NO RELIEF IN SIGHT WITH EPHEDRINE

Standing in a convenience store checkout line, I noticed a rack of
packages of ephedrine for sale. Wait a minute. Didn't we ban that
stuff in Illinois?

No. What we banned earlier this year is ephedra. Ephedra is a
dangerous herbal stimulant that has been known to cause death in rare
cases. More common problems include seizures, rapid heartbeats and
heart attacks. Illinois was the first to ban ephedra. It is now
illegal in three states.

Just about 10 days ago, federal lawmakers in Washington, including
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, introduced legislation that would ban the sale
of ephedra nationwide.

Ephedrine is legal, but is just as dangerous. The Illinois law passed
last summer defines ephedra as follows: "Ephedra means herbs and
herbal products that contain ephedrine alkaloids ..." Though it
specifically bans "ephedrine alkaloids," that does not mean
"ephedrine."

Ephedrine is listed on the packages at the convenience store for
"asthma relief." Oh, sure. Most asthma sufferers go right to a gas
station for real relief. Sorry, everyone knows what these tablets are
used for. They are used to make methamphetamines. Some people chop up
ephedrine and use it as a sort of "country cocaine."

Ephedrine is a stimulant just like ephedra. It acts on the central
nervous system the same way. It can produce the same dangerous side
effects. Ephedrine has virtually the same warnings on its label as did
ephedra - "you may experience nervousness, trembling, sleeplessness
."

It seems that distributors have found a way around the state's ephedra
ban by wholesaleing ephedrine instead. I contacted the Illinois
attorney general's office to get some clarification.

"There is not much we can do about ephedrine," said Deborah Hagen,
spokeswoman at the AG's office. "It is approved by the FDA, so we
couldn't regulate that. That's solely in the jurisdiction of the FDA.

"We sent an investigator out after you called and found ephedrine
products and products that used to have ephedra in them, like the
stackers, that are now ephedra-free. But there is some confusion out
there. We had another call from someone who saw the ephedrine and
wondered if it was legal. It is." The Illinois legislation, then,
could only target part of the problem.

Ephedrine is different from anhydrous ammonia, another popular meth
ingredient. Anhydrous has a legitimate use in farming. Ephedrine is an
ingredient in Primatene and Sudafed. Ephedrine by itself, however, has
no legitimate use other than as a stimulant, even if it does promote
"asthma relief" on its package.

My research on this topic eventually brought me to BDI Marketing,
which is based in Indiana. BDI distributes many of the stimulants we
see at convenience stores, including Top Gun, Super Stingers, Super
Magnum and, of all things, Horniest Goat Weed. (Don't tell me, I don't
even want to know.) I tried to reach the company's CEO, but she did
not return my call.

I did reach the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington,
which confirmed that ephedrine is a federally recognized "precursor
drug" in the manufacture of amphetamines. It is under scrutiny by the
federal government for that reason, and there are regulations on the
amount of ephedrine that can be sold at one time.

As I was traveling around Springfield to see how many of them sell
ephedrine, I visited the Huck's on North Ninth Street. I did not find
any ephedrine there.

The manager of the store chooses not to sell ephedrine. Good for her.
But, wait. I phoned Huck's corporate office in Carmi to see if this is
a Huck's-wide policy. I was told that it was not. Instead, the policy
is to sell ephedrine because it is legal.

They wanted to know exactly which Springfield store was not selling
it, giving me the impression that the front office would soon be
telling the Ninth Street Huck's to put the ephedrine on display.

Which means I have inadvertently increased the availability of this
stuff.

Sigh.