Legal issues - READ THIS!

[Ulmdorgr]

Last updated: January 8, 2011.
Content last updated: updated North Carolina and things to be aware of.

Given the varying legality of the plants discussed on this forum, every user should be aware of the potential issues with posting here. Note: I, Ulmdorgr, am not affiliated with forum.salviadivinorumblog.com or salviadivinorumblog.com in any way. I am a scribe who found a place to document particular information. Any and all information, conversations, and images are owned by the people who post them.

The words written by the members of this forum represent only the author's views, and not the forum as a whole.

Things to be aware of
As a member of this forum, you should know the following:

• This is a public forum. It is viewable by everyone. Profiles and the member list can only be viewed by members (this includes your email address).
  
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• If you wish to hide your identity from the public, use an alias and remember to disable your email address from being viewed on your profile (in User Control Panel, go to the Board preferences tab). Alternatively you can use a different email address than what you normally use.
  
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• This is a privately owned forum. SF has not created a license for the content of this forum, so at this time, all content posted on this forum is unlicensed property of the authors (members who post) rather than the property of SF (he may delete the whole forum at anytime). If you wish to retain credit for commercial purposes for any photos you may attach here, please watermark them.
• Moderators are given free access to various parts of the forum with little filtering of their behavior. As we are all strangers to one another, we have a loose system of trust. However, do not trust anyone. Moderators can access your IP address(s) and the email you registered with.

Free Speech
First of all, in the United States, free speech enables anyone to discuss topics, legal or illegal. In other areas, this may not be so. Note: preparing to break laws is not a good idea on these forums (see "Things to be aware of", above).

Depending on your location, your community may or may not support your right to post on this forum.

Trading
Engaging in the trade (swapping, bartering, or purchasing) of these plants is a different issue (note: discussing trade is not prohibited; this is protected by the Free Speech rights of your area, see above).

Anyone trafficking plants on this forum should be ready to cease all growing operations if legislation changes in your area. Growing illegally is not a good idea if you have revealed your endeavors online.

Some tips:

• People in areas where these plants are illegal should not engage in publicizing their growing efforts, nor trade through this forum. If you are growing illegally, do not share information about your efforts with others (online or offline). You cannot trust other people to respect your actions.
  
• Growers in legal areas should not ship to illegal areas. Before shipping, search the internet for legislation. At this time, the information is scarce, but Wikipedia, Erowid, and Sagewisdom are good places to start (also, see the section below, "Legal status of Salvia Divinorum").
  
• Don't break the law.

Protecting your anonymity
There is very little you can do to hide yourself, however, I would recommend the following for anyone paranoid:

• Use an alias.
• Create an email address for that alias.
• Do not reveal personal information on any website using that alias.
• Do not fill your profile for this forum with truthful information.
• When logging into this forum, use a proxy. You can enable this through your browser's connection settings (using SOCKS), or using an HTML proxy such as http://proxy.org/. Traffic may be slower, and you have to trust that the proxy won't release your information (it's best to use a proxy outside of your country's jurisdiction). The end result of using a proxy is to mask your IP address with the proxy's address.

