USA to Ban Synthetic Cannaboids

From: DEA Public Affairs
November 24, 2010

 
DEA Moves to Emergency Control Synthetic Marijuana
Agency Will Study Whether To Permanently Control Five Substances.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is using its emergency scheduling authority to temporarily control five chemicals (JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol) used to make “fake pot” products.  Except as authorized by law, this action will make possessing and selling these chemicals or the products that contain them illegal in the U.S. for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) further study whether these chemicals and products should be permanently controlled. 

A Notice of Intent to Temporarily Control was published in the Federal Register today to alert the public to this action. After no fewer than 30 days, DEA will publish in the Federal Register a Final Rule to Temporarily Control these chemicals for at least 12 months with the possibility of a six-month extension. They will be designated as Schedule I substances, the most restrictive category, which is reserved for unsafe, highly abused substances with no medical usage.

Over the past year, smokable herbal blends marketed as being “legal” and providing a marijuana-like high, have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults.  These products consist of plant material that has been coated with research chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and are sold at a variety of retail outlets, in head shops and over the Internet.  These chemicals, however, have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process.  Brands such as “Spice,” “K2,” “Blaze,” and “Red X Dawn” are labeled as incense to mask their intended purpose.

Since 2009, DEA has received an increasing number of reports from poison centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products.  Fifteen states have already taken action to control one or more of these chemicals.  The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to allow the DEA Administrator to emergency schedule an abused, harmful, non-medical substance in order to avoid an imminent public health crisis while the formal rule-making procedures described in the CSA are being conducted. 

“The American public looks to the DEA to protect its children and communities from those who would exploit them for their own gain,” said DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.  “Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that ‘fake pot’ is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case.  Today’s action will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products.”

Bouncing Bear Botanicals Raided

*Update April 14, 2010

I am ecstatic and some what relieved to see this great injustice taking steps in the right direction. Lets not forget this terrible incident and be prepared to fight any attempts to change law in favor the Inquisitions ability to incarcerate good people, steal their property, children and by many other means, destroy the lives of people who do no harm to society. Wishing Jon and his family all the best and I hope he sues the hell out of the abusive authorities that did this to him.
-E

By Janet Reid
April 10, 2010
LJWorld.com

Lawrence is a focal point for the current debate in the Kansas Legislature about banning the active ingredient in an herbal substance known as K2. Follow the debate and the progress of the Kansas bills here.

Oskaloosa — The Jefferson County Attorney’s office has dismissed all criminal charges against the owner of a botanical plant distribution warehouse that was at the center of the K2 controversy.

Lawrence resident Jonathan Sloan, owner of Bouncing Bear Botanicals in Oskaloosa, was arrested in February and charged with eight felony drug offenses, including the unlawful manufacture and distribution of controlled substances.

The arrest came after federal, state and local authorities raided Sacred Journey, 1103 Mass. in downtown Lawrence, seizing the marijuana-like substance K2.

Sloan’s warehouse, which supplied Sacred Journey with K2 and a number of other herbal products, was also raided.

Investigators seized more than $700,000 in cash from the business and bank accounts and took several items from the warehouse, including thousands of cactus plants and 20 toads.

Sloan was scheduled to appear in Jefferson County court for a preliminary hearing in the case on Tuesday. Sloan did not return calls seeking comment.

Jefferson County Attorney Caleb Stegall said while the charges are dismissed, the investigation is on-going.

“My office expects to refile charges if they are warranted once the investigation is complete,” Stegall said.

Bouncing Bear Botanicals is back in operation, according to the business’s Web site. The warehouse, located on Hwy. 59 north of Lawrence, is one of the largest suppliers of ethnobotanicals in the country.

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Original Post

By: EROCx1
Date: Feb 6, 2010

I am sorry to report that the Inquisition has decided to persecute the Internets biggest Ethnobotanical vendor and a retail herb store they supplied. On Feb 4th the FDA and local police raided Bouncing Bears Botanicals and arrested its owner Jonathan Sloan. Their main reason appears to be a smoking blend named K2 that is NOT even illegal yet, although the state of Kansas had a law in the works. This product presumably contains a LEGAL synthetic chemical substance that acts as a cannabinoid agonist like the more commonly known Spice which was proven to contain JWH-018 which is also NOT illegal. My assumption is that law enforcement agencies wanted to seize a bulk of the supply prior to the law passing so it did not find its way in to the black market. These tactics also are used to make an example out of the victims they bust in an attempt to scare of others involved.

The other charges are equally unjust. The Cacti and seeds in question have the same alkaloids as those commonly found at every Nursery including those at Home Depot & Walmart. Every Human and many other forms of life all contain DMT as did the Toads and plant material seized in this raid. Could his being targeted be due to the manner in which he offered these plants, his customer base being mainly the psychedelic community, his providing information and documentaries on how these plants are illegally used? Or was it simply because he was the biggest or his local authorities are most oppressive in the United States? It is believed that the retail store was targeted for organizing opposition against the bill to ban the ingredients in K2. If this is true, it is terrorism against civil rights.

The media is reporting that Bond was set at $150,000. However Jon's father claims it is set at one million dollars.

The current charges against Jon are:

• Unlawful manufacturing of controlled substances: Dimethlyltryptamine (DMT)

• Unlawful manufacturing of controlled substances: Mescaline

• Unlawful manufacturing of controlled substances: Lysergic Acid Amide

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Mescaline

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Dimethlyltryptamine; Chacruna; Illinois Bundleflower; Epena; Cebil Seeds.

