Nutrition / Supplements Forum: This is a discussion on USA Today thinks ALL supplements should be BANNED!!! within the Bodybuilding forums, part of the extensive steroid information at MESO-Rx; Bros,
The article from USA today on January 6th pasted below proves it: It's getting worse and worse: Now that ...
USA Today thinks ALL supplements should be BANNED!!!
Bros,
The article from USA today on January 6th pasted below proves it: It's getting worse and worse: Now that Ephedra / Ephedrine is about to be banned permanently thanks to sloppy usage by former baseball pitchers and a few people who should NOT be taking the supplement (read the LABELS, and you wont die, bleed, cough or choke), there is a rally cry to regulate (read BAN) ALL SUPPLEMENTS that studies prove to be safe.
This article makes one thing clear: The vendetta is not against Ephedra. It is against the so-called "Supplement Industry".
So remember, although aspirin has caused 10's of thousands of deaths over the same decade that 155 (yes - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE, not ONE-HUNDRED THOUSAND...) fatalities resulted from ephedrine mis-use, aspirin is still on the shelves, ready to burst a hole in your stomach.
Ephedra is the cheapest, most effective supplement for fat loss... but the government would have you pay $5 a pill for phentermine, meridia, and other drugs that are more toxic to not only your stomach, but your brain and liver.
-HL
Note: It would figure that a spinless writer hiding under the banner of an op-ed piece would choose to write this without revealing himself. Any bets this guy has failed at lifting weights and now has a problem giving up his doughnuts and fried chicken?
Law lets risky stimulants take ephedra's place
OP / ED (No Author) - USA TODAY - January 6th, 2004
As the federal government inches toward an overdue ban on the deadly diet supplement ephedra, supplement makers and consumers are rushing to risky substitutes.
And the government can't stop them.
On Dec. 27, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it soon will issue a ban on ephedra to take effect 60 days later. The action comes nearly a decade - and 155 deaths - after medical experts began noticing a surge in troubling reports about the amphetamine-like stimulant, which was being peddled to athletes and dieters.
Yet the ban fails to correct a regulatory system that assumes dietary supplements are safe until proved harmful. That standard is more lenient than those for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, which must be shown to be safe before they can be sold.
In ephedra's case, the system led to untold numbers of heart attacks and strokes as well as deaths, among them Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last year.
But ephedra is just the most notorious of the unproven supplements readily available in stores, online and by mail. Now that ephedra is being banned, marketers are pushing "ephedra-free" stimulants based on herbs such as bitter orange, green tea, grape-seed extract and guarana. Industry officials say that in anticipation of a ban, consumers already have been shifting to substitutes.
Their search for safety may be illusory. Consider bitter orange. Research at the University of Arkansas suggests it reacts with many prescription drugs to undermine their effectiveness. Other studies have shown that bitter orange raises blood pressure in animals, suggesting it could carry some of the same risks as ephedra for humans.
Even less is known about the potential effects of most other ephedra substitutes.
The FDA publishes a list of commonly available supplements that are known to have caused nausea, vomiting, liver and kidney disease, high and low blood pressure, paralysis and death. Still, little reliable scientific research on these substances exists, and the industry's clout in Congress has blocked the FDA from banning a substance unless the agency is prepared to prove in court that it poses "an unreasonable health risk."
Even with ephedra's tragic record, the government didn't test that hurdle until now. Thousands of reports of illness and death linked to ephedra prompted the FDA to commission outside studies that it believes provide the evidence needed to withstand a legal challenge from the industry.
Other supplements associated with health risks are still getting a free pass. The FDA doesn't even have the authority to require their manufacturers to turn over any reports they receive about consumers who are harmed by the products.
While Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson wants Congress to require that manufacturers report customers' adverse reactions, he has not made passage of such legislation a priority.
The industry says the current law and self-regulation are adequate. Yet, it has fought efforts to improve safety. When the FDA tried to tighten supplement regulation in 1994, the industry persuaded Congress to strip the agency of the little authority it had.
