"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
Too Stupid to Live
Chalk up one for freedom! Today a Federal judge struck down the quacks at the FDA and lifted the ban on Ephedra. What I found most amazing was the ban on this drug in the first place. There was an estimated 12 million people who consumed this drug at one time or another in their life, and about 155 deaths were 'linked' to it. Most of these deaths were never proven to be related to the use of Ephedra or it was shown that the person had heart troubles to begin with.
As someone who has personally taken this product, as well as known many others who have as well, I know that I have never had a problem with this product, nor anyone I know. It seems to me that for the relatively small amount of people who were linked to adverse effects from this drug, that it was not a warranted move to ban this product simply on face value. When you consider how many people die or become ill from other sanctioned products on the market, this was asinine at best.
Ephedrine or Ma Huang has been consumed for hundreds of years, as have hundreds of other herbs. This is just another example of leviathan getting involved where it has no business. The quacks at the FDA acting on emotion, as most stupid people do, did not first look at the facts before banning this drug; no, they did what government always does, limit our right as adults to choose for ourselves what we can put into our own bodies.
Aspirin and aspirin-like products kill more people every year than the deaths Ephedra was 'linked' to; for that fact, so do peanuts. Another herb (cannabis) has an estimated yearly death of zero, but don't expect the government to use the same logic when determining what is bad for you. If the FDA's true intention was to save us from ourselves, why is there no ban on aspirin, aspirin products, and peanuts? I think we all know the answer to this . . . money!
I can hear the liberals screaming already, 'We need the government to keep us safe,' 'Who will look out for us?', and 'It's for the children.' I know because I have had discussions with these brain-dead sponges already about this very subject. One sheep described Ephedra as poison! Of course she had never taken the time to get any facts on the subject; why bother when the government has already provided them for you? I asked her why she thought she had the right to impose her will on myself and others, and she informed me that she did not care if I used Ephedra or not, she just wanted to see it taken off the market. (I will let that brilliant statement speak for itself.)
My answer to what about the people who take this drug and die is really very simple, it's called natural selection. If you are not responsible enough to look into the possible side effects and precautions on a drug, maybe we don't need you in the gene pool. Ephedra is like caffeine in that it speeds up your heart. If you have heart problems, I would advise you not to use this product or any product containing caffeine-related ingredients. This is not medical advice, it's called common sense. If you still need an agency like the FDA to keep you safe, well maybe you are just too stupid to live!
P.S. I'm really not back, just taking a vacation from my vacation . . . now back to my steak.