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Bufotenine, Epena, Chaliponga, Cebil Seeds, Colorado River Toads.

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Lysergic Acid Amide, Morning Glory Seeds, Rivea Corymbosa.

• Unlawful possession of certain drug precursors and drug paraphernalia: Plastic jugs and filters used or intended for unlawful use to manufacture, cultivate, plant propagate, harvest, test, analyze or distribute a controlled substance.

Authorities may be possibly adding additional charges including drug smuggling. They seized more than $300,000 worth of product and more than $700,000 in cash from both Jon's business and personal bank accounts leaving him NEGATIVE $55,000 in the bank so that he can not hire a lawyer or post bond.

Please share this information with the entheogen / ethnobotanical community and any news as it becomes available. If you reside in Kansas protest and letter writing is defiantly in order. This truly is an injustice and I pray that this turns out as best as it possibly can.

Links:
County Attorney's Office - Press Release 
Local TV News Story
Lawrence Journal-World
Photos of the aftermath

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*Update Feb 7, 2009 a message from Jon

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note letting everyone know I am out and thanking everyone for the support they've been sending my way. I really appreciate it. I can't talk much about anything. I imagine everyone knows what my view of these ridiculous charges is already, though.

I am not allowed back in the building yet as part of my release agreement. I just now saw those pictures of my office and the warehose for the first time. And... I'd just like to say to all the people who have asked many times "Could your office be any messier?" now you know. Yes, it could.

For the people asking about donations, we have a defense fund set up already that my family has contributed to. I'm not exactly sure how it works and don't really feel right asking for donations. I've always prided myself on my independence, so it's a bit weird suddenly needing help and not being in control of my own life. I, at the very least, want to make sure if all the money isn't needed or we are able to get damages from the government, that contributors would be refunded.

My main concern is for my family. It's pretty F'd up when the government can seize the money from my 6-year-old-son's savings account to pay a drug tax for something his father hasn't even been convicted of yet (and isn't even illegal). Innocent until proven guilty? Land of the Free? Man.... This is all so insane..... I just don't want anything else to happen to them... Stopping the rant now. Probably already talked too much. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone.

Oh. All the products that weren't seized in the raid will still be shipping as normal and all orders should be caught up on Monday.

Is Meow Meow the new ecstasy?

I wanted to share some thoughts on a recent news article I ran across thanks to DoseNation. Its on Mephedrone (2-methylamino-1-p-tolylpropane-1-one) A.K.A. 4-MMC, 4-methylephedrone or Meow Meow from an online article on the UK Times Newspaper website. Its a good example of how many inaccuracies are commonly found in media coverage on the subject of “drugs”. Blatant fear mongering. Why? Simple, fear captures attention and for news corporations attention is revenue. Notice how the author repeatedly mentions risks to young people and that this obscure chemical is most likely in your neighborhood causing 14 year old girls to die and for boys to rip their scrotum's off. Emotional terrorism, playing on parents fears just to sell copy and perpetuate drug stereotypes by attempting to scare readers into believing their children are in imminent danger by some mysterious new drug. This type of reporting only exacerbates the typical propaganda used in the failed war on drugs, when what’s needed is factual information to educate the public and reduce harm.

The sensationalized title, "Is Meow Meow the new Ecstasy? Meow Meow is easily, and legally, bought over the Internet where it is advertised as plant food". Is going to cause many people (mostly young people) to rush out and buy some before its too late. Even stating that it is sold as plant food on the Internet right in the subtitle then mentions that it will soon be illegal. Back to facts, so many inaccuracies and exaggerations only further proves that all supposedly unbiased reporting must be seriously questioned and examined prior to accepting any of it as fact. The MSM lacks the vocabulary to properly describe what they pitch as a new drug threat. According to them, usually everything is comparable to either MJ, XTC or LSD. This is not only completely false, but it influences young people and/or the under informed to seek these compounds out to experiment with as legal alternatives when in reality research chemicals could potentially have far more severe side effects then the familiar illegal substances they are being compared to.  Even worse they have minimal history of human use and often little to no clinic or scientific research proving they are safe to use. The complete opposite can also be true. Many psychoactive substances which are commonly found online and are in danger of being made illegal are safer then alcohol or tobacco and can be beneficial to the user. As is the case with most Ethnobotanicals. One good example is Kratom which is an extremely effective analgesic comparable in effect to some opiate based medications only it is NOT addictive and is less toxic then Tylenol. It is also successfully used to reduce the effects of opiate withdrawal, helping END addiction for many. Why demonize and propagandize against the non-culturally sanctioned psychoactive substances (everything except alcohol, sugar, tobacco, TV & caffeine)? That's too big of topic for discussion here and now. Enough of my thoughts on this article. Lets get to the important question. Has anyone tried this and is it any good? What are the real dangers / side effects? I haven't even heard of it until this article came out =o)

Be smart, be safe...Thanks to: Jonathan & DoseNation!

From: DoseNation

Meow Meow (mephedrone) is easily, and legally, bought over the internet where it is often advertised as plant feed. When taken as a tablet, or snorted as a powder, it gives a similar high to Ecstasy and abuse has taken off in the UK over the past couple of years.

The drug is likely to be one of the first items on the agenda for Professor Les Iversen, the Government's new drugs czar. Other "legal highs" such as BZP (a derivative of a worming agent) and GBL (paint stripper) have now been reclassified as Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but mephedrone -- and a similar drug, salvia or "herbal ecstasy" (the leaves of the Mexican plant Salvia divinorum)-- are now under review...
Users of Meow Meow report an amphetamine-type euphoria that comes with mental and physical stimulation, talkativeness and feelings of empathy. Physical changes include dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, flushing and goose bumps... most don't report any significant hallucinations.

The effects start to become noticeable within half an hour of taking a tablet or within a couple of minutes of snorting the drug and last for anything up to four hours (less if snorted).

The downside includes a strong desire to take more, rapid changes in body temperature (sweating or chills), paranoia, palpitations, panic attacks and muscle spasms. A hangover the next morning tends not to be too much of a problem and it is not known whether Meow Meow is addictive -- although a number of cases have started to trickle through into NHS drug treatment centers.

» The complete article is at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/expert_advice/article6989754.ece

More info is available at

Erowid Information / Experiences

Wikipedia

Ethan Nadelmann: Time To End The War on Drugs

From: The Psychedelic Salon

Guest speaker: Ethan Nadelmann

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PROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations are by Ethan Nadelmann.]

"The War on Drugs, this policy of punitive prohibition, is a horror in our society, something that cannot be morally justified, cannot be justified in terms of health, can certainly not be justified in terms of public safety, that cannot be justified in terms of any kind of fiscal prudence that I’ve ever heard of."

"The War on Drugs is a cancer in our society, in our American society and in global society."

"There’s never been a drug-free society, and there’s never going to be a drug-free society. We are moving increasingly into a world in which there will be ever-more psychoactive drugs available."

"The stand-bys, you know, the old faithfuls of tobacco and alcohol and marijuana and coca cocaine and opium, they’ve been with us for thousands of years in one way or another, and they’re going to continue to be part of our society and our lives, whether we like it or not."

"When drug treatment gets owned by the criminal justice system, drug treatment simply becomes a synonym for coerced abstinence."

"We need to aim to cut America’s incarcerated population in half, to pick a rough number."

"We need to get that term, over-incarceration, into the popular dialogue, into the popular language."

"One of the definitions of power is when somebody tells you to do something, and you do it without asking why. That’s the definition of power. Somebody tells you to do it and you do it without even asking why, that’s the power of the prison-industrial complex today."

"California used to be known as the state of higher education and is now known as the state of higher incarceration."

"When you live in a society where one of the most powerful political forces is the organization which earns its livelihood from keeping its fellow citizens behind bars, I don’t know of any other free society in which that is the case. That’s a distortion."

"I define recovery as getting to the point where your drug use, if you use drugs, is no longer impairing your life. … That’s the objective, to get on with your life."

"It’s about accepting that each one of us, who have struggled with drugs, has to find their own path. And that the role of the state should certainly not be to get in the way and optimally to facilitate this."

"That we are each sovereign over our own minds and bodies, that is the core principle that we have to keep putting out there."

Links:

Drug Policy ACTION Network

Drug Policy Alliance Network

A New PATH
Parents for Addiction Treatment and Healing

William Burroughs: Thanksgiving Prayer

THANKSGIVING PRAYER

William S. Burroughs

 Hear Burroughs Read His Poem: Mp3 Download

Thanksgiving Prayer (QuickTime 7.6 MB)

For John Dillinger
In hope he is still alive
Thanks for the wild turkey and the Passenger Pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts —
thanks for a Continent to despoil and poison —
thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger —
thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin, leaving the carcass to rot —
thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes —
thanks for the AMERICAN DREAM to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through —
thanks for the KKK, for nigger-killing lawmen feeling their notches, for decent church-going women with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces —
thanks for “Kill a Queer for Christ” stickers —
thanks for laboratory AIDS —
thanks for Prohibition and the War Against Drugs —
thanks for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business —
thanks for a nation of finks — yes,
thanks for all the memories… all right, let’s see your arms… you always were a headache and you always were a bore —
thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.

“Thanksgiving Day” first appeared in the chapbook Tornado Alley, with illustrations by S. Clay Wilson. Director Gus Van Sant then put together the above montage whose power derives almost solely from Burroughs’ reading and, perhaps, the strange sad-old-man expression of his staring eyes at the end. There are numerous variants of “Thanksgiving Day” floating around the internet, but this entry is from RealityStudio.org who copied this directly from the original printed text.

Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs!

Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs!
Filed by David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
From: The Raw Story

Because of his title as a Harvard economist, people tend to listen to Jeffrey Miron. And, if the old principle holds true and controversy always creates interest, expect a lot of people to be talking about Miron's latest volley into the mainstream media.

"Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground," he wrote in an essay published by CNN on Tuesday. "This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead.

"Violence was common in the alcohol industry when it was banned during Prohibition, but not before or after."

Miron's proposed solution to ending the cartel war along the US-Mexico border is both simple and enormously complex.

"Violence is the norm in illicit gambling markets but not in legal ones. Violence is routine when prostitution is banned but not when it's permitted," he wrote. "Violence results from policies that create black markets, not from the characteristics of the good or activity in question.

"The only way to reduce violence, therefore, is to legalize drugs."