Legal status of Salvia Divinorum
Countries where Salvia is banned

• Australia: since June 1, 2002.
• Belgium: Salvia divinorum was added to a list of "illegal products" in May 2006.
• Brazil: "In 2005, Brazilian Customs began enforcing a regulation that prohibits importation of plant products without a permit. Consequently, many people who have shipped Salvia divinorum to Brazil have had the packages returned to them. This only applies to importation. To the best of my knowledge, Salvia divinorum is legal in Brazil."
• Canada: "In a December 2005 report the Marketed Health Products Directorate, an arm of Health Canada, recommended that Salvia divinorum be placed under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. But so far, the Canadian government has not taken any steps to restrict the herb."
• Chile: "On August 8, 2007, the Chilean government issued a decree making the trafficking of Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A illegal."
• Croatia: "On April 4, 2008, Salvia divinorum was added to Croatia’s list of controlled substances."
• Denmark: since August 23, 2003.
• Estonia: since April 2005 Salvia divinorum is listed as a medicinal herb that requires a doctor’s prescription.
• Finland: since August 2002, unless with a relevant prescription from a doctor.
• Germany: "On January 23, 2008, the German government proposed that Salvia divinorum (all parts of the plant) be added to Appendix I (Anlage I) of the German narcotics law (Betäubungsmittelgesetz [BtMG]), thereby banning production, trafficking, and possession. This legislation was ratified (reportedly on February 15, 2008) and the new law went into effect on March 1, 2008. The text of the law only mentions Salvia divinorum; salvinorin A is not mentioned (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit 2008)."
• Iceland: "The import of all medicinal herbs requires either a doctor’s prescription or an import license from the health administration. In 2005, I received a report from an Icelandic person who said that he had filled out all the required paperwork, but that his request for permission to import Salvia divinorum leaves was declined on the basis of its legal status in Denmark."
• Italy: since January 11, 2005, the sale and possession of Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A are illegal.
• Japan: Salvinorin A is one of the thirthy-three controlled substances that has been said to be banned under a pharmaceutic law that should have taken effect since April 2007.
• Latvia: "On May 12, 2009, Latvia added Salvia divinorum to its list of controlled substances, acting on advice from the Ministry of Health."
• Lithuania: "In 2008 Lithuania added Salvia divinorum to its list of prohibited substances, acting on advice from the Ministry of Health."
• Norway: In 2002, The National Health Council of Norway has listed Salvia divinorum as a medicinal herb that requires a doctor’s prescription.
• Poland: "On April 6, 2009, President Lech Kaczynski signed an act that added Salvia divinorum to Poland’s list of controlled substances."
• The Philippines: salvia divinorum is not scheduled. See more info here.
• Romania: In February 2010, Salvia Divinorum and all Salvinorins (A-F) were banned along with other psychoactive substances. Additional info: http://www.drugforum.ro/viewtopic.php?f ... 00&start=0
• Russia: "In April 2009 Russia’s Surgeon General issued a decree banning the sale of Salvia divinorum and various other psychoactive herbs."
• Spain: Sale prohibited since January 28, 2004.
• South Korea: As of January 2005, both Salvia divinorum and Salvinorin A are controlled.
• Sweden: Since April 1, 2006.
• United Kingdom: "On October 19, 2005, John Mann, Member of Parliament, tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM 796) urging the government to ban Salvia divinorum under the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Anon. 2005b; Mann 2005). So far, no further steps have been taken to ban Salvia divinorum in the United Kingdom."
• The United States: The number of states where Salvia is prohibited is rapidly increasing. Once Salvia is prohibited, the possession and sale of it may lead to a prison sentence of up to five years, so be very careful!
  
  • Alabama: Schedule 1. HB697 passed April 22, 2010 and was enacted July 17, 2010. Other details/laws can be found at ALISON.
  • California: prohibits sale/distribution to minors (under 18) as a misdemeanor.
  • Delaware: On March 16, 2006, Salvia divinorum was made a Schedule I controlled substance in that state, under what is commonly known as "Brett's Law."
  • Florida: In the spring of 2007 one “Salvia bill” died in committee, so it remained a legal substance. But in June 2008 "the hallucinogenic herb law (HB 1363) makes Salvia divinorum illegal and puts it in the same class of controlled substances as marijuana and LSD. Possessing the herb, often sold on the Internet, will be a [third degree] felony punishable by up to five years in prison, when the law goes into effect July 1."
  • Georgia: illegal since July 1, 2010. Exemption: "Possession, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of Salvia divinorum or Salvia divinorum A strictly for aesthetic, landscaping, or decorative purposes"
  • Illinois: classified as Schedule I. On January 19, 2006 Senator John J. Millner introduced Senate Bill 2589 to the Illinois State Legislature. This bill sought to add Salvia divinorum to that state's list of Schedule I controlled substances. The Bill failed to pass as the session ended sine die (adjourned with no date set for resumption). On January 26, 2007 Representative Dennis M. Reboletti filed House Bill HB457[56] which proposed Schedule I classification for Salvia divinorum (including "the seeds thereof, any extract from any part of that plant, and every compound, [...] derivative, mixture, or preparation of that plant"). The bill does not mention the active chemical constituent salvinorin A. Daniel Siebert criticised this wording as being "absurdly broad in scope, for it implies that any substance extracted from Salvia divinorum (water, chlorophyll, whatever) would be treated as a Schedule I controlled substance under the proposed law." In March 2007 news of the bill's passage on Reboletti's website alleged that Salvia is a "powerful psychoactive plant which in appearance looks like marijuana but has the psychoactive properties of LSD". Reboletti said, "It's important that we in the legislature are proactive in protecting our children from highly addictive substances" and "For a drug to be classified as a Schedule 1 substance signifies that it's a highly dangerous and potentially lethal drug for its user. Hopefully, the passage of my bill will bring attention to "Magic Mint" and help law enforcement combat the future rise of this drug." Salvia divinorum article references and other sources indicate however that Salvia does not look like marijuana. Its psychoactive properties are not like those of LSD, and that Salvia divinorum is not generally understood to be either addictive or toxic. By May 22, 2007, HB0457 had received support from all 173 members in both bodies of the democratic majority Illinois General Assembly. It was signed into law on Friday August 17, 2007. The law came into effect on January 1, 2008.
  • Kansas: SB481 was enacted on April 24, 2008. It is listed as a Schedule 1 drug. Notice that "salvinorum" is listed. This is a misspelling that may provide a loop hole. "Salvia divinorum or salvinorum A; all parts of the plant presently classified botanically as salvia divinorum, whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, any extract from any part of such plant, and every compound, manufacture, salts, derivative, mixture or preparation of such plant, its seeds or extracts."
  • Louisiana: The new law, called Act No. 159, went into effect on August 15, 2005 (Strain et al. 2005). Thus Louisiana became the first state in the USA to criminalize Salvia divinorum.
  • Maine: A bill was signed into law on May 15, 2007, that regulates salvia in the same way tobacco products are regulated in Maine. Adults 18 and over could legally purchase and use the material. Selling or providing Salvia divinorum or salvinorin A to anyone under the age of 18 would be a criminal offense.
  • Michigan: illegal since September 22, 2010. Schedule 1. Legislation history for HB6038 (2010). See the floor summary for details.
  • Missouri: Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A also became Schedule I substances in the state of Missouri.
  • New York: A local law was created in Suffolk County. "It passed a vote on March 18, 2008 (ayes: 17, nays: 0). On April 1, 2008, it was signed into law by Steve Levy, the county executive. The law includes penalties of up to a $1,000 fine and a year in prison."
  • North Carolina: Since December 1st, 2009. "... unlawful to manufacture, sell, deliver, or possess Salvia divinorum. A violation of the law on the first or second offense is subject to a fine of not less than twenty‑five dollars ($25.00). On a third or subsequent offense the person is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_stat ... h_Carolina
  • North Dakota: On January 15, 2007 Senate Bill 2317 proposed to classify Salvia divinorum as Schedule I controlled substance. The original text of the bill only mentioned Salvia divinorum. The Senate Judiciary Committee amended this on April 5, 2007, changing the bill wording to include salvinorin A and "any of the active ingredients" of Salvia divinorum. Daniel Siebert has questioned this vague wording - "since it could be interpreted to include many commonly occurring pharmacologically active compounds, such as tannins, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, etc". The amended bill passed in the Senate on February 7, 2007 (ayes: 47, nays: 0). It passed in the House on March 16, 2007 (ayes: 83, nays: 6). It was signed into law by Governor John Hoeven on April 26, 2007. The new law went into effect on August 1, 2007.
  • Oklahoma: On May 26, 2006 Salvia divinorum was added to the list of controlled substances.
  • Tennessee: A bill passed that classifies the knowing production, manufacture, distribution, or possession of the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum as a Class A crime. It went into effect on July 1, 2006.
  • Wisconsin: Assembly Bill 186 passed and was signed into law in March 2010 as 2009 WISCONSIN ACT 141.

If you'd like to help edit this post, research one of the topics involved and reply to this thread. Please provide URLs so we can include them as well.

[unstable]

Ulmdorgr - nice post.

[Ulmdorgr]

Entheogens are just psychedelics with historical use. All things, chemicals or otherwise, can be used in a ritualistic manner. Yes, entheogens are very personal. The label infers a sort of bias towards these specific psychedelics, in that the person has a deep respect for the plants in this category. However, since the word has been defined, it can be used out of context now specifically to refer to the ethnobotanical (anthropological) use.

[nothim]

admin,

please make a main menu post called like rules or whatever-you know English on how it should be called,

people that are asking about seeds or cuttings should be over 18, and they have to read Siebert 's guide, and if they get into trips expecialy if they are not familiar with the plant, or even if they are, not to record themselves tripping on video and not to post trips on youtube or any tube ever, and not to panic(the sitter, if he is never used to the plant can panic seeing the person under it and freak out and call the 991) and get scared and call the 991 or ambulance , this is how they can spoil the image of the plant, cause they think it is fun , not knowing what they are dealing with,....and no complaints from angry parents either

If they chose the plant , f deal with it.

Document before asking for cuttings!!!

Now please, if you may, do this more Englishable.

I tell you a story, in Romania, they opened legal highs stores , dreams stores... with all craps like pills and packs with mix spices they called them, and they had great success with teens and under 18 , that they said---man, we can get f up the wall legally, and they knew nothing about the effects....., and they panicked and got to hospitals along with the sober passing out sitter too probably and the whole scene got on the media too, and media increased the real facts even more saying that under 18s died..., and this is how they are on the process on banning everything here because of them......,

document, be responsable, investigate, experiment, stay quiet , do not show off, loose lips sink ships, respect the plant, reinvent yourself!!!

[Ulmdorgr]

I think it is okay to take a political stance with this forum. However, it's up to SF mandate action.

I support boolie's request, we should take a proactive approach to protecting these plants and demanding their respect. The most important thing he said was "not to post trips on youtube or any tube ever."

[unstable]

ulmdorgr,
being that this is a sticky, maybe you can transfer the responses to another thread and lock out your original so that it isn't polluted with discussion.

[Ulmdorgr]

I've seen roughly 200 of them. I give each of them a 1 star rating.

[Whiterasta34]

Countries where Salvia is banned
• Australia Since June 1, 2002.
• Belgium Salvia divinorum was added to a list of "illegal products" in May 2006.
• Denmark Since August 23, 2003.
• Estonia Since April 2005 Salvia divinorum is listed as a medicinal herb that requires a doctor’s prescription.
• Finland Since August 2002, unless with a relevant prescription from a doctor.
• Italy Since January 11, 2005, the sale and possession of Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A are illegal.
• Japan Salvinorin A is one of the thirthy-three controlled substances that has been said to be banned under a pharmaceutic law that should have taken effect since April 2007.
• Norway In 2002, The National Health Council of Norway has listed Salvia divinorum as a medicinal herb that requires a doctor’s prescription.
• Spain Sale prohibited since January 28, 2004.
• South Korea As of January 2005, both Salvia divinorum and Salvinorin A are controlled.
• Sweden Since April 1, 2006.
• The United States The number of states where Salvia is prohibited is rapidly increasing. Once Salvia is prohibited, the possession and sale of it may lead to a prison sentence of up to five years, so be very careful!
o Florida In the spring of 2007 one “Salvia bill” died in committee, so it remained a legal substance. But in June 2008 "the hallucinogenic herb law (HB 1363) makes Salvia divinorum illegal and puts it in the same class of controlled substances as marijuana and LSD. Possessing the herb, often sold on the Internet, will be a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, when the law goes into effect July 1."
o Louisiana The new law, called Act No. 159, went into effect on August 15, 2005 (Strain et al. 2005). Thus Louisiana became the first state in the USA to criminalize Salvia divinorum.
o Missouri Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A also became Schedule I substances in the state of Missouri.
o Tennessee A bill passed that classifies the knowing production, manufacture, distribution, or possession of the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum as a Class A crime. It went into effect on July 1, 2006.
o Oklahoma On May 26, 2006 Salvia divinorum was added to the list of controlled substances.
o Delaware On March 16, 2006, Salvia divinorum was made a Schedule I controlled substance in that state.
o Maine A bill was signed into law on May 15, 2007, that regulates salvia in the same way tobacco products are regulated in Maine. Adults 18 and over could legally purchase and use the material. Selling or providing Salvia divinorum or salvinorin A to anyone under the age of 18 would be a criminal offense.
o North Dakota On January 15, 2007 Senate Bill 2317 proposed to classify Salvia divinorum as Schedule I controlled substance. The original text of the bill only mentioned Salvia divinorum. The Senate Judiciary Committee amended this on April 5, 2007, changing the bill wording to include salvinorin A and "any of the active ingredients" of Salvia divinorum. Daniel Siebert has questioned this vague wording - "since it could be interpreted to include many commonly occurring pharmacologically active compounds, such as tannins, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, etc". The amended bill passed in the Senate on February 7, 2007 (ayes: 47, nays: 0). It passed in the House on March 16, 2007 (ayes: 83, nays: 6). It was signed into law by Governor John Hoeven on April 26, 2007. The new law went into effect on August 1, 2007.
o Illinois On January 19, 2006 Senator John J. Millner introduced Senate Bill 2589 to the Illinois State Legislature. This bill sought to add Salvia divinorum to that state's list of Schedule I controlled substances. The Bill failed to pass as the session ended sine die (adjourned with no date set for resumption). On January 26, 2007 Representative Dennis M. Reboletti filed House Bill HB457[56] which proposed Schedule I classification for Salvia divinorum (including "the seeds thereof, any extract from any part of that plant, and every compound, [...] derivative, mixture, or preparation of that plant"). The bill does not mention the active chemical constituent salvinorin A. Daniel Siebert criticised this wording as being "absurdly broad in scope, for it implies that any substance extracted from Salvia divinorum (water, chlorophyll, whatever) would be treated as a Schedule I controlled substance under the proposed law." In March 2007 news of the bill's passage on Reboletti's website alleged that Salvia is a "powerful psychoactive plant which in appearance looks like marijuana but has the psychoactive properties of LSD". Reboletti said, "It's important that we in the legislature are proactive in protecting our children from highly addictive substances" and "For a drug to be classified as a Schedule 1 substance signifies that it's a highly dangerous and potentially lethal drug for its user. Hopefully, the passage of my bill will bring attention to "Magic Mint" and help law enforcement combat the future rise of this drug." Salvia divinorum article references and other sources indicate however that Salvia does not look like marijuana. Its psychoactive properties are not like those of LSD, and that Salvia divinorum is not generally understood to be either addictive or toxic. By May 22, 2007, HB0457 had received support from all 173 members in both bodies of the democratic majority Illinois General Assembly. It was signed into law on Friday August 17, 2007. The law came into effect on January 1, 2008.

