Tennessee Law Illegalizes Flower

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Law Illegalizes Naturally-Growing FlowerA popular flower that produces a powerful drug will soon be banned in the state of Tennessee. The flower is salvia, and many residents unknowingly have it in their garden. The new law to ban the flower goes into effect July 1. The law was made because the flower can be hallucinogenic when smoked

in a way similar to marijuana. “There's a lot of other plants that have chemicals in them and do different things,” a plant expert said. What has many people confused is the fact that the law makes it an offense to knowingly produce or possess with intent to distribute. It does not apply to those who use it for landscaping or decorative purposes, especially garden centers. “We produce these for flowers and ornamental purposes. What they do with it once they buy it, we never know,” Hewitt & Garden Center owner Bill Hewitt said. “Others will Eventually figure out something else they can use. A law will be passed to deal with that,” Bates Design & Garden Center owner David Bates said. Tennessee will join Missouri, Louisiana and Delaware as the only states with a salvia ban.