FDA bans ephedra

As informed consumers, which would you rather have in your cookies; benzaldehyde or thujone? Does your hair prefer cetrimonium bromide or alkylbenzyldimethyl ammonium chloride?

I’m not suggesting willful ignorance or neglect here. Ephedra poses a risk to many people that they would not be aware of without medical testing.

Two years ago, I could tell you what my resting heart rate was. (In the low 50’s). I could tell you my cholesterol level (150 total, 65 HDL). I had been working out an average of 4 - 6 times per week for about 14 years. I received regular medical checkups. Due to my age and fitness fitness history, however, I had never been given an ekg. I was not a person who “refused to educate myself” about my own body. In fact, I had every reason to believe I had a heart of steel and no reason to worry about anything. I had no idea that ephedra would pose a particular risk to me.

This is the sort of product I want the government to regulate. Your “right” to purchase a non-essential product without a prescription does not warrant risking the lives of others.

Sometimes the government makes the wrong decision in banning a compound. Tryptophan and cyclamates spring to mind as prominent examples of this. However, they also make a lot of good decisions which protect us consumers from dangerous chemicals, and relieves us from the impossible task of being up to date on literally hundreds of thousands of different, and frequently highly technical, subjects.
That said, I plan to harvest a few pounds of ephedra plant for personal use the next time I’m in the southwest. Extraction and processing should be a fairly simple matter for anyone skilled in the art, and responsibility will be placed squarely where it belongs in such situations: on the user.

They are.

Ephedra ban spurs buyers to stock up

[sarcasm]
What the OP has forgotten is that we sheep need to be told what we can and can not do with our own bodies. Gosh, if it wasn’t for the government banning all things that can kill someone then we’d have to make choices for ourselves which we all know an individual simply can’t do.
[/sarcasm]

From a package of Stacker 3, Metabolizing Fat Burner:
Proprietary Blend. Ephedra Extract (leaves/stems)(25mg ephedrine group alkaloids)
there is several other things most notably 250 mg caffeine. $2 for 4 pills

From a bottle of Asthma Relief that was bought OTC at a gas station, $6 for 60 pills: Ephedrine Hydrochloride 25mg, and 200mg Guaifenesin.

Do we know if the Asthma Relief/Ephedrine Hydrochloride 25mg stuff is going to be pulled?
Is there a difference in the herb vs the stuff in the fuckin’ asthma relief? (did not want to get tossed to GQ :slight_smile: )

And BTW, 100% with the OP’er!

If someone knows where Wildest Bill is, he can probably direct you to some Rocket Fuel that’ll make ephedra look like Pez candies.