[Ulmdorgr]

Updated, thanks.

[Whiterasta34]

Your welcome I was just going through my documents on Salvia and added some thing that I thought would help a bit.

[SF]

Unstable, you have talked about what your views of what the word entheogen means, To Me repeatedly and On this forum also claiming that you TOLD me about it. This is not a TOLD YA SO kinda forum. I do not mind you saying your opinion about any subject or any idea you might have. But please play nice and no i told ya so or i told him kinda thing. We all have our own views ,opinions and interests lets not use them against each other.

I think there has been enough talk about the word personally. But If you don't like to refer whatever plant you may be talking about as an entheogen that is fine. The fact is these plants are Known and Have been known for hundreds if not thousands of years to have been used for there Entheogenic properties. They have been used for shamanic purposes YES they have been used for Visions YES, They have been used for healing and medicine YES.

This Does not imply that I nor anyone on this forum would be using these plants for anything other then Scientific And/Or Botanical research and to keep the plant in circulation in fear of endangerment.

That was and still is the plan, We want to keep these plants available and alive. I do not intend to give the plants that i have grown to people that just want to get high or rip all her leaves off. These are very interesting spiritual plants that need to be acknowledge and studied for there medicinal value.

If i refer to any plant as a entheogen I am only stating this plant has been known for its Entheogenic Properties. However I kind of prefer the word entheogen because its one of the better sounding more exact descriptions of what they really are.

You could say its just a plant, which is true but its a plant with a history and a purpose. It just needs to be researched and studied for all of its values for future medicine.

Entheogen is more subtle and more widely accepted term, the others being of course, Hallucinogen, Ethnobotanical, Visionary plants, psychedelic, psychoactive plants

entheogen ("creates god within,")

I completely Agree Unstable the word Entheogen might sound like its only use is for Spiritual or a Vision Quest. It might sound like someone is intending to use them for that purpose. I would not recommend it, Nor would i try to tell you not to try it. Everyone has the right to make there own decisions. I only suggest one thing, Know what it is your getting into.

I do not feel that people that use Salvia Divinorum a few times are even interested in smoking it again. They might like the plants and think its really interesting and fun to grow but i really don't think anyone would go out of there way to grow a plant just to smoke it. You can buy salvia leaves for cheap online there is no point in growing this plant if that is all you intend to use it for.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and understanding.

[Ulmdorgr]

Word. Just to clarify, the use of entheogens is typically to call upon the aid of the spirit of the plant (usually for healing). This is particularly true for the traditional uses of Salvia Divinorum and Iboga, who have a specific deity that can be met within the psychedelic experience.

Iboga is a little different, because the Bwiti only use it for initiations (as far as I know). So, people experience it only once, and it is used to mark one's right of passage (test their strength/ability to live and open them to the rest of the world) rather than fix a problem.

[SF]

Agreed, But most sites are using entheogen and people are also using it as a searching key word on Google.
I am up for suggestions though. What could we use instead of Entheogen that Google would still like. In other works Google has Popular Key words for different niches shamanic plants are typically in Entheogen, Ethnobotanicals, Or other names.
I believe Entheogen means to bring forth the god from within. This could be taken many ways. But it basically means plant with spirit or plant ally. A lot of cultures believed that plants have spirits and the plants are like a key into another world a world where the plant can speak to you.

But anyways
What name would be more beneficial ?

[Whiterasta34]

It kills me to say this but from the looks of it Wisconsin is going to be on the list... But I've been searching and haven't seen anything yet.

[Ulmdorgr]

If you want to help terminate AB186 (it hasn't reached the floor yet), http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2009/data/AB186hst.html , please contact Daniel Siebert and the Drug Policy Alliance.

Daniel has a PDF available on his website that hasn't been updated since March 2009, but if you can't reach him you could send a link to that PDF to all of the legislators. Here's the letter: http://sagewisdom.org/openlettertolawmakers.pdf