First they came for the oregano...
March 13, 2010 1:33 PM Subscribe
Why do you have to be 18 to buy Basil plants?
I bought a basil plant today and there was an age verification check on it at the checkout. The cashier said something like, 'These kids today are crazy', but wouldn't tell me what kind of trouble I could get into with it. She did confirm that the check was on the basil though and not any of the other things I bought. Google doesn't seem to have anything. I'm in Texas, in case it's a state thing.
I bought a basil plant today and there was an age verification check on it at the checkout. The cashier said something like, 'These kids today are crazy', but wouldn't tell me what kind of trouble I could get into with it. She did confirm that the check was on the basil though and not any of the other things I bought. Google doesn't seem to have anything. I'm in Texas, in case it's a state thing.
They're afraid you'll get fat from too much pesto?
I've definitely heard of people smoking saliva. (FWIW, the accounts I've heard suggest it's not much fun). Some species in the salvia genus are hallucinogenic, others are purely ornamental and some look a lot like basil. Maybe:
- You accidentally bought salvia, thinking it was basil
- The cashier thought your basil was a salvia
- The store has a blanket policy of age-checks on all herbs, or all plants that look like salvia.
My guess is that this is a local policy, put in place after a single incident of kids getting sick from smoking something stupid. Maybe check your your local newspaper archive for background?
posted by embrangled at 2:04 PM on March 13, 2010
I've definitely heard of people smoking saliva. (FWIW, the accounts I've heard suggest it's not much fun). Some species in the salvia genus are hallucinogenic, others are purely ornamental and some look a lot like basil. Maybe:
- You accidentally bought salvia, thinking it was basil
- The cashier thought your basil was a salvia
- The store has a blanket policy of age-checks on all herbs, or all plants that look like salvia.
My guess is that this is a local policy, put in place after a single incident of kids getting sick from smoking something stupid. Maybe check your your local newspaper archive for background?
posted by embrangled at 2:04 PM on March 13, 2010
I could see it for salvia, but not basil. Doesn't even sound like something they'd do if it was considered noxious (in which case, they'd probably not sell it at all). A quick search of Erowid shows that while it's in the same family as salvia divinorum, it's not psychoactive and doesn't seem to rate its own section.
posted by jquinby at 2:04 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by jquinby at 2:04 PM on March 13, 2010
Or, maybe there really has been a local trend of kids smoking basil. They're unlikely to actually get high on it, but they'd still get the headspin and smoker's cough that comes with inhaling any burning plant matter. I can understand parents being worried about that, regardless of what their kids were actually smoking.
posted by embrangled at 2:12 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by embrangled at 2:12 PM on March 13, 2010
I have never heard of this, and spent some years working in the greens industry. The odd thing is that to say that basil (Ocimum basilicum var.) is in the same family (Lamiaceae, the mint family) as Salvia is, while completely true, like saying that cuttlefish are in the same family as snails. Sounds like a surfeit of fear and too few facts.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 4:08 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 4:08 PM on March 13, 2010
Right. Sage is the culinary herb that's usually mentioned in the same breath as S. divinorum, although normal kitchen sage has no psychoactive effects. The reason is that they're both in the same genus — kitchen sage is Salvia officinalis. But basil really isn't terribly close to S. divinorum at all.
An ID check on buying kitchen sage could be attributed to overzealous enforcement, or to some sort of grapevine effect where a rumor or a new story about S. divinorum got linked in someone's mind with other Salvia species. (It helps that the kids these days misuse the word "salvia" to refer exclusively to S. divinorum; the only people who use the word to refer to the whole genus, including kitchen sage, are botanists.) But anyone with any clue about plants would have a hard time misinterpreting those stories as having anything at all to do with basil.
<unhelpful> Maybe they're worried about those crazy kids worshipping Vishnu. </unhelpful>
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:12 PM on March 13, 2010
An ID check on buying kitchen sage could be attributed to overzealous enforcement, or to some sort of grapevine effect where a rumor or a new story about S. divinorum got linked in someone's mind with other Salvia species. (It helps that the kids these days misuse the word "salvia" to refer exclusively to S. divinorum; the only people who use the word to refer to the whole genus, including kitchen sage, are botanists.) But anyone with any clue about plants would have a hard time misinterpreting those stories as having anything at all to do with basil.
<unhelpful> Maybe they're worried about those crazy kids worshipping Vishnu. </unhelpful>
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:12 PM on March 13, 2010
"new story." feh. make that "a news story about S. divinorum."
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:14 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:14 PM on March 13, 2010
The cashier was hitting on you?
posted by geekyguy at 5:21 PM on March 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by geekyguy at 5:21 PM on March 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
I bought a basil plant yesterday in Austin and there didn't seem to be any kind of age verification going on.
posted by pewpew at 5:34 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by pewpew at 5:34 PM on March 13, 2010
I've definitely heard of people smoking saliva. (FWIW, the accounts I've heard suggest it's not much fun).
