The case of ephedrine is very interesting and it is not surprising that so many people commented on it and were so excited about each new development regarding the legal status of this substance. Many newspapers published a series of articles commenting on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on ephedrine.
The reasons for such interest are mainly the following:
- First of all, many people were already using over-the-counter ephedrine, you can easily imagine how interested they were about the potential risks to your health!
- How is it that ephedrine, derived from a natural plant called Ephedra or Ma Huang, had been used without problems for more than 5,000 years and was suddenly presented as dangerous?
- All serious medical surveys confirmed that ephedrine presented real benefits and did not pose any health hazards when used in the prescribed doses, so what was the scientific basis used by the FDA to justify this ban in the US? ?
- The FDA’s position apparently changed many times, and many people suspected that the pharmaceutical industry was exerting intense lobbying to try to protect its financial interests. In 1997, the FDA proposed a first rule of a maximum authorized dose of ephedrine, then in 2000, the FDA took a step back, then later in 2004, the highly publicized deaths of baseball players urged the FDA to ban again, but in 2005 this ban was overturned by a trial in Utah! And finally, in May 2007, the United States Supreme Court rejected a petition challenging the ephedrine ban and, since that date, the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedrine is illegal in the United States. But it is still legal to buy ephedrine as a bronchodilator for asthma, given maximum amounts of 3.6 grams per sale and 7.5 grams per month, with the obligation to verify the name and address of the buyer. Last but not least, Ma Huang as a pure herb can still be legally sold in the US, but not as a dietary supplement.
- The fact that a natural plant contained such an efficient fat loss product was preventing pharmaceutical companies from patenting it, and was a serious loss in its potential market share in the huge and growing weight management market; it would have been a challenge for them. find, produce and sell any other chemical that is equally efficient.
- Some people suspected that ephedrine’s easy chemical reduction to methamphetamine was the main reason the FDA wanted to precisely control the quantities sold in the US and also keep track of the identity of buyers.
- The FDA ban was also ambiguous because ephedrine could no longer be sold as a dietary supplement for weight loss, but was licensed as a bronchodilator. This kind of “gray area” made it very confusing for many people.
In conclusion, there is no question that Hollywood could have written a good movie set from this FDA ban. The stakes were high in that story and the full truth has probably not yet been revealed.
Legality aside, the important questions are:
- Is Ephedrine Effective For Weight Loss? Yes, without a doubt, many medical surveys have shown it.
- Is Ephedrine Safe? Again, yes, an evaluation of 19 medical studies is available on the CRN (Council for Responsible Nutrition) website, stating that all studies concluded that ephedrine did not pose any risk at the prescribed dose.
To those who ask where to buy ephedrine, we remind them again of the legal requirements: the identity of the buyer must be verified and the maximum sales are 3.6 grams per day and 7.5 grams per month.
Our recommendation for people who wish to use ephedrine as a bronchodilator would be to consult their doctor first to check for possible contraindications.
Another tip would be to avoid buying fake products online, since the information on the online products is unclear and can lead to selection errors, we strongly recommend getting help from serious websites that present reviews of online stores that sell ephedrine legally .
