The Ephedra Debate

One of the primary roles of government in the marketplace is to protect the end user. This can become difficult at times in our free market society as consumers create a demand for a product that, overall, may not be in their best interest to use. But where there is demand, supply will surely emerge. With our capitalistic form of government, declaring a product unsuitable for sale is a complicated matter, especially when Republicans are calling the shots.
One recent development that has brought this issue up for debate is the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, a 23-year-old who had been taking Xenadrine RFA-1 during spring training to help him shed the ten pounds he needed to lose to get to his playing weight. During a workout on a warm mid-February day in Florida, Bechler’s body temperature shot up to 108 degrees and he fell victim to heatstroke.
An ingredient in Xenadrine is the herb ephedra, which contains ephedrine. Since ephedra is an herb, it is allowed to...