If you are a user of prohormone products, then this article should be of extreme interest to you. Even if you are not a user of prohormone products, but just a supplement consumer who wishes to maintain his/her freedom of access to health food products, then this article should still be of interest to you.
HR 5564 is a bill that was introduced to the United States House of Representatives last October by Rep. Sweeney and Rep. Osbourne. This bill poses a grave threat not only to the prohormone industry, but also to the integrity of the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (DSHEA) and ultimately to the nutritional supplement industry as a whole. This bill aims to give broad powers to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to schedule practically any steroid-based compound as a controlled substance. In effect, this bill will allow the government to completely circumvent DSHEA and remove popular and safe nutritional supplement products from the market - without identifying any legitimate public health concern!!
That is correct, this bill aims to give the attorney general the power to criminalize the possession of all steroid hormone related supplement products that are on the market today. The bill is written in such a way that it covers not only all steroid hormone precursors and metabolites, but also all precursors of precursors, and metabolites of precursors and so on and so forth. The bill gives no consideration to whether or not any of these compounds possess any relevant pharmacological activity - let alone whether or not any of these compounds are related to any health risk or potential for abuse.
What compounds can be made illegal to possess after this bill is passed? Well the obvious candidates are the traditional prohormones - androstenedione, norandrostenedione, 4-androstenediol, 1-androstenediol and so on and so forth. Of course all the so called "pro-steroids" like 1-testosterone will also fall victim. It doesn't stop there however. The anti-aging related products DHEA, 7-Keto DHEA, and pregnenolone will also be bootstrapped in - even though these have little or nothing to do with promoting muscle growth!!
What are "Controlled Substances"??
The "Controlled Substances Act of 1970" as it is referred to, was originally designed to limit and control access to drugs that have potential for addiction and abuse. This originally concerned only drugs that can make you high or intoxicated in a pleasant way, but in 1990 an amendment to the act was approved that also included anabolic steroids. The Controlled Substances Act allows for fine control of drugs of abuse, by the inclusion of 5 categories of scheduling that range from the most restricted (Class I) to the lesser restricted (Class V). Along with the Controlled Substances Act were harsher prison sentences, new DEA registration numbers for all prescribers or drug handlers, and other additions that are beyond the scope of this article. Most states have passed laws that mirror the Controlled Substances Act, although from state to state there are differences and peculiarities.
HR 5564 aims to reclassify all steroid hormone supplement products as Class III controlled substances, right along with prescription anabolic steroids. Since these products are not approved drugs, the only way you can possess them is if you have special registration by the DEA (generally only given to doctors or to those belonging to established pre-approved research organizations). If you do not have this special registration then you might be committing a FELONY for having that bottle of DHEA or 4-AD, and you can conceivably be facing prison time!! As unbelievable as this sounds, this is all true. And it can happen as early as February or March of 2003.
What YOU can do
The time to stand up for supplement freedom is NOW! Your action is urgently needed! You can make a difference if you act immediately! Let the folks on Capitol Hill know that American adults want supplement freedom, not an expansion of the war on drugs into our neighborhood health food stores! Please take a moment of your time and visit the United Supplement Freedom Association (USFA) website right now, at www.usfa.biz There you can follow the directions on how to petition your congressional representatives and demand that they fight this bill!! A form letter and list of representatives is available. We must act immediately, or face the beginning of the end of our supplement freedoms!!!
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