Brett's law
Brett's law is a name commonly given to a Delaware statute (SB259) generally prohibiting use of the psychoactive herb Salvia divinorum. A few other American States have proposed or introduced similar laws.
The law was named after Brett Chidester (1988 - 23 January, 2006), an American teenage suicide. The law was sponsored by Delaware state senator Senator Karen E. Peterson, and signed into law three months after the teen's death. It classifies Salvia divinorum as a Delaware Schedule I controlled substance, analogous to Federal Schedule I.
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. [1]
Brett Chidester case
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, 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. [2]
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. [3]
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. His diary or journal entries said:
- Salvia allows us to give up our senses and wander in the interdimensional time and space.... Also, and this is probably hard for most to accept, our existence in general is pointless. Final point: Us earthly humans are nothing.
Further context is lacking however as his journals have not been fully published. [4]
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. [5]
Furthermore, Salvia divinorum is considered relatively non-toxic [6] (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, a simple Google search of 'Salvia divinorum' returns ~1,500,000 results[7] which is suggestive of Salvia’s fairly significant profile and repute.
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. [8]
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. [9]
Groups concerned with such issues report that the suicide rate for teenage drinkers is nearly twice as high as that for non-drinkers. [10] [11]
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 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.[12]
Chidester's death was reported locally by Delaware Online [13] and subsequently by a number of media outlets including CNN (links below), NBC [14], ABC [15], USAToday [16], W*USA 9 [17], KATV(Channel7) [18] and KXAN [19]. 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 [20][21] [22][23]. To treat his acne, he was also taking minocycline which can have side effects that may impair thinking or reactions [24].
His parents divorced when he was three. A study from the Research Data Centre program [25] 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. [26]
The parents have conceded that he may have been suffering from general depression. [27]
See also
External links
- CNN's 'LEGAL BUT LETHAL' broadcast ('asx' video file - save then open with media player)
- - transcript (Salvia story halfway down the page)
- - viewers comment on CNN’s story
- Salvia divinorum Scotland's "Brett's Law" pages – with Salvia community perspectives, including:
- Senator Karen E. Peterson