bum
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Mar-04-2001
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Message #174694 posted by bum (Info) May 06, 2008 16:43:36 ET
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/05/politics/uwire/main4073275.
shtml
Without the slightest bit of research or evidence, the DEA has compared
salvia to other hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and Ketamine and has
branded it the new marijuana.
With salvia freely sold in most all tobacco or paraphernalia shops, which are
alive and in full force throughout El Cajon and Pacific Beach, concerned
parents and community leaders are lobbying to get salvia classified as a
schedule one drug. Yet, for all the clamor, the effects and dangers of salvia
have been hugely overblown.
While such dangerous generalizations are easily fed to politicians and parents,
combined with the uniquely American affinity to heavily legislate against
anything drug related, the public reaction seems entirely predictable. There is
actually no conclusive evidence on the effects of this substance, and the
difficulties the government has had criminalizing the plant are a testament to
the weakness of its case. There have been few, if any, cases of salvia
dependence, overdose or links to criminal activity. The same cannot be said
with regards to currently legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco.
With alcohol responsible for 1,700 U.S. college student deaths per year and
tobacco-related deaths standing at five million annually worldwide, the
criminalization argument is severely undercut.
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