Brett’s law

Brett’s Law is a name commonly given to a Delaware statute ( [http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS143.NSF/vwLegislation/SB+259?Opendocument SB259] ) generally prohibiting use of the psychoactive herb "Salvia divinorum". The law was sponsored by Delaware Senator Karen Peterson, and signed into law three months after the teen’s death. It classifies "Salvia divinorum" as a Delaware Schedule I controlled substance,Fact|date=September 2008 analogous to Federal Schedule I, making possession, use or consumption of the drug punishable as a class B misdemeanor. [16 Del. C., Section 4754 (TITLE 16, CHAPTER 47. UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT, Subchapter IV)]

The law was named after Brett Chidester (1988–23 January, 2006), an American teenager who committed suicide. Chidester’s parents have argued that the herb played a major role in the teenager’s death, and campaigned for "Schedule I"-like legislation beyond their home state of Delaware. [ [http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4188369 NJ to Crackdown on Salvia Use: Death of Delaware Teen Prompts Reform] ]

A few other states have proposed or introduced similar laws.Fact|date=September 2008

Brett Chidester case

The link between Salvia divinorum and the death of Chidester is disputed by the community of researchers and users of Salvia divinorum, particularly as Chidester was not under the influence of this substance at the time of his death.

Possible contributory factors

Suicide is currently the third leading cause of death amongst 15–24 year olds in the US. The suicide rate for white males aged 15–24 has tripled since 1950 (source: National Center for Health Statistics, [http://www.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=050FEA9F-B064-4092-B1135C3A70DE1FDA American Foundation for Suicide Prevention] ).

Contributory factors underlying any individual suicide may be complex and not simply reducible to a single cause. With this in mind, it is worth considering further lifestyle and behavioural aspects along with any relevant research findings which may have a bearing.

Although "Salvia divinorum", alcohol, and other contributing factors have been implicated in Chidester’s suicide, no concrete conclusion has been reached. His death certificate was altered to add "Salvia divinorum" as a contributing factor, but no explanation was given for this (see below). In addition, according to some news stories, his mother Kathy Chidester does not blame "Salvia divinorum" exclusively for Chidester’s death, but rather lists it as an unfortunate factor to an already deadly mix of causes. [http://www.nbc10.com/news/8628557/detail.html]

Salvia divinorum

Over three months after Chidester’s suicide, with no evidence of any trace of salvinorin being found in his system, Delaware’s deputy chief medical examiner, Dr. Adrienne Sekula-Perlman, altered his death certificate to include "Salvia divinorum" use as a contributing cause of his death. She has subsequently refused to comment on her decision. [http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/NEWS/605060321/-1/NEWS01]

It is difficult to determine how much "Salvia divinorum" really contributed to the death of Chidester and the association with his suicide has been widely debated.

Contrary to some news reports, his suicide note did not mention Salvia. Chidester had written about his experiences, and some published accounts have invited the inference they were written just prior to his death. [http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0707/16/sitroom.03.html] His diary or journal entries said:Further context is lacking however as his journals have not been fully published.

While it has been alleged that the use of Salvia divinorum may have triggered in Chidester a depressional reaction leading to suicide, anectodal information suggests that Salvia divinorum acts instead as an anti-depressant. [http://imageevent.com/sphere/antidepressanteffectsofsalviadivinor]

Furthermore, Salvia divinorum is considered relatively non-toxic [http://www.sagewisdom.org/mowryetal.pdf] (no lethal doses are known), non-addictive, short-acting (its effects lasting few minutes), with no significant deleterious long-term side-effects.

There have been no other reported cases of "Salvia divinorum" related suicides (or accidental deaths) anywhere else in the world. It may be argued that this simply reflects Salvia’s relative obscurity, however, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual US based survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), for 2006, the year of Brett Chidester's death, estimated that about 1.8 million persons aged 12 or older had used "Salvia divinorum" in their lifetime, of which approximately 750,000 had done so in that year. [http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k8/hallucinogens/hallucinogens.htm]

Due to the short acting effect of "Salvia divinorum", lasting only few minutes, it is unlikely that Chidester was under the direct influence of the drug when he committed suicide.

His parents knew he had experimented with "Salvia divinorum" and asked him to stop. He said he would discontinue using it, so it is uncertain if he was still taking the herb before his death. [http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/04/herb-induces-hallucinations-proposed.html]

Reports have not suggested in what form Chidester took the herb. A concentrated preparation of the leaf called Salvia extract, with relative strength suggested by terms such as 5x, 10x, 20x, even 30x, can be smoked in place of untreated leaves. It has yet to be established whether he was using natural leaf or a higher potency extract (and, if an extract, at what strength), or indeed if he was using any other form such as Salvia tincture.

Alcohol

The extent and significance of Chidester’s use of alcohol is a matter of contention.

Groups concerned with such issues report that the suicide rate for teenage drinkers is nearly twice as high as that for non-drinkers. [http://www.alcoholfreechildren.org/gs/pubs/html/Stat.htm#health] [http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/teens/l/aa000407a.htm] Although, this could also merely suggest that those who are more prone to suicide tend to drink, rather than those who drink are more prone to suicide.

[http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/files/20031015_141511_suicidebriefing.pdf Alcohol Concern’s suicide briefing] details many points regarding the link between alcohol use and suicide, including:
* Alcohol may be a factor in as many as 65% of suicide attempts (DoH 1993)
* An international comparison found a clear association between alcohol consumption and suicide in 9 out of 13 countries studied (Lester 1995)
* Alcohol misuse may lead to loss of self-esteem and hence to depression. These psychological changes may predispose someone to suicide (Kendall 1983)

On April 20th, 2006 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company announced Gallup survey results on underage drinking. The results highlight a major public misperception regarding the severity of teen alcohol use. MADD’s national president, Glynn R. Birch, said"|The survey results show that the public mistakenly thinks the youth drug problem is worse than the youth alcohol problem, despite research and statistics that show more youth are drinking and dying due to alcohol than all other illicit drugs combined.|Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada): " [http://www.madd.ca/english/news/stories/n06apr20-1.htm Gallup Survey on Underage Drinking Reveals Severity of Alcohol Use] "

Chidester’s death was reported locally by Delaware Online [http://www.newsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060226/NEWS/602260356/1006] and subsequently by a number of media outlets including CNN (links below), NBC [http://www.nbc10.com/news/8628557/detail.html] , ABC [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1925992] , USAToday [http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060403/a_salvia03.art.htm] , W*USA 9 [http://www.wusatv9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=47389] , KATV(Channel7) [http://www.katv.com/onyourside.hrb?s=1317] and KXAN [http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=4867743] . None of these or any other media stories on the issue have mentioned his alcohol use, all instead focusing on "Salvia divinorum".

Other risk factors

Chidester was suffering from acne which has a general association with depression and thoughts of suicide [http://www.dermnetnz.org/acne/acne-psychological-effects.html] [http://www.docguide.com/dg.nsf/PrintPrint/1B287E079AEF8F58852568D2004A961A] [http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060323/NEWS/603230360/1006/RSS] [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=16112443&dopt=Abstract] . To treat his acne, he was also taking minocycline which can have side effects that may impair thinking or reactions [http://www.drugs.com/minocycline.html] .

His parents divorced when he was three. A study from the Research Data Centre program [http://www.statcan.ca/english/rdc/index.htm] published in the "Journal of Marriage and Family" found that children whose parents divorce show higher levels of depression, as well as higher levels of anti-social behaviour, than children whose parents remain married. [http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/051213/d051213c.htm]

The parents have conceded that he may have been suffering from general depression, [http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060323/NEWS/603230360/1006/RSS] however, despite this, the mother still continues to be an advocate against Salvia use and for its federal ban.

See also

*Teenage suicide
*Assessment of suicide risk
*Salvia divinorum
*Legal status of Salvia divinorum

Referrences

External links

* [http://www.salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk/mediastories/government/brettslaw/cnn_video.ws.asx CNN’s 'legal but lethal' broadcast] (asx video file)
** [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/13/lol.03.html transcript] (Salvia story halfway down the page)
** [http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/04/herb-induces-hallucinations-proposed.html viewers comment on CNN’s story]
* [http://www.salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk/mediastories/government/brettslaw/index.htm Salvia divinorum Scotland’s “Brett’s Law” pages] —with Salvia community perspectives, including:
** [http://www.salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk/mediastories/government/brettslaw/delaware/index.htm correspondence with Delaware Senator Karen Peterson]
** [http://www.salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk/mediastories/government/brettslaw/brettsparents/index.htm an open letter to Kathy and Dennis Chidester]
* [http://www.legis.state.de.us/Legislature.nsf/7f4f680c99e8e0d1852569c10055e9d4/5346256aaf6cd669852569d8005369f3?OpenDocument Senator Karen E. Peterson]