Tim Burchett
Tim Burchett (b. August 25, 1964) is the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. He formerly held the Tennessee State Senate seat representing Tennessee's District 7, part of Knox County. He was also previously a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. On August 5, 2010, Burchett was elected mayor of Knox County. He was officially sworn in as mayor on September 1, replacing Mike Ragsdale.[1]
Public policy
Salvia divinorum
Senator Tim Burchett sponsored a bill in 2006 to make illegal "possessing, producing, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to produce, manufacture, or distribute the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum in the state of Tennessee."[2] Burchett stated, "We have enough problems with illegal drugs as it is without people promoting getting high from some glorified weed that's been brought up from Mexico. The only people I’ve heard from who are opposed to making it illegal are those who are getting stoned on it."[3]
The bill was signed into law on May 19, 2006 and went into effect on July 1, 2006. Burchett originally wanted to make it a felony offence, but the bill was amended during its passage to make it a Class A misdemeanor.
In a news report published shortly before the signing of the bill by Governor Phil Bredesen, Tim Burchett was quoted as saying, "It's not that popular. But I'm one of those who believes in closing the barn door before the cows get out. ... In certain hands, it could be very dangerous, even lethal."
A store owner who had stopped selling it due to Burchett's bill, said he saw little point in banning salvia, "I have no idea why it's being outlawed. It's a sage. People in South America have been using it for years and years." The same report also gave the general counterargument of salvia proponents that legislation banning Salvia divinorum reflects a cultural bias, as there are fewer prohibitions on more addictive substances such as alcohol and nicotine, and questioned how effective the bill will be, pointing out that Salvia divinorum has no odour and is easy to grow, so enforcement will be difficult.[4]
"Roadkill"
In 1999, Burchett received national media attention for sponsoring a bill that legalized the eating of road kill, or animals killed by vehicles.[5][6]
See also
Notes
- ^ 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.[7]
Citations
- ^ Mike Donila, Burchett: 'Precise plan' needed for mayor post. Knoxnews.com, 6 August 2010. Retrieved: 6 August 2010.
- ^ Burchett 2006
- ^ Nashville Bureau Reporter 2006.
- ^ O'Rourke 2006.
- ^ "Burchett plans to run for county mayor", Scott Barker and David Keim, Knoxville News Sentinel, August 20, 2008
- ^ "Statehouse Journal; A Road-Kill Proposal Is Food for Jokesters", David Firestone, New York Times, March 14, 1999
- ^ Blosser (Mazatec Lessons).
References
- Blosser, Brett. "Lessons in The Use of Mazatec Psychoactive Plants". The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center. http://www.sagewisdom.org/lessons.html. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- Burchett, Tim (May 2006). "Senate Bill No. 3247" (pdf). Public Acts 2006, Chapter 700. General Assembly of the State on Tennessee. http://tennessee.gov/sos/acts/104/pub/pc0700.pdf. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
- Lopez, Alan D (April 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 (BioMed Central Ltd) 1 (5): 5. doi:10.1186/1744-8603-1-5. PMC 1143783. PMID 15847690. http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/1/1/5. - Table 2. Global burden of disease and injury attributable to selected risk factors, 1990.
- Nashville Bureau Reporter (April 2006). The Senate passed (290-0) SB 3247. 8. Nashville Bureau.
- NIAAA (August 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). http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/DatabaseResources/QuickFacts/Other/armort01.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
- Nutt, David; King, Leslie; Saulsbury, William; Blakemore, Colin (March 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. PMID 17382831. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607604644/abstract. Retrieved 2007-03-23
- O'Rourke, Shea (2006-05-24). "Smoking Out - Tennessee bill bans hallucinogenic herb salvia". Memphis Flyer. http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A16106.
- Siebert, Daniel. "The Legal Status of Salvia divinorum". The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center. http://www.sagewisdom.org/legalstatus.html. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
External links
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