Why Was Ephedra Banned?

Ephedra was placed under a ban in the United States as it was connected with several deaths including those of sportspeople as well as older people. We also know of the case of Kory Stringer, who was on the use of Ephedra in order to bring down his weight and enhance his athletic abilities died of a heat stroke when he was involved in a workout session at the Minnesota Vikings pre-season. The prohibition on Ephedra and Ephedra based medical products was decided by Food and Drugs Administration in December 2003 as by that time the number of casualties reported had gone up to more than 155.

Though we now know why Ephedra was banned in US in 2003, it must also be mentioned here that the ban was lifted in April 2005 that once again permitted the sale of ephedra based products. However the FDA applied again for the ban to re-imposed as several issues relating to the drug cropped up again. The ban became effective in July 2006.

If we try to analyze why ephedra was banned again by the FDA we can see that the addictive powers of the drug occupies the prominent place. It is also believed that Ephedra contains some controversial ingredient that was against the law. It is because of this as well as the addictive property of Ephedra that several drug manufacturers and dealers have been making use of it in the manufacture of various other illegal drugs like speed, meth crystal and several others.