Dildos are already outlawed…

from www.al.com – On July 1, salvia and several legal herbs treated with K2 will become illegal in the state of Alabama, thanks to a bill passed by the Alabama Legislature and signed by Gov. Bob Riley [pictured] in April.

While some consider it a victory in the fight against drugs, others argue that it will only contribute to putting the products into the hands of teens.

“This is a very good day for the state of Alabama,” said Deborah Soule, executive director of Partnership for a Drug Free America.

Kristi Fries, operations manager for Pleasures – an adult store in Huntsville that sells K2 and salvia, feels the opposite.

“We made it hard for teens to get, but this bill makes it easy,” Fries said. The staff at Pleasures checks IDs a minimum of two times of people purchasing the products to ensure that only adults get them, she said.

When smoked, salvia – a leaf often found in Mexico – provides users with a trip, similar to what is experienced with LSD.

Fries said she has no problem with regulating salvia because it is a hallucinogenic.

“We support regulating salvia,” she said. “It’s a controlled hallucinogenic experience.”

Legal herbs containing K2 – or synthetic marijuana – will also become illegal under the same bill. K2 is a chemical spray that mimics the effects of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, Soule said.

Alabama is now the second state to ban K2 and the 17th to ban salvia.

Fries argued that K2 doesn’t contain any THC, only a mimicking spray, making it not dangerous. Soule said medical studies say the spray is a chemical compound with untraceable amounts of THC.

“We have control right now of who buys this,” Fries said. “It’s like control on alcohol and cigarettes.”

“Now, it’s going to go underground,” she said. “People that still want it are going to get it from your average, everyday criminal, the same way they do with marijuana.”

Fries said the two Pleasures stores will lose more than $200,000 in revenue from K2 products. She also said the state will lose tax money and more money will be spent to train law-enforcement officers on K2 products.

Soule considers the ban a victory because K2, or fake weed, is becoming an increasing trend among teens. Soule said she’s received phone calls from parents concerned about the product.

The recently passed legislation means possession of the products will become a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and selling the products will be a felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison.