OOPS. 1ST SALVIA BUST WAS TOO EARLY

Oops!

Butler County Sheriff Rick Jones jumped the gun when he sent out a
press release this morning touting the first arrest in his county
under a new law that bans a hallucinogenic herb called Salvia divinorum.

The law doesn't go into effect until Tuesday.

Sheriff's officials wound up dropping the charge.

Jones had his staff fax the information to the media about 11:08 a.m.

The press release said [redacted], was arrested this morning after
Deputy Tim Andrews conducted a traffic stop on U.S. 127 in Hanover Township.

The officer noticed a baggie of green vegetation in the car and a
search led to the discovery of another baggie marked "salvia
divinorum," the release said. [redacted] claimed the baggie belonged
to him, according to police.

[redacted] was booked into the Butler County Jail after being charged
with felony possession of drugs for the salvia, misdemeanor
trafficking in drugs for a small amount of marijuana, and possession
of drug paraphernalia, a low-level misdemeanor, for weight scales and
other items.

About a half hour after the press release was sent, a sheriff's
detective questioned whether the charges were premature, said Chief
Deputy Anthony Dwyer.

The law was to go into effect 90 days after the governor signs it.
The county prosecutor's office has confirmed that the effective date
is Tuesday, Dwyer said.

So the felony charge for salvia possession was dismissed, but
[redacted] still faces misdemeanor charges for the pot, he said.

"I don't have a whole lot (of sympathy) for this guy," Dwyer said.
"He was coming from one place to another. He admitted selling a bunch
of dope in Michigan. It's not like (salvia) was the only thing he got
arrested for."