Here are my last two threads on this topic if you have no clue what I'm talking about:
https://auburn.forums.rivals.com/threads/ot-kratom-hb-175-sb-226.187032/
https://auburn.forums.rivals.com/threads/ot-re-kratom-update.187398/#post-2447445
SB 226, which essentially makes the plant kratom a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance in Alabama, passed the House, and moved onto the governor's desk, at the 11th hour. And it was, in classic Alabama political fashion, done using less-than-honest tactics. Here's the run down on the passage:
Going into the final day of the 2016 legislative session, many legislators were telling kratom advocates that the bill would either not be voted on or a substitute would be offered which limited possession to those 21 and over and banned retail sales. This would address the bill's advocates main concerns: that irresponsibly marketed products were being used by kids (eg Vivazen "shots). It seemed like a reasonable compromise and a win for everyone.
I actually learned today that one of the reasons the Rules Committee placed it on the calendar was because Mack Butler, the bill's House sponsor, assured he would offer a substitute stating exactly this. Everyone is happy. They take it out of stores and away from kids, and chronic pain suffers aren't made felons overnight by using their natural remedy.
As that final day went on, it started to seem as if the bill wouldn't come for a vote. First, there was a slew of attempted filibusters of the initial calendar of the day (one that wasn't controversial at all---but House Democrats weren't a happy group and were holding things up). Finally, late at night, they got to that second special order calendar, where this bill was second up. But it was passed over and other bills were attended to first. It appeared that it wouldn't be voted on.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, they were working hard to pass some version of a prison bill that Bentley had pushed hard for. A little before 11 PM, it passed the Senate and went back to the House. Certainly debate for this bill would last the remainder of the session. Except the bill never came up. They let it die. They kept debating and passing others bills.
Then, at about 11:40 PM, after the Senate had adjourned for the session, House Speaker Hubbard allowed SB226 up. Mack Butler did not present the substitute that he had promised to do. I'll copy and paste from someone I know who was there and had worked tirelessly with the legislature (some of it will be a restatement, but their words are more effective since it isn't second-hand):
In the end, 59 of 105 reps voted to ban. And not a single opponent of the bill was even allowed to speak. I think the substitute bill would be passed nearly unanimously, but Butler and Hubbard took great pains to prevent it being introduced. I think many of the 59 probably would've preferred the sub, but were scared to be down for a vote against banning. I get it. And I don't think they're all bad people or anything.
So, the governor will almost certainly sign the bill sometime between now and the end of next week (he has 10 days to sign, veto or "pocket veto" by doing nothing). Thousands of otherwise good, law-abiding Alabamians who need this plant to avoid chronic pain, anxiety, depression or dangerous-relapse into hard-drug use will be considered felons because a small group of politicians decided they wanted this to be banned and used everything they could to facilitate that.
I've spoken with Susan Ash with the American Kratom Association and I'm interested in starting now to begin petitioning legislators to pass a bill next year that would replace the current hard ban with the substitute that Mack Butler claimed to support. Getting something un-banned, though, is damn hard. Even where the vast majority of Americans want marijuana to be legal, it is only legal in a minority of the state's for medicinal use and just a few states for recreational use. And almost no one knows about Kratom, making the education/lobbying process even tougher. These are the kind of things that drive a government skeptic and libertarian like myself crazy. It just embodies so much of what I can't stand about how government is run and how little liberty and common sense are considered.
https://auburn.forums.rivals.com/threads/ot-kratom-hb-175-sb-226.187032/
https://auburn.forums.rivals.com/threads/ot-re-kratom-update.187398/#post-2447445
SB 226, which essentially makes the plant kratom a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance in Alabama, passed the House, and moved onto the governor's desk, at the 11th hour. And it was, in classic Alabama political fashion, done using less-than-honest tactics. Here's the run down on the passage:
Going into the final day of the 2016 legislative session, many legislators were telling kratom advocates that the bill would either not be voted on or a substitute would be offered which limited possession to those 21 and over and banned retail sales. This would address the bill's advocates main concerns: that irresponsibly marketed products were being used by kids (eg Vivazen "shots). It seemed like a reasonable compromise and a win for everyone.
I actually learned today that one of the reasons the Rules Committee placed it on the calendar was because Mack Butler, the bill's House sponsor, assured he would offer a substitute stating exactly this. Everyone is happy. They take it out of stores and away from kids, and chronic pain suffers aren't made felons overnight by using their natural remedy.