In 2005, Miron published a study titled, "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition" (PDF link), funded by the Marijuana Policy Project. Over 500 professional economists, including Milton Friedman, signed on to the report, which was sent to then-President George W. Bush.

Miron's report found that "marijuana legalization would save $7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods."

He also discovered a potential for $6.2 billion or more, were marijuana taxed similarly to alcohol and tobacco.

However, during a CNN appearance on Tuesday, he took the anti-prohibition sentiment of his prior study on marijuana and applied it universally, telling anchor Kiran Chetry, "A lot of the violence we're seeing and a lot of the underground market is not related to marijuana but related to the other drugs.

"If we only did marijuana we would only have a small impact on the violence and corruption and disruption of other countries that is caused by U.S. prohibition of drugs and the U.S. forcing prohibition of drugs on other countries."

This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast Mar. 24, 2009.

Download video via RawReplay.com

Drugs can Kill!!

Drugs can Kill! or make that Cops looking for drugs can kill.

Sorry for the cheesy headline. But I thought that title may grasp a few readers attention given that most people visiting my blog will be against the war on drugs. This is a very disheartening story, however these incidents can not continue and public outrage will be the only path to putting an end to Police Raid violence.

from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #577, 3/20/09

Grand Valley State University film student Derek Copp is an avowed marijuana aficionado, reform activist, and a "a left-wing hippie peace-keeping liberal," according to his Facebook page. As of last week, he is also a victim of the drug war, or, more precisely, of police heavy-handedness in enforcing what appears to be a petty violation of the marijuana laws. Copp was shot and seriously wounded March 11 by a police officer who was part of a task force raiding his residence with a search warrant.

According to a compilation of local media accounts of the shooting, an Ottawa County deputy coming through the apartment's back door shined a flashlight in Copp's face, causing him to raise his right hand to cover his eyes. The officer then fired one round, striking the student in the chest. Copp said he had no idea the man who shot him was a law enforcement officer.

"He never even had a chance to even see who was coming at him, with a bright flashlight in his face," said his mother, Sheryl Copp. "He had no clue. He heard someone knock on his door, and he had no clue."

According to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, Copp was shot in the chest by a sheriff's deputy acting as a member of the West Michigan Enforcement Team, which consists of Ottawa County deputies and members of the Michigan State Police. Police have not identified the deputy, nor is it known whether he has been suspended. Investigators said Copp, 20, did not threaten or confront police when they entered his home. Nor have they revealed the search warrant, what they were looking for, or what they found.

But an attorney hired by Copp's family after the shooting said it was all over a very small amount of marijuana. In a Tuesday statement, attorney Frederick Dilley said: "I have been asked what drugs may have been seized by those executing the search warrant at Derek Copp's apartment. To my knowledge, the raid resulted in the seizure of a few tablespoonfuls of marijuana, and nothing more," Dilley continues, "The primary concern remains the manner in which this raid was carried out. And the apparent lack of any justification whatsoever for the use of force... much less deadly force in executing a search warrant."

Dilley is not alone in his concerns. The Grand Valley State University Student Senate issued a statement the same day wishing "Derek a full and complete recovery" and questioning police conduct. "Even though this incident took place off-campus," the statement said, "Student Senate is greatly concerned with the actions of the law enforcement team. Student Senate will await a full and complete explanation from the Michigan State Police. Like all students, we want to know why the West Michigan Drug Enforcement Team entered Derek Copp's apartment and why a firearm was used."

Even the university president demanded to know what had happened to one of his students. In a Monday e-mail to the university community, President Thomas Haas wrote: "The fact that this incident took place off-campus diminishes neither my interest nor my concern. The university's campus security staff was not involved. Like many of you, I await a full and complete explanation from law enforcement, and I have made a formal request for such information. I want to know what brought the Enforcement Team to Derek's apartment and why a firearm was discharged."

The shooting has also led to at least two protest demonstrations by students demanding answers. "Justify This Shooting!" demanded one sign held by a demonstrator. "We want answers!" read another. "Marijuana or not, unjust shot!" and "Our campus is not a war zone!", students chanted at a campus demo on Friday.

The Michigan State Patrol is investigating the shooting. That means the state police are investigating themselves, since the Western Michigan Enforcement Team consists of state police and Ottawa County sheriff's deputies.

Salvia's changing legal status in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Ohio

FROM THE SALVIA DIVINORUM OBSERVER
By Daniel Siebert

*******************************
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 / volume 7 number 1
*******************************
The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center (SDRIC)
http://sagewisdom.org

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SALVIA IS NOW ILLEGAL IN SOUTH DAKOTA
House Bill 1090 was signed into law by Governor Marion Michael Rounds (R) today, March 11, 2009, and became immediately effective. This legislation makes possession of 2 ounces of Salvia divinorum or less a Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying a maximum penalty of 1 year in jail and a $2000 fine; possession of more than 2 ounces would be a Class 6 felony, with a maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and a $4000 fine.

OHIO SALVIA BAN GOES INTO EFFECT NEXT MONTH
House Bill 215 was signed into law by Governor Strickland (D) on January 6, 2009. This bill adds Salvia divinorum to the State’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. It goes into effect 90 days later, which would be April 5th.

SALVIA SOON TO BE ILLEGAL IN NEBRASKA
Legislative Bill 123 was signed into law by Governor Dave Heineman (R) on February 26, 2009. This bill adds Salvia divinorum to the State’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. The new law will go into effect in September 2009.