Not much fun is an understatement, embrangled. How do you even get the stuff to light?
posted by IAmBroom at 6:36 PM on March 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not much fun is an understatement, embrangled. How do you even get the stuff to light?
posted by IAmBroom at 6:36 PM on March 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't have much of an answer, but I would love it if you'd phone up the store to ask and then let us all know. This is bizarre. If you're reluctant to phone them I'll do it if you provide the relevant info.
posted by heyho at 6:47 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by heyho at 6:47 PM on March 13, 2010
Response by poster: I should have mentioned that this was at a Lowes. Specifically this one if you feel like calling heyho.
posted by IanMorr at 7:07 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by IanMorr at 7:07 PM on March 13, 2010
Argh! They closed 18 minutes ago. I'll try in the morning; I'm soooo curious.
posted by heyho at 7:18 PM on March 13, 2010
posted by heyho at 7:18 PM on March 13, 2010
I'm totally bookmarking this to check back later! What I want to know is, what's the age check supposed to do?
As we all know, one must be over the age of 18 to purchase tobacco products. Such is the law.
Is Lowe's concerned that basil is a tobacco product? Because I can assure them that it is not. And that it is legal to purchase basil at any age. Even small children are legally allowed to purchase basil!
Furthermore, I quite suspect that kids are smoking the dried herb version of basil, the kind you buy in the spice aisle at the grocery store. Not, like, basil plants, for pity's sake.
This is really, really funny!
posted by ErikaB at 8:29 PM on March 13, 2010
As we all know, one must be over the age of 18 to purchase tobacco products. Such is the law.
Is Lowe's concerned that basil is a tobacco product? Because I can assure them that it is not. And that it is legal to purchase basil at any age. Even small children are legally allowed to purchase basil!
Furthermore, I quite suspect that kids are smoking the dried herb version of basil, the kind you buy in the spice aisle at the grocery store. Not, like, basil plants, for pity's sake.
This is really, really funny!
posted by ErikaB at 8:29 PM on March 13, 2010
Pestophobia?
posted by moof at 8:31 PM on March 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by moof at 8:31 PM on March 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
I phoned and spoke with a very pleasant service desk rep who claims that there is no policy that would prompt a cashier to ask for ID simply because a customer purchases a basil plant, regardless of the age of the buyer.
She said that perhaps if a credit card weren't signed on the back, an ID check would be necessary (she added that just using any kind of a card as payment should necessitate an ID check). Another possibility would be if a customer were purchasing any kind of painting supplies. She couldn't come up with another reason, so she asked someone else, and she got the same responses she'd offered me.
Would either of those two reasons fit with your trip to Lowe's, IanMorr?
posted by heyho at 6:24 AM on March 14, 2010
She said that perhaps if a credit card weren't signed on the back, an ID check would be necessary (she added that just using any kind of a card as payment should necessitate an ID check). Another possibility would be if a customer were purchasing any kind of painting supplies. She couldn't come up with another reason, so she asked someone else, and she got the same responses she'd offered me.
Would either of those two reasons fit with your trip to Lowe's, IanMorr?
posted by heyho at 6:24 AM on March 14, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for doing that. Weird. I asked the cashier to confirm the age check was on the basil and she did. It came up just after she scanned it and before we tried to pay. She had already scanned the small engine oil though, which is the only thing close to paint supplies. I may have to go buy another basil plant to see what happens.
posted by IanMorr at 9:27 AM on March 14, 2010
posted by IanMorr at 9:27 AM on March 14, 2010
Best answer: THIS IS SO WEIRD AND FUNNY! My guess is the rather pedestrian theory that whoever entered "1 live basil start" into the store's cash register system accidentally ticked the box for "check ID to verify age."
posted by ErikaB at 12:31 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ErikaB at 12:31 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: ARGH! They didn't have any Basil left today. The kids must have bought it all already. ErikaB's answer makes the most sense, but I'm going to buy another plant, with nothing else and pay cash next time I see it.
posted by IanMorr at 7:21 AM on March 20, 2010
posted by IanMorr at 7:21 AM on March 20, 2010
Response by poster: I finally made it back to Lowe's on a day when they had some Basil left and bought another plant. No ID check. I am much more disappointed than I should be about that. I'm guessing ErikaB is right that it was an accident. I'm also guessing the checkout person was either yanking my chain about what kids get up to or trying to appear like she knew what she was talking about.
posted by IanMorr at 10:00 AM on May 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by IanMorr at 10:00 AM on May 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by gabrielsamoza at 1:51 PM on March 13, 2010