would qualify the drug to come under “controlled substance” regulation of the Food and Drug Administration. The Chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA) has tried to pass legislation which would assign the drug a Schedule 1 status but this was defeated by researchers who said such a designation would hamper research and also by lobbyists against drug prohibitions. Several medical research groups are actively involved studying the drug which as potential for use in addiction treatment and pain relief .
Teenagers are increasingly going to “head shops” and also seeking the drug on the internet as documented in a recent NPR report by David Schaper. Although the state of Florida totally outlawed the sale or possession of salvia divinorum making the offense a felony, the approach of Sen. Estes and of a companion bill in the state House by Rep. Armando Martinez (D-Austin) is just limiting the sale to minors. Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Virginia have totally restricted the sale of salvia by calling it a Schedule 1 drug. Maine and California have passed similar laws to the Texas proposal. Other states have placed minor fines on selling or possessing the plant.
Unlike marijuana which has characteristic order and appearance, salvia looks an ordinary houseplant. One issue that will need to addressed is establishing a judicial standard for identifying the plant. Expensive laboratory chromatography can identify the active ingredient but there is no current test available in the field for law enforcement. The military was reported by The New York Times to be doing preliminary testing for the drug in service personnel in September 2008.
The American Civil Liberties Union has testified against the proposal banning the sales to teenagers. Their spokesman, Matthew Simpson, says that since the DEA has not found evidence enough to support Federal regulation then the state should not proceed ahead of the DEA.
In my opinion there is a major difference between the government regulating what an adult person can use and what a business can sell to minors. The proposal by Texas legislators Estes and Martinez strikes the right balance between protecting the civil rights of adults and protecting children who the law has traditionally recognized do not have the capacity to make decisions about buying substances like ethanol and tobacco. I am disappointed that the ACLU would defend the right of a business to sell this substance to a young child. The amount of attention the drug is inevitably receiving in the age of the internet and social networking will make its existence known to most teenagers in the very near future making its passage a priority for this year not next.
Thanks for reading Contempo Magazine blog which discusses issues for McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley, and America from a conservative Hispanic point of view. Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and also writes for the American Daily Review
