THE KNEE-JERK RUSH TO BAN THE DRUG EPHEDRA

Thousands of people die every year from overdoses of drugs like heroin and
cocaine, which is an intolerable state of affairs. So here's an idea: Let's
outlaw heroin and cocaine.

Whoops. We already did that, didn't we? And people kept snorting, smoking or
injecting them anyway, despite the risks. Prohibiting a substance is not a
cure-all. That's worth remembering when politicians demand that the federal
government and Major League Baseball ban ephedra, the herbal stimulant
blamed for the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler.

A horde of federal lawmakers leaped to denounce baseball for letting players
decide for themselves whether to use ephedra--a policy Rep. John Sweeney
(R-N.Y.) called "irresponsible and negligent." A ban on ephedra "is
something we definitely are considering," said Mark McClellan, commissioner
of the Food and Drug Administration.

This pattern fits the usual custom when drugs are involved, which is to have
the hanging first and then conduct the trial. Though Bechler's locker had a
bottle of supplements containing ephedra, we're still waiting for the
toxicology report to establish whether he actually had it in his system.

Even if he took the pills that day, it may not make much sense to blame
ephedra, an herbal extract containing ephedrine. The 23-year-old pitcher was
overweight and had little food in his system as he sweated through drills on
an 81-degree day--factors that may have contributed to his death from
heatstroke.

The label on the stuff Bechler reportedly was taking has a warning against
use by anyone who has high blood pressure or liver problems, as he did. At
spring training, Major League Baseball gives every player a 15-page booklet
on supplements, telling them to talk to their doctors before using anything,
and warning that ephedra may cause strokes, heart attacks and death.

It's not as though there has been an epidemic of ephedra-related fatalities
in baseball. Lots of players have used it. One former teammate of Bechler
said, "Let's be real. Who doesn't take it?" People expected to perform at
their physical peak in a lucrative but mercilessly competitive environment
are bound to look for a boost on days when they don't feel their best. For
many athletes, ephedra is the best option. Yet this is the first baseball
death blamed on the substance.

Supporters of a ban note that the National Football League, the National
Collegiate Athletic Association and the International Olympic Committee all
forbid its use. But the NFL also prohibits steroids, which somehow hasn't
stopped players from getting more gigantic every year. And it's hard to see
why baseball should ban something unless it confers a big competitive
advantage and seriously endangers the health of athletes, neither of which
is necessarily the case with ephedra.

It's a supplement used by some 12 million people a year, generating sales of
nearly $15 billion in 1999, which suggests that a lot of Americans find it
useful. True, it does occasionally produce adverse reactions and even death,
but so do lots of over-the-counter remedies, including aspirin.

Says John P. Morgan, a physician and professor of pharmacology at the City
University of New York Medical School, "If we added up all the drugs on
Earth and counted all the times each one has been taken by humans without
harm, ephedrine would be at or near the top. It's been taken by enormous
numbers of people. It's a drug with an amazing safety margin."

When taken in combination with caffeine, it also has proven value as a
weight-loss aid. A study by Harvard and Columbia University researchers
published last year in the International Journal of Obesity found that this
type of supplement was effective in reducing weight and cholesterol levels
"without significant adverse effects."

Other studies suggest that ephedra poses far greater dangers than most
health supplements. But that's not necessarily an argument for banning it.
It's a better argument for requiring conspicuous warnings to let people know
they may be putting themselves at some risk when they take the stuff.

The government, or baseball, may be able to get rid of ephedra. What they
can't get rid of is the desire many Americans have to be thinner or more
energetic. Go after one popular substance, and they'll inevitably find
others, legal or illegal, which may not be safer. And that's especially true
of professional athletes, whose livelihoods are at stake.

So here's a different solution: Make sure people have the information they
need about ephedra, and let them decide for themselves whether the benefits
are worth the risks. Whose life is it, anyway?