Dennis Reboletti is a former
Republican member of the
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...
, representing the 46th district since 2007. He was elected State Representative on November 7, 2006, defeating
Democratic candidate Joe Vosicky.
Reboletti is a former Will county Assistant State's Attorney and former
Addison Township Trustee. He has a B.A. in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradual ...
, and a J.D. from
Valparaiso University School of Law
The Valparaiso University Law School was the law school of Valparaiso University, a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. Founded in 1879, the school was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1929 and admitted to the Association ...
. Reboletti previously ran for
Illinois Senate
The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...
in the 23rd district in 2004, but lost in the Republican primary to
Carole Pankau. He currently serves as Addison Township Supervisor.
Reboletti's first House bill
On January 26, 2007. freshman State Representative Dennis Reboletti filed House Bil
HB457which proposed Schedule I classification for the psychoactive herb ''
Salvia divinorum
''Salvia divinorum'' (; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a species of plant in the sage genus ''Salvia'', known for its transient psychoactive properties when its leaves, or e ...
'', including :"the seeds thereof, any extract from any part of that plant, and every compound,
..derivative, mixture, or preparation of that plant".
The bill does not mention the active chemical constituent salvinorin A. Salvia expert
Daniel Siebert criticised this wording as being: "absurdly broad in scope, for it implies that any substance extracted from Salvia divinorum (water, chlorophyll, whatever) would be treated as a Schedule I controlled substance under the proposed law."
[ Siebert (Legal status).]
March 2007 news of the bill's passage on Reboletti's website alleged that Salvia is a
powerful psychoactive plant which in appearance looks like marijuana but has the psychoactive properties of LSD.
Reboletti said,
It’s important that we in the legislature are proactive in protecting our children from highly addictive substances
and
For a drug to be classified as a Schedule 1 substance signifies that it’s a highly dangerous and potentially lethal drug for its user. Hopefully, the passage of my bill will bring attention to "Magic Mint" and help law enforcement combat the future rise of this drug.[ Reboletti 2007b.]
''
Salvia divinorum
''Salvia divinorum'' (; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a species of plant in the sage genus ''Salvia'', known for its transient psychoactive properties when its leaves, or e ...
'' article references and other sources indicate however that Salvia does not look like marijuana. Its psychoactive properties are not like those of LSD, and that ''Salvia divinorum'' is not generally understood to be either addictive or toxic.
By May 22, 2007, HB0457 had received support from all 173 members in both bodies of the
democratic majority
Illinois General Assembly
The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...
. It was sent to the
governor of Illinois
The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...
,
Rod Blagojevich
Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...
(D), on June 20, 2007, and was signed into law on Friday August 17, 2007. The law came into effect on January 1, 2008.
[ Colindres 2007-08-18 (US Media).]
In a statement given prior to the bill coming into effect Reboletti said,
I've seen the argument to legalize marijuana. It is a gateway drug, like salvia could be a gateway drug,[ Chicago Sun-Times 2007-12-31 (US Media).]
and
We decided to move forward rather than waiting for someone to be killed because of it.
A critical editorial was published by the Chicago Sun-Times on the eve of Reboletti's law coming into effect. It commented -
Legislators must have been on something to zero in on this obscure organic substance ... The last time we checked, Illinois was not besieged by a salvia epidemic. We don't see the urgency in criminalizing a substance with no clear track record of causing people to act in a dangerous manner or hurt other people ... considering how overcrowded our prisons are with dangerous criminals, trolling around for more nonviolent drug offenders to punish is counterintuitive... Regulating use of, rather than banning salvia, would have been a more sober approach.
Opponents of extremely prohibitive Salvia restrictions argue that such reactions are largely due to an inherent prejudice and a particular cultural bias rather than any actual balance of evidence, pointing out inconsistencies in attitudes toward other more toxic and addictive drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.
">/sup> While not objecting to some form of regulatory legal control, in particular with regard to the sale to minors or sale of enhanced high-strength extracts, most Salvia proponents otherwise argue against stricter legislation. ">i/sup>
Alcohol related financial contributions featured highly for Representative Dennis Reboletti's 2006 political campaign. According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, 'Beer, Wine & Liquor' was his seventh highest industry contributor.[ MiSP 2006.]
See also
* Legal status of Salvia divinorum
'' Salvia divinorum'', a psychoactive plant, is legal in most countries. Exceptions, countries where there is some form of control, include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, India, ...
Notes
- ^ The worldwide number of alcohol-related deaths is calculated at over 2,000 people per day, in the US the number is over 300 deaths per day.
- ^ Those advocating consideration of Salvia divinorum's potential for beneficial use in a modern context argue that more could be learned from Mazatec culture, where Salvia is not really associated with notions of drug taking at all and it is rather considered as a spiritual sacrament. In light of this it is argued that Salvia divinorum could be better understood more positively as an
entheogen
Entheogens are psychoactive substances used in spiritual and religious contexts to induce altered states of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as the psilocybin found in so-called "magic" mushrooms have been used in sacred contexts since ancie ...
rather than pejoratively as a hallucinogen.[ Blosser (Mazatec Lessons).]
Citations
References
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Table 2
Global burden of disease and injury attributable to selected risk factors, 1990.
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Alt URL
External links
Representative Dennis Reboletti (R) 46th District
at the Illinois General Assembly
**By session
98th
97th
96th
95th
*
Rep. Dennis Reboletti
at Illinois House Republican Caucus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reboletti, Dennis
Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives
1968 births
Living people
Eastern Illinois University alumni
Valparaiso University School of Law alumni
People from Addison, Illinois
21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly