| Vickie D. McDonald | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Nebraska Legislature from the 41st district | |
| In office August 10, 2001 – January 7, 2009 | |
| Appointed by | Mike Johanns |
| Preceded by | Richard N. McDonald |
| Succeeded by | Kate Sullivan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1947-05-26) May 26, 1947 (age 77) Phillips, Nebraska |
| Political party | Republican |
Vickie D. McDonald (born May 26, 1947) was a Nebraska state senator from St. Paul, Nebraska, in the Nebraska Legislature.
Personal life
McDonald was born on May 26, 1947, in Phillips, Nebraska, and graduated from Phillips High School. She was a 1990 Dale Carnegie graduate, 1996 Nebraska LEAD Program graduate, 1997 Life Underwriters Training Council graduate, 1999 Hall County Leadership Tomorrow graduate, and a 2002 Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development graduate. She worked in many financial services occupations and was a member of many Grand Island, Nebraska, organizations. After the death of her husband Richard N. McDonald, she married Larry Harnisch. They live in Lincoln, Nebraska.
State legislature
McDonald was appointed to the legislature by Governor Mike Johanns on August 10, 2001, to replace her husband, deceased senator Richard N. McDonald. She was then elected in 2002 to represent the 41st Nebraska legislative district and reelected in 2004. She sat on the Education, Natural Resources, Reference, and Legislative Performance Audit committees as well as the Executive Board. She served as the vice chair of the Intergovernmental Cooperation committee.
Drug policy
Salvia divinorum
McDonald supported a proposal for the addition of the psychoactive herb Salvia divinorum to Nebraska's Schedule I classification early in 2008. Salvia divinorum was legal in Nebraska, but McDonald claimed that "Nebraska needs to classify Salvia divinorum and its active ingredient, salvinorin A, as a controlled substance in order to protect our children from a drug being portrayed as harmless when it's not." She also said that "Videos of teens using this common plant to get high have become an internet sensation. Anytime anything's on YouTube it's an issue. Legislators, parents, grandparents, we need to be on top of these things. We need to protect our children and this is one way we can do it."
Her bill proposed addition of Salvia divinorum to Schedule I of the Nebraska Uniform Controlled Substances Act, making the possession of Salvia a Class IV felony with a penalty of up to five years. Trafficking would fall under a Class III felony with up to a 20-year penalty. Opponents of extremely prohibitive Salvia restrictions argued that such reactions were 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.
McDonald's bill, LB840, was ultimately not passed by the Nebraska Legislature. However, shortly after she was term limited and left office, another bill restricting the use of Salvia divinorum, LB123 sponsored by Russ Karpisek, passed the Nebraska Legislature in 2009.
See also
Citations
- Bruning 2008-01-07 (US Media).
- Berry 2008-01-07 (US Media).
- White 2008-01-08 (US Media).
- Nutt et al. 2007.
References
- Blosser, Brett. "Lessons in The Use of Mazatec Psychoactive Plants". The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
- Lopez, Alan D (April 2005). "The evolution of the Global Burden of Disease framework for disease, injury and risk factor quantification: developing the evidence base for national, regional and global public health action". Globalization and Health. 1 (5). BioMed Central Ltd: 5. doi:10.1186/1744-8603-1-5. PMC 1143783. PMID 15847690. - Table 2. Global burden of disease and injury attributable to selected risk factors, 1990.
- MiSP (2006). "Follow the Money". e.g. Nebraska/McDonald. The National Institute on Money in State Politics. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - NIAAA (August 2001). "Number of deaths and age-adjusted death rates per 100,000 population for categories of alcohol-related (A-R) mortality, United States and States, 1979-96". Database Resources / Statistical Tables. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Archived from the original on August 7, 2007. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
- Nutt, David; King, Leslie; Saulsbury, William; Blakemore, Colin (March 2007). "Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse". The Lancet. 369 (9566): 1047–1053. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4. PMID 17382831. S2CID 5903121.
- Siebert, Daniel. "The Legal Status of Salvia divinorum". The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
News references
- White, Steve (January 8, 2008). "Lawmakers Want to Ban YouTube Drug". Nebraska TV. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- Berry, Jeniffer (January 7, 2008). "Salvia becomes new drug threat among teens". KHAS TV News 5. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- Bruning, Jon (press release) (January 7, 2008). "Bruning Unveils 2008 Legislative Package". Nebraska TV.
- Stoddard, Martha (January 7, 2008). "Nebraska attorney general wants to curtail somes uses of insanity plea". Omaha World-Herald.
- Chicago Sun-Times editorial (December 31, 2007). "Lawmakers manage to outlaw licking an obscure plant". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
General references
- "Nebraska Unicameral Legislature". Sen. Vickie D. McDonald. Retrieved March 15, 2006.