We are going to miss you around here, too! Thanks, Brad, for all you have done for KX. Reply...

What's going to stop local governments from jacking up house valuations? Reply...

I understand that it seems violating, however; as a smoker i agree one hundred percent in this. Where are the childrens rights when they develope asthma, bronci.. and other respitory problems? The parent or adult is not thinking of them, only themselves. Reply...

The real issue isn't "freedom versus public health," it's ANTI-SMOKER SCIENTIFIC FRAUD. More than 50 studies show that human papillomaviruses cause over ten times more lung cancers than they pretend are caused by secondhand smoke. Passive smokers are more likely to have been exposed to this virus, so the anti-smokers' studies, which are all based on nothing but lifestyle questionnaires, have been cynically DESIGNED to falsely blame passive smoking for all those extra lung cancers that are really caused by HPV.

http://www.smokershistory.com/hpvlungc.htm

The anti-smokers have committed the same type of fraud with every disease they blame on smoking and passive smoking, as well as ignoring other types of evidence that proves they are lying, such as the fact that the death rates from asthma have more than doubled since their movement began.

http://www.smokershistory.com/newviews.htm

And it's a lie that passive smoking causes heart disease. AMI deaths in Pueblo actually ROSE the year after the smoking ban.

http://www.smokershistory.com/etsheart.html

The government has no right to restrict peoples' liberty without a compelling justification. The anti-smokers have no such justification, so THEY COMMITTED SCIENTIFIC FRAUD TO DECEIVE THE PUBLIC. Reply...

The best way to broaden North Dakota's tax base is by attracting business and industry to our state. The one resource business and industry look for in any state is access to intellectual capital. This is provided by our institutions of higher education. North Dakota higher ed faculty salaries curently rank 51st in the nation. Fifty five percent of faculty hired within the past 5 years have accepted jobs elsewhere primarily for higher pay, and 43% of higher ed faculty are over the age of 50 which means a large block of faculty will be eligible for retirement soon. The best way to help our state grow is to reinvest in higher education and raise faculty salaries to market value in order to attract the kind of expertise businesses are looking for. Attracting businesses means more jobs, a healthy economy and a better quality of life. All citizens in our state stand to benefit. Reply...

*head desk*
New drug??

Sure, except that Salvia Divinorum has been used for centuries in a variety of religious practices.

Humorously enough, I've actually spotted salvia at the Wal-Mart garden center AFTER they made it illegal!!

Yes, what a bad, bad man.

And garsh, our police officers aren't even aware that amanita muscaria doesn't even contain psilocybin...in fact, amanita muscaria isn't even a controlled substance...

Yet, this man is being prosecuted, and his name is in all of the papers.

Wow, I feel so confident in our law enforcement officers' abilities to protect me...Don't they get any training on identifying illegal vs. legal substances??

I hope he can file a defamation lawsuit, or something along those lines!! They're making the guy look like some hallucinogen-crazed drug dealer!

Gosh, they'll be knocking on my door next!!

I have lots of parsley and oregano in my cupbard!! Uh-oh, I also have baby portabellas in my fridge!!

*rushes to flush entire contents of spice drawer down toilet*

Reply...

Congrads ND for your new industry success. I am a citizen of the hard hit econmy of Michigan, I have recently caught wind of the new employment opportunities in the oil industry for field workers. I have no previous oil field experince but i am a young marine veteran eager to learn and make a living. Anybody reading this comment if you have or know of any contact information regarding employment for oil field workers please contact me at joshuajericho1982@yahoo.com. Thanks alot Reply...

shes missing and then they find an aquantances daughter in fargo... weird huh? Reply...

"A Dickinson man has entered guilty pleas to two felony sex charges and Alford pleas to two others. An Alford plea means a person does not admit guilt but does admit that there is enough evidence for a conviction."
Enough said.......... Reply...

Thank you for this report of continuing criminal activity by the North Dakota legislature and the Burleigh County States Attorney, Cynthia Feland. The parties concerned with this law and the prosecution of Mr. Rau should themselves be arrested, tried and convicted of attempted murder and prosecutorial misconduct.

I under stand that Mr. Rau has been charged with possession of psilocybin with intent to distribute, based on his possession of amanita muscaria mushrooms. A. muscaria does indeed have psychoactive properties, but it contains NO psilocybin. In other words, Mr. Rau's prosecution on this charge is specious, and the responsible parties should be removed from office forthwith and tried for their crimes against the citizens of North Dakota.

