Michael Sak
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Michael G. Sak (born 1962) is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He is a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives, representing the 76th district, located in urban Grand Rapids. He is a Democrat and the current Speaker pro Tempore.
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[edit] Early life
Sak received his Diploma from Grand Rapids Union High School in 1980, his Bachelor of Fine Art degree from Utah State University in 1982 and his Masters of Education degree from Grand Valley State University in Michigan 13 years later.
He taught elementary school in Grand Rapids from 1992 to 1998. In 1998 he became an administrator in the Grand Rapids Public Schools as Coordinator of the Shared Time program. From 1999 to 2003, he served as the Eisenhower Grant Coordinator and an Assistant Principal at the Math Science Academy in Grand Rapids.
[edit] Political career
In 1986, Sak was elected to the Kent County Board of Commissioners, and served until 2002. He was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2002. He represents the 76th district, which is located in Kent County and encompasses the northwest, northeast and southeast portions of the City of Grand Rapids. It is the only strongly Democratic district in all of Kent County.
In 2004, Sak was elected to become the Democratic Assistant Floor Leader.
In 2006, Democrats won the majority in the Michigan State House, and Sak was subsequently elected to be the Speaker pro Tempore.
[edit] Drug policy
A news reporter, noticing that out of the entire House Sak had got the most money from the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association, asked Sak if he was acting on behalf of the alcohol lobby. Sak said that the question was insulting. The only special interest he’s working for is the “citizens of Michigan,” he said. With regard to the question of Salvia divinorum he said that if people had questions about the deleterious affects of salvia, they should go on YouTube to watch the videos. Sak was asked whether he had ever seen a “Girls Gone Wild” video — where drunken college girls are asked to show their breasts, and are rewarded with free T-shirts — and whether that would incite him to try and make alcohol illegal. Sak said he hadn’t had a chance to “review the material.”[1]
[edit] Salvia divinorum
On February 12, 2008 Representative Michael Sak submitted house bill HB5700, which proposes Schedule I classification of psychoactive herb Salvia divinorum and its active constituent salvinorin A in the state of Michigan. The bill was passed by the State House on March 5, 2008, and has been referred for review by the Health Policy Committee in the State Senate.[2]
Opponents of extremely prohibitive Salvia restrictions argue that such reactions are largely due to an inherent prejudice and a particular cultural bias rather than any actual balance of evidence, pointing out inconsistencies in attitudes toward other more toxic and addictive drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.[i][3] While not objecting to some form of regulatory legal control, in particular with regard to the sale to minors or sale of enhanced high-strength extracts, most Salvia proponents otherwise argue against stricter legislation.[ii][4]
[edit] Alcohol
Alcohol related financial contributions featured highly for Representative Sak's 2006 political campaign. According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association was his highest contributor.[5]
[edit] Electoral history
- 2006 campaign for State House
- Michael Sak (D), 73%
- Ted Liberski (R), 25%
- 2004 campaign for State House
- Michael Sak (D), 67%
- Holly Zuidema (R), 30%
- 2002 campaign for State House
- Michael Sak (D), 61%
- Mark Kublik (R), 37%
[edit] Notes
- ^ The worldwide number of alcohol related deaths is calculated at over 2,000 people per day,[6] in the US the number is over 300 deaths per day.[7]
- ^ Those advocating consideration of Salvia divinorum's potential for beneficial use in a modern context argue that more could be learned from Mazatec culture, where Salvia is not really associated with notions of drug taking at all and it is rather considered as a spiritual sacrament. In light of this it is argued that Salvia divinorum could be better understood more positively as an entheogen rather than pejoratively as a hallucinogen.[8]
[edit] Citations
[edit] References
- Blosser, Brett. Lessons in The Use of Mazatec Psychoactive Plants. The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
- Lopez, Alan D (Apr 2005). "The evolution of the Global Burden of Disease framework for disease, injury and risk factor quantification: developing the evidence base for national, regional and global public health action". Globalization and Health 1 (5): 5. BioMed Central Ltd. doi:. PMID 15847690. - Table 2. Global burden of disease and injury attributable to selected risk factors, 1990.
- MiSP (2006). Follow the Money. Michigan/Sak,. The National Institute on Money in State Politics. Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
- McNamara, Neal. "A trip down salvia lane...", City Pulse - Lansing, 2008-04-30.Michigan.
- NIAAA (Aug 2001). Number of deaths and age-adjusted death rates per 100,000 population for categories of alcohol-related (A-R) mortality, United States and States, 1979-96.. Database Resources / Statistical Tables. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- Nutt, David; King, Leslie; Saulsbury, William & Blakemore, Colin (Mar 2007), “Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse”, The Lancet 369 (9566): 1047-1053, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4, <http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607604644/abstract>. Retrieved on 23 March 2007
- Sak, Rep. Michael (Feb 2008). House Bill 5700. Michigan Legislature. Retrieved on 2007-10-16. - Full Text of HB5700
- Siebert, Daniel. The Legal Status of Salvia divinorum. The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
