COMBATTING ADDICTION

Ephedrine is a vasoconstrictor used primarily to treat allergies and
asthma. The ingredient is found in many over-the-counter remedies such
as Dristan and Primatene tablets. Because a frequent side-effect is
appetite suppression, the drug also is popular among dieters. But,
inexplicably, ephedrine has one sworn enemy: the Food and Drug
Administration.

The FDA has been trying for years to classify ephedrine as a narcotic.
But absent any legitimate justification, Congress prudently has not
allowed it to do so. The agency now thinks it may have found a way
around the will of the American people: a UN agreement this country
signed in 1971 that says if the World Health Organization (WHO)
pronounces a substance a narcotic, then signatories must treat it as
such. So the FDA is pushing for the international classification as a
way to get around democracy - and, evidently, facts.

The WHO concedes there is no evidence ephedrine is being abused. Its
own documents show no country has reported significant abuse as a
problem. Nonetheless, the WHO appears likely to grant the FDA its
wish. Bureaucrats worldwide love few things more than issuing grand
pronouncements.

Congress can and should intervene not merely to protect ephedrine, but
to protect American consumers from the constraints of capricious UN
edicts. Lacking data to support its proposal, the FDA is trying to
circumvent Congress. The agency is feeding its own addiction - to
power. Intervention is in order.