Ephedra is finally on its way out. But until the industry and its allies in Congress make consumer protection a higher priority, too many other potentially dangerous supplements remain on store shelves.
The USA Today is a joke of a newspaper. As I like to call it, its the Clif Notes of Newspapers. No real in-depth articles and full of crap.
That may be the case, but their circulation is Nationwide - not just one state. So politicians and constituents will be reading this crap - which I agree is crap - and will use this as fodder for thier "YES" vote in March to ban Ephedra. It will also scare people and force us to defend ourselves when we make up our own minds about what to put into our bodies.
Multi-vitamins with any type of herb will probably be next... Who knows what will follow? But this is a dangerous precedent, this Ephedra ban.
The article from USA today on January 6th pasted below proves it: It's getting worse and worse: Now that Ephedra / Ephedrine is about to be banned permanently thanks to sloppy usage by former baseball pitchers and a few people who should NOT be taking the supplement (read the LABELS, and you wont die, bleed, cough or choke), there is a rally cry to regulate (read BAN) ALL SUPPLEMENTS that studies prove to be safe.
This article makes one thing clear: The vendetta is not against Ephedra. It is against the so-called "Supplement Industry".
So remember, although aspirin has caused 10's of thousands of deaths over the same decade that 155 (yes - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE, not ONE-HUNDRED THOUSAND...) fatalities resulted from ephedrine mis-use, aspirin is still on the shelves, ready to burst a hole in your stomach.
Ephedra is the cheapest, most effective supplement for fat loss... but the government would have you pay $5 a pill for phentermine, meridia, and other drugs that are more toxic to not only your stomach, but your brain and liver.
-HL
Note: It would figure that a spinless writer hiding under the banner of an op-ed piece would choose to write this without revealing himself. Any bets this guy has failed at lifting weights and now has a problem giving up his doughnuts and fried chicken?
Law lets risky stimulants take ephedra's place
OP / ED (No Author) - USA TODAY - January 6th, 2004
As the federal government inches toward an overdue ban on the deadly diet supplement ephedra, supplement makers and consumers are rushing to risky substitutes.
And the government can't stop them.
On Dec. 27, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it soon will issue a ban on ephedra to take effect 60 days later. The action comes nearly a decade - and 155 deaths - after medical experts began noticing a surge in troubling reports about the amphetamine-like stimulant, which was being peddled to athletes and dieters.
Yet the ban fails to correct a regulatory system that assumes dietary supplements are safe until proved harmful. That standard is more lenient than those for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, which must be shown to be safe before they can be sold.
In ephedra's case, the system led to untold numbers of heart attacks and strokes as well as deaths, among them Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last year.
But ephedra is just the most notorious of the unproven supplements readily available in stores, online and by mail. Now that ephedra is being banned, marketers are pushing "ephedra-free" stimulants based on herbs such as bitter orange, green tea, grape-seed extract and guarana. Industry officials say that in anticipation of a ban, consumers already have been shifting to substitutes.
Their search for safety may be illusory. Consider bitter orange. Research at the University of Arkansas suggests it reacts with many prescription drugs to undermine their effectiveness. Other studies have shown that bitter orange raises blood pressure in animals, suggesting it could carry some of the same risks as ephedra for humans.
Even less is known about the potential effects of most other ephedra substitutes.
The FDA publishes a list of commonly available supplements that are known to have caused nausea, vomiting, liver and kidney disease, high and low blood pressure, paralysis and death. Still, little reliable scientific research on these substances exists, and the industry's clout in Congress has blocked the FDA from banning a substance unless the agency is prepared to prove in court that it poses "an unreasonable health risk."
Even with ephedra's tragic record, the government didn't test that hurdle until now. Thousands of reports of illness and death linked to ephedra prompted the FDA to commission outside studies that it believes provide the evidence needed to withstand a legal challenge from the industry.
Other supplements associated with health risks are still getting a free pass. The FDA doesn't even have the authority to require their manufacturers to turn over any reports they receive about consumers who are harmed by the products.
While Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson wants Congress to require that manufacturers report customers' adverse reactions, he has not made passage of such legislation a priority.
