BILL TARGETS SALES OF EPHEDRINE TO MINORS

The Texas Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that
would make it illegal to sell products containing ephedrine to minors.

Under Senate Bill 656, muscle enhancers, diet supplements and other
products containing ephedrine could not be sold to people 17 years old
and younger, unless a doctor or parent approves. Many over-the-counter
drugs for treating hay fever, asthma, nasal congestion and hemorrhoids
as well as weight-loss supplements and energy boosters contain
ephedrine, a chemical that can be extracted from herbs or produced
synthetically in a lab.

The bill, which also would require labeling the product with a warning
that sale to minors is prohibited, would make it a class C
misdemeanor, punishable by fine of up to $500, for a seller's
first-time offense, and a class B misdemeanor, punishable by $2,000
fine and 180-day jail term, for subsequent violations.

Ephedrine has been linked to depression, psychosis, high blood
pressure and some deaths. The Texas Department of Health has been
trying since 1995 to require prescriptions for products containing
ephedrine.