Why Wait for a Law?

Apparently all hot to move into the next phase of the drug war, Lincoln, Nebraska police launch a preemptive arrest, busting a store owner for sale of Salvia divinorum, despite the fact that the state's proposed law against the herb has not even passed the legislature yet.

Lincoln Journal Star reports:

A legislative bill that would make Salvia divinorum an illegal drug in Nebraska has little chance of passage during the last six weeks of the legislative session.

Lincoln Police on Monday made a Salvia bust anyway.

Citing a state statute that prohibits Nebraskans from selling certain compounds that will induce an intoxicated or otherwise mind-altering state, officers executed a search warrant on Exotica, 2441 N. 48th St. The Lincoln store  sells the herb, a cousin of sage, generally smoked to create a short-term hallucinogenic experience.

Exotica owner Christian Firoz said four officers entered his store early Monday evening, took all his Salvia and issued him a citation for selling certain compounds.

"They said they're going to hit everybody that's selling Salvia and take everything," Firoz, 35, said.

Firoz said his court date is April 16, and that he's going to challenge the citation.

"I signed (the citation)," Firoz said. "I'll be in court. We plan to fight it because we've been selling it for a while and it's a lot of our sales."

He also said the information that he has leads him to believe it is legal to sell Salvia.

Sen. Vickie McDonald of St. Paul sponsored the bill to ban Salvia on behalf of Attorney General Jon Bruning. The bill has no priority status, and there's little movement to add it as an amendment to another bill.
(Thanks to the Agitator)