(Fwd) [ELDev] FWD Subject: Criminalizing homeopathy and herbalism in Louisiana

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

This came today from another LIst. I had not time to check out its

accuracy.

 

Phil

 

Below is a forwarded message. Regards, Cheryl

 

Criminalizing homeopathy and herbalism in Louisiana

 

Greetings!

 

Have any of you taken a look at a ghastly law proposed in

Lousiana called House Bill Number 20? It would criminalize

some forms homeopathy, some forms of herbalism, and some

forms of Native American ethnobotany.

 

The legislation was authored by Representative Michael G.

Strain (Republican - District 74) of the Louisiana State

Legislature. Strain, a veterinarian, wants to legislate

certain herbs of commerce. The penalty would be from

2 to 10 years in jail (possibly hard labor) and up to

a $20,000 fine for anyone thinking of ingesting any part

of a long list of plants and fungi. The manditory minimum

sentence is two years in jail.

 

Some of these plants have been used for thousands of years!

Some of these plants are native to the United States. Some

of these plants are homeopathic products, so I guess the

manufacturers and grocery stores and health stores could

get busted. Even the truck drivers delivering extracts

could be jailed under this law.

 

All parts of these plants and fungi would be illegal.

Also, the way it is written, using the botanical notation

" spp. " , all plant parts from all species in the in the

listed genus would be illegal. For example, by listing

" Datura spp. " all species of Datura would fall under

the law's provisions -- and all parts of all species.

 

I'm not sure how this proposed law would interact with

the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994,

if at all.

 

I put three relevant documents from Louisiana on my website

( which I downloaded from http://www.legis.state.la.us ):

 

http://trainor.info/homeopathy/HB-20-original.pdf

http://trainor.info/homeopathy/HB-20-digest.pdf

http://trainor.info/homeopathy/HB-20-note.pdf

 

The proposed law confuses plants with fungi, and calls these

fungi " plants " :

 

Amanita muscaria (used in homeopathy)

Conocybe spp.

Panaeolus spp.

Psilocybe spp.

Stropharia spp.

 

Here is the real list of plants, together with my terse

notes (I'm no herbalist, just a hybrid mathematician

and computer scientist).

 

Anadenanthera colubrina

Anadenanthera peregrina

(used in Austria, native to Puerto Rico) cohoba tree

Atropa belladonna

(used in homeopathy and herbalism, introduced to the U.S.)

Banisteriopsis spp.

(some species native to Puerto Rico)

Brugmansia arborea

(introduced to the U.S.) angel's trumpet

Brunfelsia spp.

(used in homeopathy and hebalism, some species native

to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands)

Calea Zacatechichi

(used in homeopathy, not sure why they made the species epithet

begin with Z)

Datura spp.

(used in homeopathy and herbalism, many native species,

widely used by Native Americans!)

Erythina spp. Genista canariensis Heimia salicfolia

(used by Mexican herbalists)

Hyoscyamus niger

(used in homeopathy and herbalism)

Ipomoea violacea

(native, and so bad it's on the list twice!)

Kaempferia galanga

(used in homeopathy and herbalism)

Lagoehilus inebrians

Latua pubiflora

Mandragora officinarum

(used in homeopathy)

Mesembryanthemum spp.

(used in homeopathy)

Methysticodendron amesianum

(said to be a sex aphrodisiac)

Mimosa hostilis

Olmedioperebea sclerophylla

Pancreatium trianthum

Peganum harmala

(some homeopathic use)

Physalis subglabrata

(native, a husk tomato?)

Prestonia amazonica

Rhynchosia spp.

(all the native snoutbeans)

Rivea corymbosa

(native, Christmasvine)

Salvia divinorum

Solanum carolinense

(the native horsenettles, used in homeopathy, use by Cherokee

Americans for sore throat, goiters, ulcers, to cure poison

ivy, and to cleanse digestive worms)

Sophora secundiflora

(the native mescal bean, used by Comanche Americans for earaches)

Tabernanthe iboga

Tetrapteris methystica

Vinca rosea

(used in homeopathy)

Virola spp.

 

Sincerely,

/x/

Douglas J. Trainor

Trainor Science & Engineering

369 Washington Avenue

Phoenixville, PA 19460

(email) douglas

 

p.s. Michael G. Strain's contact information is:

 

Rep. Michael G. Strain

19607 Highway 36

Covington, LA 70433-8734

(985) 893-6246 (phone)

(985) 893-6247 (fax)

larep074 (email)

http://house.legis.state.la.us/H-Reps/members.asp?ID=74

(homepage)

 

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