Excellent News Article on Salvia divinorum

This is an outstanding news article about the current legal situation facing Salvia divinorum. I wish more members of the media actually reported on the facts like Christopher Patton has done instead of regurgitating fear based stereotypes that are most commonly conveyed in the news and pontificated by the authorities. The world would be a far better & more human place. Stop criminalizing nature and the prohibition of cognitive liberty. Stop incarcerating good people over victimless "crimes". Salvia divinorum should remain legal as there is NO scientific evidence that it poses any threat to public safety. The ancient and still practicing religion of Shamanism is a guaranteed right under the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Why is this unalienable right not honored by our current government? Thank you Christopher & The Daily Iowan for having the courage to not only speak, but to publish the truth.

Best regards to you,
EROCx1

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The Daily Iowan: Keep Salvia legal
BY CHRISTOPHER PATTON MARCH 6, 2009

When smoked, Salvia divinorum can yank out the rational mind, throw it to the ground, stamp on it and finally rub one’s nose in the resulting mess.

I recommend giving it a try — especially because the experience only lasts a few minutes.

But adventurous Iowan psychonauts who are interested in exploring the mysterious realms that consuming this potent hallucinogenic plant can open up may want to do so soon. The Iowa Legislature is considering a bill criminalizing the sale and possession of the unique herb.

According to Dale Woolery, the associate director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, the state must ban Salvia in order to preclude the possibility of it ever harming anyone.

However, the state’s own Legislative Services Agency notes in a document explaining the background behind the proposal to criminalize Salvia that the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Substance Abuse and Prevention Division has not received a single report of Salvia divinorum abuse in Iowa — ever. The document also highlights that throughout fiscal 2008, there was not even one prison admission for the hallucinogenic drugs that are illegal.

“This is more about prevention than it is punishment,” Woolery said. “We’re not hearing anything about a widespread epidemic or widespread use like the prevalence of marijuana or meth.”

However, he said, his office is beginning to get more information about Salvia from the law-enforcement and drug-treatment communities.

“There’s probably more of it out there than we hear about,” he said. “Right now, our research has turned up impairment issues, and we’d hate for anyone to become injured or worse as a result of this.”

Those who have experienced a Salvia trip firsthand are fully aware of the “impairment issues” to which Woolery so ominously alludes. But those effects are precisely what drives inquisitive minds to experiment with this substance.

Anthony Fippinger, 24, who graduated in 2007 from the UI with a double major in art and English, currently lives in Mingo, Iowa. Having tried Salvia, he refers to it as an enigmatic substance.

“The time it takes to articulate its effects on you usually lasts longer than the high itself,” he said. “Yet, while under its spell many describe a world devoid of time and infinitely spacious, me included — I liken the experience to one of those acid-dipped music videos with an endless number of replicated shapes perpetually coming at you.”

Another Salvia user is Tanner Faaborg, a 25-year-old Iowa City resident who has a degree in political science and is currently taking English courses. He described his first Salvia experience as shocking.

“When it hit me, and it hit hard, the effects were … fast as hell and targeting every sense I had,” Faaborg said. “I leaned over to express the sensation to my buddies to discover they weren’t there.”

Like Fippinger, Faaborg also perceived the passage of time in a distorted fashion.

“Time cannot exist in a place like that; time can only exist in preconceived concepts of order,” he said. “With Salvia there is no order, it simply is, and you simply are.”

Because of the extent to which tripping on Salvia temporarily annihilates one’s ability to interact with the world in an ordinary way, those who are experienced with the plant suggest it should only be used in a safe and carefully monitored environment.

Smoking Salvia to aid him in meditation and stress relief, Ori Fienberg, a 25-year-old Iowa City resident who in 2008 graduated from the UI with an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing, said he thinks health and safety concerns dictate that the potent herb be properly studied and regulated.

“I think Salvia divinorum is a useful natural aid to self-exploration,” he said. “However, choosing to ban it rather than studying it and making appropriate laws will create an unregulated black market and ultimately increase the number of people who will abuse it by not giving it the respect it deserves as a powerful empathogen.”

Feinberg is right. Despite the value some find in Salvia’s intriguing mind-altering effects, its astounding potency demands respect. Thus, the government should regulate it in such a way as to protect public safety.

But when asked about the possibility of slowing down the legislative process and allowing a more thorough investigation into how Iowa could best regulate Salvia, Woolery remained firm in his prohibitionist stance.

“I don’t think I need scientific research to convince me, based on what I’ve seen, that Salvia should be banned,” he said.

If you haven't already done so, please read my case in defense of Salvia divinorum and continue to fight the injustice of prohibition.

Panel discussion: Leary, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Hoffman, Corso, Di Prima + McKenna

From: The Psychedelic Salon

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Guest speakers: Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Abbie Hoffman, Gregory Corso, and Diane Di Prima

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PROGRAM NOTES:
"There are no bad drugs. There are simply people who don’t know how to use them. Intelligent people use drugs intelligently, and stupid people are going to abuse drugs the way they abuse everything else. And our function is to raise the level of intelligence. We have to have a program of drug education." –Timothy Leary

"I don’t think there’s any problem with advancing consciousness and becoming more and more aware of the struggle, not with the world, not to convince other people to do anything. The really interesting think is the struggle with the self, and the relation with the self, and there is no end to the improvement that can be done there, the discoveries that can be made." –Allen Ginsberg

[NOTE: The following quotes are all by Terence McKenna.]

