In a recent report by The Council for Responsible Nutrition in 2002 it was stated that the use of supplements and vitamins helped to reduce conditions like osteoporosis, heart disease, infectious diseases, cardiovascular disorders and birth defects.

But in March 2003 Senator R.Durban along with Senators H. Clinton, D. Feinstein and C. Schumer introduced a bill (SB722) entitled The Dietary Supplement Act of 2003. What this bill is calling for is for the FDA to have the power to remove any supplement including herbs, vitamins or minerals from the market.

It also requires that ALL nutritional supplements including vitamins, minerals and herbs to be held to the same standard of testing as pharmaceutical medications are. I can understand the testing of drugs because they are mostly synthetic substances made from one or a few compounds; many times taking what they believe to be the best constituent of a plant; but herbs are not drugs they are a food. This will most likely mean that the high cost of testing will be passed on to consumers. So if SB722 passes it will put the cost of supplements up in the same price range as pharmaceuticals. And they (pharmaceuticals) have become so over priced that if it were not for insurance many of us could not afford them. The question now is will the insurance companies cover supplements?

Does this also mean that with the passing of SB722 that we can no longer go to a health food store to purchase vitamins or herbs? Or will it be that because these supplements are being considered the same as drugs that you will now need to go to the Doctor (not trained in herbal healing) for a prescription and then to a pharmacy to fill that prescription.

This bill also requires that manufactures report ALL adverse reactions to the government. So once this bill is passed anyone can make a claim and that herb or supplement will automatically be removed from ALL shelves. So anyone who ignores instructions that are given and has a reaction however slight or unrelated to the supplement can make a claim and it will have to be removed. (Have any of you out there ever taken 3 Tylenol instead of 2 at one time?)

If SB722 should pass we will begin to lose our freedom to choose what vitamins and minerals we can use. Do they think we are not smart enough to make our own health care choices? How far will this ban go? Who is supporting this bill? The only ones that I can see who would gain from this is the pharmaceutical companies. There are groups out there supporting SB722 that don’t want to see people dying from supplements and neither do I. But only 177 as of now have died from the MISS-USE of Ephedra and it has now been banned, yet it has had centuries of safe use and only now there have been reported deaths (again from its miss-use). I am not taking these deaths lightly but more people die yearly from Tylenol misuse, peanut or strawberry allergies, cigarette smoking, and car accidents and the list could go on and as of yet none of these things has been banned.

In April 2004 the FDA banned Ephedra because it contains ephedrine. Ephedrine is one of the active constituents (about 50mg of Ephedra produces about _ mg of ephedrine) in Ephedra; it is the constituent that causes it to be a stimulant. But ephedrine has not been banned from over the counter medications like Sudafed, Contact, Bronkaid or Primate.

Herbalists do not use just ephedrine it’s not possible to get just that one constituent using Ephedra in a cup of tea.

The problems with Ephedra began when some diet companies began putting it in their formulas along with caffeine. They did this to increase the metabolic rate to burn more calories. But when you add caffeine to Ephedra it increases its actions making the heart beat faster and faster causing an increased risk of stroke or heart attack. Now if you add exercise (especially out in the sun) you increase the heart rate even more and look what you have done to Yourself.

Overdose and miss-use of this herb have been the underlying reason that this herb has gotten such a bad reputation. As an herbalist I would NOT use Ephedra for diet, it is NOT for weight loss.

Now because of the miss-use of these big diet companies I have been told by the Health Department to remove Ephedra from the shelves at The Herb Corner.

As far as I am concerned I am losing one of the best bronchodilators in the plant kingdom. When Ephedra is used traditionally it is a safe and effective herb in formulas for asthma, for helping to relax the air passages and to bring more blood flow to the lungs so that more oxygen can get into the blood. Traditionally Ephedra is not used by itself because too much can speed up the heart rate and raise the blood pressure; so it is always used in combination with other herbs to support the whole body which is what herbalism is all about. It takes into consideration the whole person and everything else that is going on with that person.

In my opinion the ban on Ephedra should only be for the diet industry, muscle building and athletic performance companies. But that is not what the Health Department thinks; they tell me that I can’t believe that the people who come into the shop to buy Ephedra are going to use it for asthma. Can’t the same be said for those that are buying Sudafed? The most recent commercials are saying quite clearly that Sudafed still contains ephedrine and they seem to be marketing it towards the people who want the ephedrine not the Sudafed.

My question is will the ban stop with Ephedra? And the answer is NO! A few days after the ban on Ephedra began CNN did a story on 12 other herbs that may also be pulled.

The deaths caused by Ephedra have been sensationalized to get more votes for SB722 and are probably being backed by big drug companies. I challenge you to watch the TV News and see how many of these drug companies are advertising; and are backing the TV News.

Please take a few minutes and send off a letter to your local Senators to stop this ban; or log on to www.citizens.org click onto the main page type in your name and address and it will automatically send a letter off to your representatives. It only takes a few minutes.

Don’t let your choices be taken away.