As for the legislators responsible for the law criminalizing possession of salvia and, no doubt, other substances as well I have one thing to say: You, sirs and mesdames, are guilty of murder and other crimes against humanity, and should be treated like the criminals you are. Others like you are responsible for the death of my stepson, Greg, and you will ultimately be held accountable for your crimes.

Leyt me tell you about Greg. Greg was an intelligent, ambitious, yung man. He graduated cum laude with a degree in mechanical engineering, and was at the head of his class in a mechanical engineering Master's program. Greg was a competitive athlete in skiing and bicycle racing. He held an engineering job, owned a house, a truck and a motorcycle. Greg was also a drug addict.

To the best of my knowledge, he used crack cocaine every day during college, and ultimately used heroin also. But since these addictive drugs are illegal, they are also expensive. Greg was finally unable to afford the price; the house went, then the truck and the motorcycle. Then it was jail; then prison. Unable to get an engineering job with a felony record, and unable to stop using drugs despite more that a dozen treatment programs, he killed himself on his 35th birthday.

The point here is that as long as Greg got his drugs, he held a job, paid his taxes, and was in every way a model citizen. Had his drugs been legally available, Greg would be alive today. Did drug prohibition help Greg? Well, of course not. Prohibition did not prevent him from buying and using drugs; it only priced the drugs out of the ability for normal, working people to obtain drugs of known quality at affordable prices. In effect, prohibition killed Greg. And I hold all of the "tough on drugs" lawmakers responsible for his death. I welcome any of them to dispute these facts, and justify prohibition on any basis. Failing this, I am assuming that they are ready to publicly acknowledge their crimes against humanity, and accept responsibility for them. Reply...

All those kids on YouTube are the "responsible adults" you spoke of? Salvia is already being marketed and cultivated to be stronger and stronger and a "legal high". As long as there are stupid, irresposible jerks who abuse it, the people who WOULD be responsible and use it for its therapeutic purposes are going to lose.

Don't blame the lawmakers, put the blame where it belongs... on the idiots! Reply...

Well said, Dr. J! Reply...

I sent numerous letters to my representatives, as well as phone calls and in-person visits. What i was told, was that they agreed that Salvia Divinorum was indeed harmless, non-addictive, and had medicinal uses. But they said they didn't want to appear 'soft' on drugs. So off they went, voting to make it illegal. All I received was a sincere apology and the speech about politics.

BTW, Salvia Divinorum cured me of my ADHD, OCD, Anxiety and Severe depression. All of which was not alleviated by common pharmaceutical prescriptions. I was able to finish school and hold down a job to take care of my family due to Salvia Divinorum, of which I use several times per year, as that is all that is required to maintain my near 100% cure. Can't say the same for Zoloft, Prozac, and the numerous other meds I was on that literally made me worse.

I suppose debating natural plants for medicinal or recreational use is like debating religion. Folks want to make anything they are uncomfortable with (homosexuality, drugs, pornography, etc) illegal, regardless if its right or wrong. I just hope some day that mankind can reach the point where we all can understand and respect one another without having to harm or infringe one each other's freedoms. Reply...

Laura, its too bad you left steele from the embarassment after all this happened, its kinda funny that your daugthers own friends and probably family too know what kind of lying drama queen she was! And they don't think its true either. People in steele know what kind of person Bradey really is/was, And as far as me lying you could ask any and everybody, I HAVE NEVER LIED IN MY LIFE, I was not brought up that way, and I am pretty easy to get along with!! Laura, How could a man that is 6ft fit in the trunk of a Mustang? Is it really possible?? Why didn't the states attourney at the time take the case, since it supposedly happened in kidder county?? My mom and I remember Tera saying they couldn't even fit a beer cooler in the trunk, so how could a person that is 6ft fit?! Why would a person under 21 need to put a beer cooler in their trunk if they were so honest and followed the rules. And there were many times when Tera told you she was staying at somebody elses house and stayed with Bradey, I have witnesses that could vow for how Tera lied. Once a liar always a liar she learned it from her mother!!!!! Congrats Laura, you did a wonderful job of teaching her how to lie, enough to screw up an innocent mans life. God will someday punish whoever is guilty. This vendetta against the Wolff's goes way back to when you were in High School at the Road Runner, really maybe you should get on with your life. Reply...

I didn't expect them to make salvia illegal, so I wasn't too concerned. In every other state where it became illegal it was publicized a lot, so I figured the same thing would happen if it ever became illegal here. No drugs should be illegal, because it is our right to ingest whatever we want. The government does not have the right to regulate drugs. Reply...

Then its your own darn fault for not being more informed...sounds pretty ignorant to me that one would depend on the media, ESPECIALLY newspapers for information so much...especially when ALL the information when it comes to ALL proposed laws are at your fingertips...if infact legislation means so much to you after all...Not only are the bills entirely viewable while in progress, the state bar association takes the time to actually catoagorize them based upon the particular type of legislation the bill is...I bet you're right that Rau might not have known....and his ignorance is no excuse..time for him to cut a deal.. Reply...

I know that they're public record and that I can view them online. I didn't do that because I read about a lot of bills in newspapers. It surprises me that salvia was never mentioned. Something like that should be voted on by the people, not by legislature. There are still a lot of people who don't know that salvia is illegal, and it wouldn't surprise me if that guy who got arrested didn't either. Reply...

anon- All new bills are public record and 100% viewable by anyone. One just needs to go to the legisltative website and can read ALL of the proposals in both houses at all stages of the bill's life. Any changes are updated as they are made so anyone can view what is being sent to the other house and ultimately the governer's desk. So quit crying that there wasnt enough attention paid by the media to this particular bill...there was no hush job just to slide it by..your lack of local TV channels would not have helped you anyway...staying out of dark rooms exploring your mind may have...you managed to find your way to a computer..next legislative secession I suggest you take a peek at whats being proposed rather than whimpering about it here...

BTW...I wasnt looking for a pharmecutical lesson here...I am quite aware that some drugs are not as "bad" as others. I am quite aware of the Schedule system...my main point was that most folks scream about intolerance and make declarations of "crazy" about drug laws AFTER they are passed....when in reality if half these zombies could put down their needles, pipes, bottles, tubes, (insert paraphernalia of choice here) and let their heads clear long enough to engage in public discourse then they may find that their dope of choice might have a fighting chance at being legalized...but untill then it cant happen... Reply...

AD, when salvia was banned it was barely publicized. I never found out about it until after the law was passed. When I searched for information about it, all I found was a news article (I think on this site) that said that the bill was introduced. The legislature should have made this known to us. I live in a rural part of the state and do not get any local tv channels, so if it was on tv news I wouldn't have known. Salvia is safe when used by people who know what they're doing. It should be regulated like in Maine.

The only reason salvia became illegal in ND is some principal in a small town found out that a couple of his students were using it. He contacted his representative and the representative introduced the bill that made it illegal. It was created because of an anti-drug principal.

There is not and there never has been a problem with salvia in this state. Very few people have used it and many of them who have absolutely hate it. Salvia is not an enjoyable drug. It is not a recreational "party drug" and there is no way that it ever can be. Salvia, when responsibly used, is used in small groups or by an individual, usually in a dark room, to explore their mind. Salvia normally lasts 5 minutes, with after effects lasting 10-15 minutes. It is a very strong psychedelic dissociative and is NOT a marijuana alternative like some of the shady Internet vendors advertise it as.

There are no drugs that compare to salvia in effects. Probably the closest thing would be DMT, but that is totally different.

Meth is a schedule II drug which is prescribed for ADD and narcolepsy. Salvia is now schedule I in ND and cannot be used by anyone even though there is ongoing research for use as a medicine, as an anti-depressant if I recall correctly. That is crazy. Reply...

After reading so much ranting against the law makers that criminalized this substance, I'm forced to wonder where you all were when this was on the floor of either house of our legislature...or how about when it landed on the governer's desk to be signed into law??? Not a peep that I remember...but I'm not surprised...how many of ya'll put down your pipes, herbs, substances long enough to keep your minds clear enough to really understand whats comming down...I only see the after effects of what you dont like...by the way ALL substances are from the earth, Mother Nature, ect....that doesnt mean they are safe or should be legal for human consumption. Everything that goes into Heroin is of the earth, Cocaine too. All the ingredients that go into meth at some time were a basic element of a natrually occuring substance...MANIPULATED BY MAN TO BECOME THE POISON THAT THEY ARE...declaring a drug "natural" is no rational argument.

That said...I eagerly await the accusations of intolerance...have at 'er junkies! Reply...