"To contact the cosmic giggle, to have the flow of casuistry begin to give off synchronistic ripples, whitecaps in the billows of the coincidental ether, if you will. To achieve that, a precondition is a kind of unconsciousness, a kind of drifting, a certain taking-your-eye-off-the-ball, a certain assumptions that things are simpler than they are, almost always precedes what Mircea Eliade called ‘the rupture of plane’ that indicates that there is an archetypal world, an archetypal power behind profane appearances." –Terence McKenna

"It occurs to me that at any given moment, because of the way the planet is as a thing, some percentage of human beings are asleep, always, and many are awake. And so if the world soul is made of the collective consciousness of human beings, then it is never entirely awake. It is never entirely asleep. It exists in some kind of indeterminate zone."

"Technology, or the historical momentum of things, is creating such a bewildering social milieu that the monkey-mind cannot find a simple story, a simple creation myth, or redemption myth, to lay over the crazy, contradictory patchwork of profane techno-consumerist, post McLuanist, electronic, pre-apocalyptic existence."

"I believe that the truth of the matter is far more terrifying [than conspiracy theories]. The real truth that dare not speak itself is that no one is in control. Absolutely no one!"

"The global destiny of the [human] species is somehow unfolding with the logic of a dream."

"The carrier of the field of the cosmic giggle in most people’s lives is love. Love is some kind of output which messes with the entropic tendency toward probabilistic behavior in Nature."

"The primary contribution of 20th century thinking, if you will, is to have understood, finally, that information is primary. That this world, this cosmos, this universe, this body and soul are all made of information. … The implication for the digerati is that reality can therefore be hacked."

The Psychedelic Salon

Documentary: American Drug War

35 years after Nixon started the war on drugs, we have over one million non-violent drug offenders living behind bars.

The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, the question has become, how much more can the country endure? Inspired by the death of four family members from "legal drugs" Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the Drug War has become such a big failure. Three and a half years in the making, the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners and celebrities. Most notably the film befriends Freeway Ricky Ross; the man many accuse for starting the Crack epidemic, who after being arrested discovered that his cocaine source had been working for the CIA.

AMERICAN DRUG WAR shows how money, power and greed have corrupted not just drug pushers and dope fiends, but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not some 'pro-drug' stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war, the ones who are fighting it and the ones who are living it.

After 4 years of production including several sold out test screenings in New York, Austin & Los Angeles, the final version of American Drug War "the last white hope" is locked and loaded.

Buy the DVD

 
Visit the official Website: AmericanDrugWar.com

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Kentroversy Podcast # 43: Free Mp3 Download
Guest: Kevin Booth - American Drug War
(Run Time: 1:10:54) April 14, 2008

Kentroversy Podcast # 2: Free Mp3 Download
Kevin Booth Talks about Bill Hicks

A Case in Defense of Salvia divinorum

I was recently approached by Brent McDonald & Kevin Sack from the New York Times who were producing a newspaper article and video story on Salvia divinorum with an emphasis on its current legal struggles. One of the producers contacted me to arrange a telephone interview which after reviewing some of Brent and Kevin's work, I accepted and conducted on August 1, 2008. While I believe these journalist and film makers are honorable people wanting to share a fair and honest story. I have some trepidation as to how the editors and executives of national news corporation will influence the final version of the story. So as soon as the interview concluded. I wrote down my version of what was said. This entry was written from those notes.

I did my interview today and am pretty pleased with how it went. At first it seemed their primary interest in me was my perspective as the proprietor of Gaian Botanicals. However I tried not to focus too much on that and steered our conversation more towards the plant and the issues that encompass it.

The first thing I said was go to Entheogen.com and read what the members had to say about this interview. I consulted them the day prior, seeking their input and wisdom.
I asked the journalist interviewing me if he had tried Salvia divinorum? Unfortunately he replied with a no. I recommended that any professional investigator preparing a national story on an ineffable experience should at least invest 15 minutes and try the herb. It's like someone reporting on a religion and the person being interviewed said, "Do you want to meet my god?" And the interviewer says, "No." Why wouldn't you? It’s safe and legal. I honestly do not believe anyone could possibly comprehend Salvia divinorum without directly experiencing it. Maybe he will try it, maybe he won’t. That’s his personal and private choice, but I hope he does.

He was familiar with most of the major the scientific literature already so there was really no point in repeating what he already knew. I made it clear the Salvia divinorum is NOT like any other psychedelic.

Yes this includes Marijuana, LSD, Magic Mushrooms or any other of more commonly known psychedelics. This comparison is all too commonly used by the media and is more inaccurate then claiming all food tastes the same and has the same nutritional properties or that all medicine is the same. These analogies are absurd.

I continued with the my main question, why make Salvia divinorum illegal? It is likely that over the past decade at least a million of people from around the world have tried it in some form. No one has died, became ill, addicted, mentally deranged or suffered any other from of disability due to Salvia. This is even with production of extracts and cultivation being somewhat underground. Not regulated like food or medicine offered at your retail store and still no ill effects with Salvia. The chemicals sold by your neighborhood pharmacy are probably more toxic.

The government technically does not have the authority to declare something Schedule 1 unless it’s a hazard to public safety, addictive and / or has NO medical use. Salvia divinorum is not a threat; it is the opposite of addictive and has demonstrated significant potential medical use in the treatment of depression, addiction, among other possibilities. Doctors will not be able to determine its best medicinal uses until they have had an opportunity to thoroughly investigate and research it.

This plant is unique. Fist of all Salvinorin A is a Diterpenoid which acts as a kappa opioid receptor agonist. This is important because it is the first known compound with such action that is not an alkaloid. All of the other known hallucinogens are Tryptamines and Phenethylamines which act on the Serotonergic system.

Salvinorin A practically sets a speed record for how fast it crosses the blood brain barrier. If one were developing medicines which must rapidly reach the brain, Salvinorin would be a good compound to study. What all of this means to science and medicine is that Salvia contains a completely unique pharmacological action previously unknown thus it extremely valuable to humanity. Not only to learn more on how the brain works, but also for its potential medicinal value. Shouldn’t these discoveries be celebrated instead of persecuted?

Most legislators argue Salvia is similar to illegal substances therefore it too should be illegal. The Federal government all ready has a law that makes any substance similar to illegal substances also illegal. It’s called the Analog Act. This only further proves (as previously mentioned) that Salvia is special and is not like the other classic psychedelics.

Please keep in mind when these things are made illegal, they are not only restricted for use by ordinary people. They are restricted from scientific study. Unless your a government lab trying to maintain the illegal status. Well except a few recent scientific studies which have been allowed for DMT, Psilocybin and MDMA. The authorities were finally forced to admit that the most powerful substances known to act upon the human mind may have some medical use? Something most people who have experimented with them already knew.

My friend Fraser Clark once said only two things can change a person in a single instant: Psychoactive drugs, and direct religious experience. The greatest transformation would then come via a synthesis of these two: a religious experience created by psychoactive drugs. This is a very wise and true observation. The ancient institution of Shamanism has relied on these powerful tools for such purposes since pre-history. In fact it is completely plausible that entheogens have played a significant role in our human evolution. But that’s another story for another day. When addressing the public in general, I don’t want to get too far out of their current belief system.

Back to the legal status. Today we have let some thirty-five years of potential scientific study be wasted. In a field of medicine with the potential to aid victims of war, rape, molestation, abuse, assaults and traumas. Medicines that can reduce the anxieties of the terminally ill dying from cancer and other horrible diseases. Help them come to better terms with their death.

Drug addiction and alcoholism could have been cured. Making families more loving, healthy and happy. Over 35 years of scientific and medical progress lost, all due to paranoia of entheogens? Well that’s sorta off topic of Salvia, but I wanted to lay out some of the consequences of illegalization. Lets just end this point by stating the issue is not that Salvia is threat to public safety; the issue is that the establishment fears psychedelics. Free thinking isn’t conducive to controlling a population. They want everyone to fit within the cultural paradigm of being good little consumer robots who go about playing their game and following the rules with out questioning their authority or motives. In the 60's the US government wanted to escalate the war in Vietnam and large parts of the population were using psychedelics. The authority’s propaganda was not effective and the people would not tolerate the actions of their government. Therefore the government had to put an end it to it all. Of course many mistakes were made by the drug users of that era. It was all too new. We know much more about these things now.

California and Maine have taken very reasonable and wise steps in regulating Salvia. No sales to minors. Everyone in the Salvia divinorum community applauds this. We hate to see kids acting stupid on YouTube more then anyone. I wish Salvia were inaccessible to minors. I am a parent and I don't want my kids using anything either. My wife and I are very involved with our children's life and take the responsibility to educate them and raise them to make wise decisions. My interest in entheogens is private; I don't talk about or use anything in their presence. If when they are responsible adults, they choose to explore this domain. I will be glad that I have some wisdom and guidance to offer on the topic. Not what most uninformed parents offer.

When it comes to teens. As it’s always been, some will be determined to get high. If Salvia is what they get their hands on. It’s allot better then what this demographic has used in the past. Paint, glue or solvent huffing, computer duster inhaling, prescription drug abuse or even worse. Dangerous and addictive drugs that poison the mind and body and can lead toward destructive and criminal lifestyles. That’s not what Salvia is, nor will it ever be. Not in the least. This distinction must be made crystal clear.

This is about Americans just surrendering their rights and not caring about freedom. We have become so conditioned to just doing what we are told. As the late Terence McKenna said. "If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include cognitive liberty, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." I didn’t have the exact quote with me in my car, but I like my version better.

He asked me of the Salvia users I knew, what are they like? Based on my circle of friends and people I know from the net. Most who choose Salvia. Do so initially because they don’t want to be made criminals. It’s a legal option as many have families and jobs that would be threatened by using illegal drugs. Also if you have just a half-hour with no kids, work or other responsibilities. You could have an effective entheogenic experience. It brings some magic and amazement to your day. An alternate perspective for self reflection and you don’t need 8 hours of nothing to do to have this experience. As I said most users I know, are responsible tax paying citizens. They just choose to make this experience part of their life. They find it a useful tool. For many reasons. Some people I know try it and never want to try it again. Salvia isn’t a match for everyone; in fact its not for most. It can be a totally boundary dissolving, reality model smashing experience. For some it totally astonishes them, they come back and can’t believe it. They run to a mirror to see if they are indeed themselves awake and not dreaming and if what they witnessed really happened. It gives one a lot to think about.

