BANNING EPHEDRA MAKES LITTLE SENSE

Re: the U.S. ban on ephedra (Gazette, Dec. 31, "Stop taking ephedra now:
U.S.").

I don't agree. Ephedra, within the parameters of the prescribed dose,
can give you energy when you are all but sapped of it. It can curb
your appetite rather effectively, though not indefinitely

But if you go over the prescribed dose, you will find yourself in much
the same situation as a featherweight on five espressos: very amped,
very nervous and very regretful.

Can it kill? Of course it can. The product information says people
with anxiety conditions and heart irregularities should steer clear of
ephredra.

This isn't classified information, in much the same way that a causal
relation between tobacco smoke and cancer isn't classified.

But the tobacco industry is a multi-billion-dollar market that very
generously tends to political campaign needs.

The so-called increase in ephedra mortality is vague, sketchy and
smacks of exaggeration.

The only ephedra death that was lucidly and widely reported was that
of a baseball player who died after having taken six times the
prescribed dose in one sitting, then running in very hot weather.

It's not clear to me why I should have my access to ephredra curbed
because other people use it incorrectly.

I don't see binge-drinkers shaping alcohol policy. I don't see
lung-cancer patients inciting the criminal prohibition of cigarettes.

Natasa Karambatsos

Brossard