WHAT'S GOING ON?

On Jan. 26, I read an article in The Bee on medicinal marijuana. Some guy
was getting five years for growing and using marijuana, although it was
prescribed for him for medicinal reasons. Local enforcement agencies were
harassing him. Were they aware or unaware of the laws that were in effect?

Same scenario here, except the controversy is about methaphetamine, the No.
1 ingredient in which is benzedrine. Therefore any test results should read
benzedrine, when people are drug-tested.

So why is it that when you're told you have a dirty drug test, supposedly
revealing methaphetamine, that the test results don't state "benzedrine,"
they state "ephedrine"?

Ephedrine is a herb root from China classified as ephedra. It's sold over
the counter every day to millions of people as a dietary supplement; it's
in most cold remedy medications. It's classified as legal by the Food and
Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The only
restrictions the FDA has put on it is the amount allotted per serving, and
warnings must be put on any packaging when it is used.

When people are drug-tested, and they're told the test came back dirty, why
do those test results say "ephedrine"? And classify it as methaphetamine?
Methaphetamine and methaphephiderine are two different things. People are
being incarcerated for a legal herb. The governing agencies know this, but
fail to inform the public.

What's really going on here?

Tim A. Avila, Madera