I’ve always valued entheogens for reflecting on my own self. It helps reach clarity to what’s most important in your life. What work must be performed on yourself and in your relationships. What habits you must end and what interests you should peruse. Prior to my first being turned on. I felt like a cultural robot executing the code I was programmed to follow. This was my individuality and freedom I thought I had.

Being an medically diagnosed insomniac, back in the early 90’s I ended up an underground party in search of a little fun. Upon entry someone I slightly knew handed me a piece of Starburst candy that had LSD dropped on it. I didn’t even know it until another friend said you’re going to get really high. I thought how potent could a Starburst be? I danced all night, the music, lights, colors and people where all amazing. My senses have never been so inundated. I had these thoughts I never thought before. I discovered my inner voice. Separated not only from my friends, but reality. I recall wandering the day glow lit warehouse in a state of trance, and then I heard a voice say. “Ok walk over here, find your friends. Don’t look at the two guys making out in the corner. Don't eat, drink or smoke anything. Sober up.” Then I thought. Who said that? Voices? OK Symptom A your insane. No. Once I learned I had this voice that was commanding my being. I was able to make some positive changes in my life. I was able to deal with my subconscious and change my mental programming.

Well not by this experience alone. I was greatly influenced by some really amazing people who I was fortunate enough to encounter back then. Mainly Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson and Terence McKenna along with many other individuals with extraordinary ideas and philosophies. In fact as I speak to you know I can hear the bard’s novel voice, sorta as if I am channeling him or perhaps just straight out plagiarizing. But in this case I don't think he would mind. With out this experience, I would have never taken the path I have and that would be a tragedy. To deny this experience to people should be the crime.

I must make it clear for the record. I do not use or posses any illegal substances. At this phase in my life, Salvia and psychedelic thinking are more then enough to satisfy my entheogenic needs. Mostly I enjoy the philosophy and theory of it all. I like to read, participate on forums and listen to podcasts like my friend Lorenzo’s Psychedelic Salon. By doing so I am able to benefit simply by taking in other peoples reflections on their experiences.

The thing that really bothers me most is the criminalization of plants. Who the hell do we think we are? If you are religious most likely you believe the earth and everything on it was created by a god. If you’re an atheist or evolutionist you probably believe there was a big bang, everything came together and 13 billion years of cosmic evolution labored to bring all the life found on earth in to existence. How egotistical can humans be to come along and declare parts of this miraculous creation illegal? That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. There is a total disrespect of nature. But look at the environment; this shouldn’t be news to anyone. It’s our blindly following those in power that will drive our species into extinction.

The rest of the talk was stuff we all know. The effects of Salvia range from mild to profound and last about 15 minutes. A little of the history of Salvia from the Mazatecan shamans, re-discovery by Wasson & Hoffman. All the way up to making her emergence onto the Internet and probably on her path to extinction. But we won’t let her go with out our best effort to keep her legal. She is an intelligent plant spirit. Evading the Inquisition and all attempts to stomp out the use of Shamanic plants. We talked about the communities’ attempts to keep Salvia legal. Being that this is not currently a Federal matter. Its difficult to organize state by state, now we must even watch county and city ordinances. Just knowing the law of the Country is difficult enough, let alone fight all the smaller battles. There is presently no national organization of Salvia users taking political action. Maybe there should be, or are we too late?

Thank you for reading this. Please feel free to share this with others. I would appreciate a link back to this blog or my website.

Namasté,
EROCx1, D.D.

www.GaianBotanicals.com

Prohibition: Its Roots and Bitter Fruit

 
By: Peter Webster
From: psychedelic-library.org
Download: mp3 audio
Download: text file - PDF file

Peter Webster's lecture presented at
ENCOD's Drug Peace Conference
a counter-event to the annual meeting of the
UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs
Vienna, 7-9 March 2008

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"According to recent findings by a few intrepid researchers including Carl Ruck of Boston University, the Catholic Church was, however, no stranger to the use of psychoactive plants for attaining religious ecstasy. A long tradition of such use by the Church elite now appears to be the case, but the practices were reserved for only the highest echelons within the church, and completely prohibited for the general masses of Christians. The inner sanctum of the Catholic Church realized, of course, that if Christians were able to attain religious ecstasy and insight on their own with the aid of psychoactive plants, then the authority of the Church would be severely undermined, and their political quest for world domination damaged if not destroyed.

A main purpose of the Holy Inquisition was therefore to stamp out uses of psychoactive plants wherever they were to be found. And that included branding as heretics those European outsiders such as the medieval practitioners of the ancient traditions of witchcraft and alchemy, the pursuits of whom we now know were concerned with the use of psychoactive plants such as mandrake, belladonna, and other native European drug-plants. The doctrine of the Church therefore became one of public repudiation of drug use as a form of Gnostic heresy, while at the same time secretly preserving the knowledge of that use for the Church elite."

By: Peter Webster

Listen to the complete presentation: mp3 audio 
Read the complete presentation: text file - PDF file

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Related videos from psychedelic-library.org

Psychedelics in Eden
The First Supper - by Peter Webster
A lecture first presented to the SISSC, Perinaldo, Italy, 2004.
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RealVideo format, 1/4 resolution - 1 hour duration - filesize: 105MB

Heretical Visionary Sacraments Amongst the Ecclesiastical Elite
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The above RealVideo's are available as a full-frame DVD (720x576 PAL) info: psychedelic@wanadoo.fr

psychedelic-library.org

www.GaianBotanicals.com