newsobserver.com projects - Bill Purcell - Comments

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

hawk8414 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:18:49 -0400

You'd better get your salvia while you can. These folks mean business! They are going to make as much money from the taxpayers as they can.Salvia has been around for as long as marijuana.I wonder how many of the elitists smoke salvia and have their own suppliers fly it in from all over for them?
This is nothing.In Dec of 2009 vitamins will become illegal under the Codex Alimarus. You will need a prescription to get vitamins for yourself and your children. Google it and see for yourself. They are going to tax you and your kids and your grandchildren to death. Google it and find out.

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

rtoddmitchell — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:24:10 -0400

If it feels good, ban it.

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

banker27520 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:02:08 -0400

What a complete waste of taxpayers' money!!! Geez...

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

needal — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:40:55 -0400

My pediatrician once told me that too much nutmeg is hallucinogenic - wonder why that isn't a scheduled spice now? I wish the Legislature would fix the budget instead of veering off course with this drivel.

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

time4change — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:26:42 -0400

This is pitiful. There are numerous plants typically grown as landscape plants that will alter your mood. Nicotine alters your mood. I think it is stupid to classify a naturally occurring plant illegal. GOD made it. The same legislation should apply to tobacco.

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

kellydean — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:18:17 -0400

Pathetic. When you look at the state of the government in North Carolina, we, as taxpayers, should be angered and insulted at the time and money spent on this legislation. This is important? To whom? Have there been any deaths caused by salvia in NC? Any injuries? ANYTHING to compare to alcohol/drugs? NO!!! Some legislator is simply trying to get his or her 15 minutes of fame, never mind how stupid 99% of their constituents think they are for wasting their hard-earned tax dollars on useless and senseless legislation. Shame.

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

DotCommons — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:15:38 -0400

Wikipedia reports: "the effects of smoked Salvia typically last for only a few minutes. The most commonly reported after-effects include an increased feeling of insight, an improved mood, a sense of calmness, and an increased sense of connection with nature—though, much less often, it may also cause dysphoria (unpleasant or uncomfortable mood)"

Thanks goodness our good legislators are protecting us from an increased feeling of insight!. Not to mention the fine upstanding pharmaceutical industry that kills 1,000s of people a day. Let's all go get drunk in honor all the defenders of this great law!

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

fireUncleScam — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:01:09 -0400

Stinkin' clueless, nanny state, control freak legislators can't help but sticking their noses into everything.
The only thing this law will do is tempt kids to try it. They obviously had little or no interest in it before.

What's next? Will we have to register our purchases?

Penny_Wise — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:11:37 -0400

I can just see it now - registering our purchases like we do for pseudophedrine ....

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

mcacchione — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:09:56 -0400

what a waste of time & tax $$$.

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

TheLibertine — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:54:20 -0400

Fix the economy! Find ways to cut fat out of our system! Stop wasting my taxpayer dollars and time on non-essential and non-value add activities!

Banning a plant...for God's sake...this is why the end of the world must be near...the lunatics are running the asylum!

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

jimmylegs — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:34:03 -0400

Our legislators fiddle with this foolishness while the state burns with unprecedented budgetary problems. I, for one, don't want any of my tax dollars wasted to discuss/debate such rubbish.

Re: Salvia ban nearing passage

baconm — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:50:40 -0400

What a complete waste of time. The potential for abuse of this plant is almost nil. When the budget is down, and you can't be bothered to make tough decisions, prop up your political fortunes by making a meaningless drug illegal!

Re: Senators go herbicidal

horsewhspers — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:52:17 -0400

______________
Update: Purcell said he became concerned after hearing about people using the herb who became violent or suicidal. He said it appears to be more commonly used in the western part of the state.

"Methamphetamine got out of control before we did anything about that," he said. "I'm hoping we can do something sooner this time."
_______________

Certainly Purcell as a pediatrician understands the HUGE span of abyss between chemically manufactured and addictive Methamphetamine and naturally grown Salvia divinorum. The two are incomparable.

If there were truly a concern on Purcells part, alcohol is PROVEN to be depressant that causes both suicidal thoughts and violence.

One would be hard pressed to find a single fatality amongst Salvia users. Further, reportedly this herb is seldom used more than once or twice because of its intensity and short lived affects.

This is just another extraordinary waste of tax dollars to prohibit something that poses no threat to community, family or personal safety.

Re: Bill would outlaw hallucinogenic mint

glsmith — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:39:17 -0500

I'm bothered by the use of the phrase "protecting our children". It's vague, it's tired, and it implies that anyone who disagrees with the speaker's position would do children harm.

I should say upfront that I am not a drug user, and so my concerns are not with preserving my way of life. They have everything to do with preserving personal liberty.

I worry about classifying Salvia in the same schedule as heroin - I don't want to expose more people to criminal prosecution.

I worry that the bill was introduced into the Senate on mere anecdotal evidence.

Most of all, though, I worry that the ban is overreaching and unnecessary. If we trust adults in our state to have an after-dinner drink or a mimosa with brunch, we should trust them with smoking Salvia in their own homes. There can be no justification to ban it while other substances that pose real public health risks remain readily available. Salvia has not been conclusively implicated in a single case of overdose or death, nor a single traffic accident caused by overindulgence.

We live in a country where we need a good reason to ban something rather than a good reason to keep it legal. I hope that the Senators, with their votes, will show that they are proud as well.