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Interview: Richard Glen Boire |
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Written by Michael Pinchera
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Saturday, 30 May 1998 |
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Page 2 of 3
(MP:)
Going along with this legislative genius, wouldn't it be about the same to plant several hundred “crack-plants” (if they existed - and produced crack- fruit) in a poverty stricken neighborhood which has been known as a crack- haven, and to simply tell the residents, “ok, see, the plant is legal, but if a single fruit comes off of any of the trees, you're all going to jail, see?”
While I realize not everyone growing Khat intend to use it, my little plant is going to be utilized to the fullest extent - in order for a closer relationship with the entity inside.
(RGB:)
I'm not sure what you mean.
(MP:)
You stated that “...Federal Register (58 FR 4316), asserted that C. edulis is considered a Schedule I substance for the period that it has cathinone in it, but then transforms into a schedule IV substance, if the cathinone has degraded into cathine!...” So basically the plant itself is *more* illegal than the dried leaves?
(RGB:)
Yes. If one accepts the perverted logic of the DEA, that is the case.
(MP:)
How safe are the entheogen explorers who enjoy Salvia divinorum as an ally? Should we expect any sort of legislation to come, making the rare sage illegal?
(RGB:)
Salvia divinorum is not a Scheduled plant nor is salvinorin A, its active principle. Plus, salvinorin A probably is not an analogue of any controlled substance. So, it's completely legal to cultivate, smoke or chew. But, if word gets out and the media latches onto this plant, I could see the DEA adding salvinorin to its ever-growing list of outlawed substances and S. divinorum to its list of naughty plants. Terence [McKenna] has suggested that the DEA will always leave S. divinorum alone because the last thing they want is another easily grown plant to patrol. I don't see it that way. I think that, at least right now, it's more a matter of them not knowing about it, and it not being a problem. Hopefully, people will keep this plant low profile.
(MP:)
You have said that your true professional joy comes from appealing drug cases, but do you only fight for entheogens which are currently in legal limbo (such as L. williamsii - and 5-MeO DMT) and ones which have a long history of sacramental use; or do you also fight for novel synthetics such as 2C-B and LSD-25?
(RGB:)
I fight for the freedom to have autonomy over one's own mind. I think the government has no business telling me how I can control my consciousness, any more than it should be able to tell me what books I may not read. If a person doesn't have complete freedom over their own mind, what freedom remains?
(MP:)
What can entheogenic explorers, growers, watchers do to help make our dear sacraments legal (or keep them from becoming illegal)?
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