As that final day went on, it started to seem as if the bill wouldn't come for a vote. First, there was a slew of attempted filibusters of the initial calendar of the day (one that wasn't controversial at all---but House Democrats weren't a happy group and were holding things up). Finally, late at night, they got to that second special order calendar, where this bill was second up. But it was passed over and other bills were attended to first. It appeared that it wouldn't be voted on.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, they were working hard to pass some version of a prison bill that Bentley had pushed hard for. A little before 11 PM, it passed the Senate and went back to the House. Certainly debate for this bill would last the remainder of the session. Except the bill never came up. They let it die. They kept debating and passing others bills.
Then, at about 11:40 PM, after the Senate had adjourned for the session, House Speaker Hubbard allowed SB226 up. Mack Butler did not present the substitute that he had promised to do. I'll copy and paste from someone I know who was there and had worked tirelessly with the legislature (some of it will be a restatement, but their words are more effective since it isn't second-hand):
Matson and/or Butler had been going around for at least two days saying they were going to accept the substitution bill that did just what you suggested--no retail sales in the state, but use and possession would be legal beginning at age 21. Butler even handed out copies of the sub. Then they waited for the Senate to leave (it was very obvious they were stalling--later we figured out why), and after they left, Butler pulled out the original version of the bill instead. Mike Ball was ready for him (nobody trusted any of them--Butler, Matson, or Hillman) and went running up with his sub, the same one Butler had been pretending he was going to use. That's when he was informed that the senate had left. Being the last day, any sub or amendment would have killed the bill, of course, so it wasn't even put forward for a vote. Ball didn't get the 10 min he was supposed to have in order to be able to discuss the bill. The Speaker had already said that there were lots of lights on from people who wanted to speak, but apparently, Butler and Hubbard had this worked out. (Hubbard was also in on the stalling.) He called Jack Williams to come and talk, who said he feared for his grandsons if this stuff was left out there and then called for a vote. Within seconds the voting was done, and it was over. Reps were standing up, I think they were yelling--it's all just this big blur now. It was the only bill we saw in two days of watching that did not receive 20 minutes or more of discussion. From the time Butler smugly walked up there to the time the law was passed was probably under 5 min, maybe even under 3.
I think you're right. I think that substitution bill had so much support that the only way Butler, Matson, Hillman, and Orr (to whatever extent he was involved in this scheme) thought they could defeat it was to play this kind of dirty trick. I still don't understand why they did it. The sub would have allowed them to claim victory. They would have cleared out the stores of everything they were trying to ban, and only very motivated consumers would have been going to other states to buy it. The only people hurt by this are the people who were using plain leaf legitimately and will follow the law. The manufacturers probably already have new formulas where they've picked the next herb and will end up getting it outlawed, but until then, they'll keep making billions on their dangerous concoctions they label with some innocuous herb.
So, I think you are spot on. That retail ban got a lot of support. The proponents of this bill used every dirty trick they could try (why do they even have rules if they can ignore them at will?), and they were, imo, still so afraid of the sub that they had to resort to tactics that, quite frankly, have ruined my belief in the entire system. And now, I imagine them kicking back celebrating how they "got" us all, while we sit and hurt--heart, mind, and body--praying that the governor will veto.
In the end, 59 of 105 reps voted to ban. And not a single opponent of the bill was even allowed to speak. I think the substitute bill would be passed nearly unanimously, but Butler and Hubbard took great pains to prevent it being introduced. I think many of the 59 probably would've preferred the sub, but were scared to be down for a vote against banning. I get it. And I don't think they're all bad people or anything.
So, the governor will almost certainly sign the bill sometime between now and the end of next week (he has 10 days to sign, veto or "pocket veto" by doing nothing). Thousands of otherwise good, law-abiding Alabamians who need this plant to avoid chronic pain, anxiety, depression or dangerous-relapse into hard-drug use will be considered felons because a small group of politicians decided they wanted this to be banned and used everything they could to facilitate that.
I've spoken with Susan Ash with the American Kratom Association and I'm interested in starting now to begin petitioning legislators to pass a bill next year that would replace the current hard ban with the substitute that Mack Butler claimed to support. Getting something un-banned, though, is damn hard. Even where the vast majority of Americans want marijuana to be legal, it is only legal in a minority of the state's for medicinal use and just a few states for recreational use. And almost no one knows about Kratom, making the education/lobbying process even tougher. These are the kind of things that drive a government skeptic and libertarian like myself crazy. It just embodies so much of what I can't stand about how government is run and how little liberty and common sense are considered.
