It’s Not Fda That’s Making Herb Users Tremble Warnings Shrugged Off By Fans Of Ephedrine

It’s sold as Kickers, Diet-Max, and Mini Thins. It’s marketed as Herbal Ecstacy and Cloud 9. It’s pulled from the ancient Chinese herb ma huang, which means “ask for trouble.”

And now, ephedrine’s getting plenty of it.

The federal Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to buy dietary supplements containing the legal stimulant ephedrine because the drug can cause heart attacks, strokes, seizures and even death.

In Spokane, it’s found sprinkled across the city - in gas stations, convenience stores, health food stores and funky shops.

“People are trying it,” said Jason Fleenor, day manager at Zanie’s, 2718 N. Division, who has tried it himself. “It’s an energy increaser.”

Ephedrine promises different things in different packages: asthma relief, weight loss, physical and mental harmony, visionary vibrations. Depending on the promise, it costs from 99 cents to $11 per dose.

Weightlifters use it to burn fat and bulk up. Allergy sufferers use it to breathe easier. Club-going 20-somethings use it to stay up dancing and for added sexual awareness.

Side effects include nervousness, heart troubles and tremors.

“It’s like caffeine,” said a 23-year-old Spokane graduate student who takes about four Mini Thins a day.

“It wakes you up. You don’t have to drink a pot of coffee in the morning. You just pop a pill and go to work.

“The warning’s on the label. I know people have died, but hundreds of people die each year from aspirin. You take enough of anything, and it will kill you,” said the student, who asked not to be identified.

The FDA says it’s received reports of more than 400 people who became sick after taking ephedrine, including 15 who died.

Nine junior high school students took three to eight 25-milligram tablets for added energy and experienced rapid heartbeats, the FDA reports. Three 15-year-old girls popped 24 to 33 tablets for kicks. A 17-year-old boy who wanted to increase his strength and stamina died after taking a toxic amount of ephedrine.

At least 14 states have placed restrictions on ephedrine. In Washington and Idaho, the drug is not supposed to be sold to people under 18.

The company that makes Herbal Ecstacy, which contains ma huang, blames the problems on products like Mini Thins - pills that contain synthetic ephedrine instead of herbal ephedrine. The company also says the FDA is coming after herbs because of pressure from pharmacists, insurance executives and doctors who don’t want to lose money to alternative medicine.

“Fifteen million units sold in four years, and we’ve had no lawsuits, no adverse reactions,” said Sean Shayan, a spokesman for Global World Media Communication of Venice, Calif., which makes several herbal mock drugs. “They (the pharmaceutical industry) want to get the herbs. They’re very silly.”

Mini Thins marketer BDI Pharmaceuticals said the company would respond only to written questions. The label says the pills are “for temporary relief of shortness of breath, tightness of chest, and wheezing due to bronchial asthma.” The recommended dosage is not more than six pills a day.

A 25-year-old Spokane woman, who didn’t want to be identified, says she doesn’t follow the recommendation. She doesn’t want her family to know that she’s been taking about 12 Mini Thins a day for two years. She’s lost more than 25 pounds.

“It gives me more energy, doesn’t make me as hungry,” she said. “It gives me the shakes sometimes, but nothing too serious. I’ve never had a heart attack.”

Mini Thins, which cost less than $5 for 60, 25-milligram pills, are kept behind the front counter at the Conoco at Third and Monroe. Packets of single doses of Mini Thins, Kickers and other wake-you-up products are sold on the counter in a cardboard box proclaiming “The Hammer Health Center.”

Clerk Keith Winningham, who sells Mini Thins to people ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s, said the FDA warning is a good idea. Winningham suspects other people use it for a kick, not asthma relief.

“We ID for those, just like cigarettes,” Winningham said. “I think they could cause some problems.”

Herbal ephedrine has been sold for about seven months at Zanie’s, which specializes in the hip: stretchy hip-hugging pants, Rastafarian hats, colorful lighters. And products like Magic Mushrooms, Herbal Ecstacy, XTC, Ritual Spirit and E-Ludes. They are kept under a glass pyramid near the front counter, available only to adults. Warning signs are posted. Educational handouts are on hand.

The products sound illegal, but they’re all herb-derived and natural.

Herbal Ecstacy, which costs $21.50 for a two-dose package, is the only mock drug containing ma huang. It features a woman with butterfly wings sitting on a mushroom, a groovy Tibetan symbol and the phrase “love & light.”

“It’s not for kids,” Fleenor said. “It’s for the responsible adult. The No. 1 thing is to be informed.”

Bob Herman agrees, but he’s not sure aggressive marketing toward young people is a good idea.

Herman, the co-owner of Lorien Herbs & Natural Foods, at 414 E. Trent, has carried ma huang for years in the herbal section. It’s sold for asthma and allergy relief and in Breathe Easy herbal tea. After high demand, the store started stocking Diet-Max, a pill which contains ma huang.

Herman said he’d never sell products like Herbal Ecstacy or Mini Thins.

“It’s certainly not intended to be taken in multiple tablets,” he said. “I don’t really blame the kids because they’re looking for a charge. I really blame the people who sell the stuff.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo; Graphic: How ephedrine affects the body