BAN ON EPHEDRA APPEARS SELECTIVE

Re: Ephedra ban:

According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year more than 400,000
Americans die from cigarette smoking.

The National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency reports that 105,000
Americans die annually from alcohol-related causes. The Journal of the
American Medical Association reported 564 Viagra-related deaths in 1999
alone. According to the Institute of Medicine, 7,400 Americans die each
year because of prescription drug errors.

My point is not that cigarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs should be
banned by the Food and Drug Administration, but rather why ephedra with 155
deaths over a period of eight years? What does this mean and what will be
next? In 2004, let us all be alert, aware and protective of our great and
free society. We have so much to lose.

Danee Barnett, Longboat Key