KCNC-TV in Denver aired a report about an over-the-counter drug that has LSD-like qualities. The feds and most states do not regulate the herb. The station says:
Federal drug agents are warning parents about an herb that young people are using to get high. Some users say smoking Salvia Divinorum is a lot like taking acid.
Several states have passed laws against the plant; however, in Colorado[,] anyone who is at least 18 years old can buy it over-the-counter.
It's known on the street as Salvia, Magic Mint or Diviner's Sage.
Tobacco shops around Colorado sell it[,] and it's also available on the internet. The herb has been used in spiritual ceremonies in Mexico for centuries.
It has hallucinogenic effects, sometimes rendering the user incapacitated.
A CBS4 Investigation showed that clerks at local tobacco shops warned customers that "the trip" can be out of this world.
When a CBS4 undercover crew went into the Headed West store on South Broadway and asked about Salvia, the clerk said smoking it gave him the most intense 10 minutes of his life.
"In my personal opinion, it's like taking acid and mushrooms and ecstasy and slamming a 40 and huffing a nitrous balloon all at the same time," he said.
At Myxed Up Creations on East Colfax, the clerk had a similar story.
"I couldn't help but slam my eyes shut and felt like I was stuck in a laserium at about 900 miles per hour," he said.
See photos of the plant and read a "User's Guide" to the herb.
Some states have regulated Salvia Divinorum, even though it is readily available.
Erowid.org, an online clearinghouse for information about psychoactive substances, has a roundup of state regulations -- many of them newly passed.
How to Zone Portable Containers
Longtime Al's Morning Meeting reader Jim Sweeney spotted an interesting item on the agenda of the zoning commission in Fairfax County, Va.
Here is the agenda, in PDF format.
This commission is going to try to figure out what to do about the growing number of portable storage units cluttering up neighborhoods. Many towns have begun permitting the containers, and one town in Canada grew so sick of the containers that it is considering banning them.
I know of one container in a residential community near where I live that has been sitting on a construction site for nearly a year.
The Fairfax zoning agenda points out:
Portable storage for residential use is a recent phenomenon that has proliferated, in large part, due to the marketing of national providers that deliver [...] box-like storage containers to residential customers. Portable residential storage containers are delivered to the user by truck. In the case of at least one nationally-based provider, such deliveries are made by a customized vehicle that deposits and removes the portable containers by a unique hydraulic lift system. The portable containers vary in size, but are generally no larger than 8 feet tall, 16 feet long and 8 feet wide. A number of smaller sized containers are also available. The containers are typically used for storing household items that are either being moved to another location or are being stored temporarily on-site while house repairs/renovations are conducted. Surveys of providers and observations of use around the [c]ounty indicate that these portable containers are typically used for brief periods of time (less than two weeks) prior to their removal. Due to container size and site accessibility, most container placements are in front yards, typically on driveways.
In some places, like Virginia Beach, you have to have a permit before you can park a storage unit at your home. Here are some other examples of cities regulating portable storage containers.
Profiling the New Congressional Leadership
Who does the leadership owe? Who has been financing them?
Opensecrets.org takes a look:
What if OJ Confesses?
Could he be charged with murder? Could somebody go after him for perjury or lying to police? Could the feds go after him even though he is off limits to state prosecution again?
Slate.com explains.
Schools Run Short of Turkey Today
The AP says:
Schools that get turkey from the Agriculture Department are having to turn elsewhere this year for Thanksgiving lunches for students. There's not enough for the lunch program that feeds 29 million kids.
The problem is not a shortage of birds. They're just too skinny. An unusually hot summer resulted in smaller turkeys. That means supplies are tight, which means prices are a bit higher.
"Even though we've put out word we want to buy turkey, they're not selling it to USDA," said Billy Cox, spokesman for the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Supermarkets generally get first dibs on turkey and other commodities. When there is a surplus or prices are low enough, the Agriculture Department buys some and passes it along to government-subsidized food programs, like school lunches.
While the department is not providing turkey, schools aren't necessarily going without.
"We didn't change the menu," said Shirley Cox, food and nutrition director for Texarkana, Ark., public schools. "We just went ahead and bought turkey for 3,500 to 4,000 meals."
When Texarkana schools serve the Thanksgiving meal today, lunch trays will have turkey, Southern-style cornmeal dressing with giblet gravy, green peas, candied sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce -- and small cups of holiday ice cream.
When to Treat Preemies
Medical ethics expert Dr. Art Caplan, who is a member of Poynter's National Advisory Board, has written a provocative piece about whether the United States should continue its practice of requiring medical treatment for all newborn babies. Eleven years ago, Congress passed the Baby Doe law, an amendment to the Child Abuse and Prevention Act of 1974, requiring medical treatment for a newborn regardless the child's medical condition or chances of survival.
Caplan says the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in England is recommending that babies born before 22 weeks gestation should not be given medical treatment.
The Laughing Club
Do yourself a favor and take a look at this story from my friend, KARE-11 master storyteller Boyd Huppert and photojournalist Jonathan Malat. You will feel better afterward. Producers, take note of the little video tool KARE-11 uses to open the piece before the anchor lead.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting
is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials
from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis.
When the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is
fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the
original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
We published a story on local salvia use in November...