The industry says the current law and self-regulation are adequate. Yet, it has fought efforts to improve safety. When the FDA tried to tighten supplement regulation in 1994, the industry persuaded Congress to strip the agency of the little authority it had.
Ephedra is finally on its way out. But until the industry and its allies in Congress make consumer protection a higher priority, too many other potentially dangerous supplements remain on store shelves.
Not to pat myself on the back but if people would email their Senators telling them if they vote take away choices they would vote against them and ACTUALLY VOTE AGAINST THEM as I do perhaps they might think before they bow down to pharmaceutical companies.
Than again maybe not but we can try.AS is I am voting AGAINST EVERY elected official in NY next election.
EVERY ONE voted to ban Ephedra and they have their sights set on banning much more.BOTH PARTIES are OWNED by Pharmaceutical industry.
They seem to have no problem with people takeing anything the pharmaceutical companies put out.Regardless of the side effects/deaths.
Darter
what is unbelievable is the pure ignorance of the people who write those articles when they really know nothing about anything. everytime the gov't passes a law these days it takes another right away from us. what also sucks is even when we do vote and stop something, the gov't will sneak it in on the back end of another bill to get it passed. like to try and ban some supplement and throw it within an anti-terrorism bill.
Prior to self-righteously calling this an impingement of our rights, I must ask you to take into account your views of illicit drugs.
I don't know what your personal views are on them, hence the preface, but if you believe that pot, cocaine, LSD and the like should remain illegal, then you have no business calling it a right to use ephedra.
Myself, I believe in the autonomy of the individual. So long as our actions have no direct impact upon the autonomy and livelihood of others, then what we put in our bodies is no one's fucking business.
Im all for the legalization of AAS and marijuana, but keeping coke, LSD, and similar with scheduled status. What harm comes to others from AAS, pot, or ephedra? None. Coke, acid, meth, etc can have a big impact on other people through impaired physical/mental abilities.
Overall I agree with you big Grizzly, but obviously not all drugs can be lumped together.
very valid points ... i agree with what your saying bob & grizz. it's crazy to think of people are getting in trouble with the law for using aas , if you think about it, all they wanna do is better themselves and/or get big.
very valid points ... i agree with what your saying bob & grizz. it's crazy to think of people are getting in trouble with the law for using aas , if you think about it, all they wanna do is better themselves and/or get big.
Bumping what you bros are saying...its like.....we arent hurting other people and in fact are helping ourselves in most cases!
Im all for the legalization of AAS and marijuana, but keeping coke, LSD, and similar with scheduled status. What harm comes to others from AAS, pot, or ephedra? None. Coke, acid, meth, etc can have a big impact on other people through impaired physical/mental abilities.
Overall I agree with you big Grizzly, but obviously not all drugs can be lumped together.
Acid has zero bad effects.
Anyhow, I don't understand the argument you're making. Are you saying that only meth, coke, etc. cause imparied physical/mental function? I'm pretty sure that's why people use drugs. To get fucked up. Pot will burn you out and make you lazy. Sounds like impaired physical and mental function to me.
Can the abuse of these drugs lead to affecting the lives of others? Yes, but that's the same with anything. I've done plenty of cocaine in my days and I've never hurt anyone, stolen their shit, etc. I've done a little meth, too. Again, no problems. Do some people get super addicted and then start a life of crime? Yes, but that should in no way carryover and start affecting my autonomy and sovereignty of self. Just because someone else is a fucktard should have no effect on my ability to choose to use drugs.
And, oh yes, AAS have never caused the same problems as other drugs. No one has ever sucked a dick for some AAS money. No one has ever sold their car, dropped out of school and lived in a seedy neighborhood so they could better afford their drugs. And, certainly, there has never been any theft associated with AAS use. I mean, those scammers and (particularly relevant) those reverse scammers have never stolen money and/or drugs.
I think your bias against the use of "hard drugs" has caused you to make a mistake in your reasoning.
USA Today thinks ALL supplements should be BANNED!!! 
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